S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  5852--A
     Cal. No. 1285
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 20, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. MATTERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Commit-
   tee on Finance -- reported favorably from said committee,  ordered  to
   first  and  second  report,  ordered  to  a third reading, amended and
   ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
 
 AN ACT granting retroactive membership with Tier II status  in  the  New
   York state teachers' retirement system to Lori Cohen
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, Lori  Cohen,
 who  was  employed  as  a  substitute  teacher with the Oceanside school
 district and Rockville Centre school district with a start date of  July
 1,  1975,  and  who  is currently a retired member of the New York state
 teachers' retirement system, who through no fault of  her  own  did  not
 become  a  member  of  the New York state teachers' retirement system on
 July 1, 1975 when first employed by the Oceanside  school  district  and
 Rockville  Centre  school district shall be deemed to have been a member
 of the New York state teachers'  retirement  system  on  such  date  she
 commenced  her  employment and shall be granted Tier II status, provided
 that an application is filed with the head of the New York state  teach-
 ers'  retirement  system within one year from the effective date of this
 act.
   § 2. No contributions made to the New York state teachers'  retirement
 system shall be returned or refunded to Lori Cohen pursuant to this act.
   § 3. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this
 act  shall be borne by all participating employers in the New York state
 teachers' retirement system.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06281-07-3
              

 S. 5852--A                          2
 
   This bill would allow Lori Cohen, a retired Tier 3 member of  the  New
 York  State  Teachers' Retirement System, to be reclassified as a Tier 2
 member.  Her date of membership would be changed to July 1,  1975  based
 upon  her  employment  as a substitute teacher with the Oceanside School
 District and the Rockville Centre School District. Upon reclassification
 as  a  Tier  2  member,  Ms.  Cohen's pension would be recalculated with
 retroactive adjustment to payments made since her date of retirement  of
 July  1,  2018. No refund of any member contributions shall be made. Ms.
 Cohen must file a written request with the head of the  New  York  State
 Teachers'  Retirement  System  within  one year of the effective date of
 this bill.
   The cost of this benefit is equal to the increase in the present value
 of liabilities, including retroactive payments to her  date  of  retire-
 ment, which is estimated to be $135,000. This cost is to be borne by the
 employers of members of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System.
   Member  data  is  from  the  System's  most recent actuarial valuation
 files, consisting of data provided by the employers  to  the  Retirement
 System.  Data  distributions and statistics can be found in the System's
 Annual Report. System assets are as reported in the  System's  financial
 statements and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuari-
 al  assumptions and methods are provided in the System's Actuarial Valu-
 ation Report.
   The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2023-35 dated May 30,  2023
 prepared  by  the  Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teachers'
 Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2023  Legisla-
 tive Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the New York
 State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy
 of  Actuaries  and  I  meet  the Qualification Standards of the American
 Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.