NY State Senate Bill 2023-S6877

Current Bill Status - Signed by Governor

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Dec 08, 2023	signed chap.711
Nov 29, 2023	delivered to governor
Jun 10, 2023	returned to senate passed assembly home rule request ordered to third reading rules cal.834 substituted for a7311
Jun 09, 2023	referred to ways and means delivered to assembly passed senate home rule request
Jun 08, 2023	ordered to third reading cal.1819 committee discharged and committed to rules
May 12, 2023	referred to civil service and pensions

Votes

- Jun 9, 2023 - Floor Vote
  S6877
  
  63
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Jun 9, 2023
      
      aye (63)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Ashby
      
      Bailey
      
      Borrello
      
      Breslin
      
      Brisport
      
      Brouk
      
      Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick
      
      Chu
      
      Cleare
      
      Comrie
      
      Cooney
      
      Felder
      
      Fernandez
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Gonzalez
      
      Gounardes
      
      Griffo
      
      Harckham
      
      Helming
      
      Hinchey
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Jackson
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Lanza
      
      Liu
      
      Mannion
      
      Martinez
      
      Martins
      
      Mattera
      
      May
      
      Mayer
      
      Murray
      
      Myrie
      
      O'Mara
      
      Oberacker
      
      Ortt
      
      Palumbo
      
      Parker
      
      Persaud
      
      Ramos
      
      Rhoads
      
      Rivera
      
      Rolison
      
      Ryan
      
      Salazar
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Scarcella-Spanton
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Serrano
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stec
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Tedisco
      
      Thomas
      
      Walczyk
      
      Webb
      
      Weber
      
      Weik
      
      The following Member(s) participated via videoconferencing: Cooney
  Jun 9, 2023 - Rules Committee Vote
  S6877
  
  19
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  2
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Jun 9, 2023
      
      aye (19)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Bailey
      
      Breslin
      
      Comrie
      
      Fernandez
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Griffo
      
      Helming
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Lanza
      
      Liu
      
      Mayer
      
      Ortt
      
      Parker
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Thomas
      
      aye wr (2)
      
      O'Mara
      
      Stec

co-Sponsors

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7311
Law Section:: New York City Administrative Code
Laws Affected:: Add §13-638.7, NYC Ad Cd

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Permits a member of the New York city teachers' retirement system, the New York city employees' retirement system, or the New York city board of education retirement system who is eligible to join any other retirement system maintained by the city due to a separate, concurrent eligible employment with a participating employer to become a member of the subsequent city funded retirement system provided such benefits in the first system of membership are suspended during their active membership in the subsequent retirement system.

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6877

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to dual retirement system membership in the New York city
teachers' retirement system, the New York city employees' retirement
system, and the New York city board of education retirement system

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow members of certain New York City retirement systems with dual
employment to suspend membership in one retirement system and to allow
for membership in a second retirement system associated with their
primary enrollment

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill adds a new section 13-638.7 to the New York City
Administrative Code to allow members of the New York City Teachers
Retirement System (NYC TRS), New York City Employees Retirement System

(NYCERS), or New York City Board of Education Retirement System (NYC
BERS) to suspend membership in such systems and join a second city
system without having to quit the job that enabled membership in the
first system and withdraw from such first system. Membership in the
second system would then be retroactive to the earlier of the date that
the member would have been mandated into the second system, but for the
prohibited dual membership, or the date that the second system receives
an application for membership.  Members would still not be able to
accrue service credit in both systems simultaneously.

Section two sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill makes a technical correction to our state's retirement laws to
help resolve cases of unauthorized dual membership, wherein public
employees in New York City are a member of two retirement systems
because they are on payroll for two jobs concurrently.

Members of NYC TRS, NYCERS, and NYC BERS cannot be members of two city
retirement systems simultaneously. While disallowed under current law,
city employees may go many years before this inadvertent, "illegal" dual
membership is detected. This is because not every pension system auto-
matically enrolls every employee, one retirement system does not neces-
sarily have visibility into the membership of another's, and a check of
the city payroll for seasonal or irregular jobs such as a Parks Depart-
ment lifeguard or CUNY adjunct may be hit or miss. A pension system may
not realize an employee maintains membership in another system until
they go to file for retirement - forcing the public employee to then
make a series of difficult choices.

Under current law, a retirement system member must quit their first-ac-
quired job (so that there is an actual break in service) in order to
participate in the retirement system associated with their second-ac-
quired job. For example, a New York City lifeguard, a part time seasonal
position, is eligible for membership in the New York City Employees
Retirement System (NYCERS) and may become a member. If the employee
subsequently becomes a New York City teacher, they are ineligible to
join New York City Teachers Retirement System (TRS) unless and until
they resign from the lifeguard position. The requirement to quit serves
no one; the employee loses seniority and risks not getting re-hired, and
it creates an administrative burden for agencies.

Upon quitting their first job, the member is then eligible to become a
member of the second system - but the first legal date of membership in
the second system is the date the member resigned from the first posi-
tion. Because final average salary (FAS) calculations are based on a
certain number of years of service (for NYC TRS Tier 3 and 4 employees,
FAS is the average of your highest three years, for example, while for
TRS Tier 6 it's highest five years), a member may then be forced to work
extra years, right when they are ready to retire, simply to ensure that
their FAS reflects what they earned in their primary, full-time job. If
a member is unwilling or unable to work the extra time, the pension
system is required to calculate a member's FAS using salary from the
first system - which may result in pension earnings that are a fraction
of what they should be.

This bill would remedy the above problem by allowing a member to
"suspend" membership in the first system and join the second. This
allows the employee to preserve membership in the first system without
having to quit a job in order to legally withdraw from the system. Addi-
tionally, the member would be able to begin their membership in the
second system on the earlier of the date that they were mandated into
the system (for many titles, enrollment in a pension system is automatic
upon hire) or the date that the member signed up for the system if they
were in an optional title.

This bill does not allow a member to accrue service credit from two
retirement systems at once, nor does it enhance benefits. It does
address a handful of cases a year, however, in which an individual at
the end of their career is denied full pension benefits from the retire-
ment system associated with their primary employment due to a legisla-
tive loophole. This bill will also provide flexibility for the retire-
ment systems to resolve dual membership cases identified early in an
employee's career.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See bill

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6877
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 12, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
   relation to dual retirement system membership in  the  New  York  city
   teachers'  retirement  system, the New York city employees' retirement
   system, and the New York city board of education retirement system
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended
 by adding a new section 13-638.7 to read as follows:
   § 13-638.7  DUAL  MEMBERSHIPS.  A.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  INCONSISTENT
 PROVISION  OF THIS CHAPTER,  INCLUDING SECTION 13-184, OR ANY OTHER LAW,
 ANY PERSON WHO IS OTHERWISE A MEMBER OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  TEACHERS'
 RETIREMENT  SYSTEM,  THE  NEW YORK CITY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, OR
 THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF  EDUCATION  RETIREMENT  SYSTEM,  BUT  WHO  IS
 ELIGIBLE  TO JOIN ANY OTHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM MAINTAINED BY THE CITY DUE
 TO A SEPARATE,  CONCURRENT  ELIGIBLE  EMPLOYMENT  WITH  A  PARTICIPATING
 EMPLOYER  MAY  BECOME  A MEMBER OF THE SUBSEQUENT CITY FUNDED RETIREMENT
 SYSTEM PROVIDED SUCH BENEFITS IN THE  FIRST  SYSTEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP  ARE
 SUSPENDED  DURING  THEIR  ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP IN THE SUBSEQUENT RETIREMENT
 SYSTEM, INCLUDING ANY  PERIOD  OF  RETROACTIVE  MEMBERSHIP  PURSUANT  TO
 SUBDIVISION B OF THIS SECTION.
   B.  ANY  SUCH  MEMBERSHIP IN THE SUBSEQUENT RETIREMENT SYSTEM SHALL BE
 ELECTED IN WRITING  AND  FILED  WITH  BOTH  RETIREMENT  SYSTEMS.    SUCH
 ELECTION  SHALL  BE  EFFECTIVE  ON THE EARLIER OF THE DATE THE MEMBER IS
 MANDATED INTO MEMBERSHIP OR THE DATE THE SYSTEM RECEIVES AN  APPLICATION
 FOR MEMBERSHIP, AS APPLICABLE, AND SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE RIGHTS, BENE-
 FITS,  PRIVILEGES, AND OBLIGATIONS OF SUCH MEMBERSHIP, INCLUDING PAYMENT
 OF ALL REQUIRED MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS.   SUCH ELECTION  SHALL  BE  IRREV-
 OCABLE  SO  LONG  AS THE MEMBER IS EMPLOYED IN THE POSITION ELIGIBLE FOR
 MEMBERSHIP IN THE SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10861-02-3

 S. 6877                             2
 
   C. SUSPENSION OF MEMBERSHIP SHALL RESULT IN SUSPENSION OF ALL  RIGHTS,
 BENEFITS, PRIVILEGES, AND OBLIGATIONS IN THE SUSPENDED SYSTEM, INCLUDING
 LOAN  ELIGIBILITY  AND THE ACCRUAL OR ABILITY TO PURCHASE SERVICE CREDIT
 RELATING TO THE SUSPENSION PERIOD.  LOAN PAYMENTS ON  OUTSTANDING  LOANS
 SHALL  REMAIN IN EFFECT.  CONCURRENT EMPLOYMENT SHALL NOT PROVIDE ELIGI-
 BILITY FOR MULTIPLE DEATH BENEFITS  FROM  MULTIPLE  RETIREMENT  SYSTEMS.
 ANY  APPLICABLE  DEATH  BENEFITS  SHALL  BE FROM THE SYSTEM IN WHICH THE
 MEMBER IS ACTIVE.  THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM SHALL RETURN  CONTRIBUTIONS  PLUS
 INTEREST AS APPLICABLE.
   D.  MEMBERS  IN THE NEW YORK CITY TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, THE NEW
 YORK CITY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, AND THE NEW YORK CITY  BOARD  OF
 EDUCATION RETIREMENT SYSTEM MAY ONLY ACCRUE SERVICE CREDIT IN ONE SYSTEM
 FOR ANY PERIOD OF CONCURRENT EMPLOYMENT.
   E.  NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE DEEMED TO MODIFY THE REQUIREMENTS
 OF SECTION FORTY-THREE OR SIX HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE OF THE  RETIREMENT  AND
 SOCIAL SECURITY LAW REGARDING TRANSFER OR REINSTATEMENT OF MEMBERSHIP OR
 THE REQUIREMENTS OF ANY APPLICABLE TRANSFERRED CONTRIBUTOR LAWS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend the Administra-
 tive  Code of the City of New York (ACCNY) to add a new Section 13-638.7
 allowing certain employees who have concurrent eligible  employment  for
 participation  in  two  New  York  City  funded retirement systems (City
 System) a one-time chance to suspend their current membership  in  their
 first  City  System and elect to participate in the other City System as
 of the earlier of the date of election, or the date on which the  member
 would  have  been  mandated  into the subsequent system absent the prior
 membership.
   Currently, members of the New York City  Employees  Retirement  System
 (NYCERS),  the  New  York City Teachers Retirement System (TRS), and the
 New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) may  not  join
 another  system  if they already have an active membership in one of the
 other systems without terminating the employment for which  the  initial
 membership was created.
   Under the proposed legislation, a City retirement system member who is
 eligible  to  join a second City retirement system based on dual employ-
 ment would be eligible to elect membership in the  other  eligible  City
 retirement system without the cessation of employment, and would forfeit
 applicable rights, benefits, and privileges of the initial prior member-
 ship  resulting in a return of applicable contributions with interest. A
 member may only accrue service credit in one system for  any  period  of
 concurrent employment.
   This  change  in  legislation would not modify the current transfer or
 reinstatement provisions available to members and therefore the  changes
 would be primarily administrative.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no data available to estimate the number of
 members who might be eligible to participate in more than one retirement
 system, and potentially benefit from this proposed legislation.
   With  respect  to  an  individual member, the financial impact of this
 proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the member's length
 of service, age, and salary history.
   Based on the relatively small population anticipated to be impacted by
 this proposed legislation and that these changes are more administrative
 in nature,  the  cost  associated  with  this  proposed  legislation  is
 expected to be de minimis.
 S. 6877                             3
 
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY:  The  costs for this proposed legislation will
 depend on the number and demographics of the impacted population.
   Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   *  The  initial  additional  administrative  costs  to  implement  the
 proposed legislation.
   * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
 Benefit costs.
   STATEMENT  OF  ACTUARIAL  OPINION:  I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
 Actuary for, and independent of, the New York  City  Retirement  Systems
 and  Pension  Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
 Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
 do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I  meet  the  Qualification
 Standards  of  the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
 opinion contained herein. To the  best  of  my  knowledge,  the  results
 contained  herein  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  generally
 accepted actuarial principles and  procedures  and  with  the  Actuarial
 Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2023-43 dated May 5, 2023
 was  prepared  by  the  Chief  Actuary  for the New York City Employees'
 Retirement System, the New York City Teachers'  Retirement  System,  and
 the  New  York City Board of Education Retirement System.  This estimate
 is intended for use only during the 2023 Legislative Session.

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Senate Bill S6877

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - Signed by Governor

Jun 9, 2023 - Floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jun 9, 2023

Jun 9, 2023 - Rules Committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jun 9, 2023

co-Sponsors

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S6877

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Andrew Gounardes

Current Bill Status - Signed by Governor

co-Sponsors

Iwen Chu

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S6877 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments