S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7062
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT granting retroactive membership with Tier IV status  in  the  New
   York state and local employees' retirement system to Christine Fernan-
   dez

   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,  Christine
 Fernandez,  formerly  Christine  Lennard, a member of the New York state
 and local employees' retirement system, who was employed part-time  with
 the  Voorheesville  public  library beginning in September, 1984 through
 August, 1985 and who is currently  employed  with  the  New  York  State
 Police,  who  through  no  fault  of her own was not given the option to
 become a member of the New York state and  local  employees'  retirement
 system  in 1984 when first employed by the Voorheesville public library,
 and did not file a membership application in such system until April  2,
 2020 when she began her employment with the New York State Police, which
 gave  her  Tier  VI status instead of Tier IV status, shall be deemed to
 have been a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement
 system on such date she commenced her employment with the  Voorheesville
 public  library in September, 1984, and shall be granted Tier IV status,
 provided that an application is filed with the  head  of  the  New  York
 state  and  local  employees' retirement system within one year from the
 effective date of this  act.  Upon  the  granting  of  such  retroactive
 membership,  Christine  Fernandez  shall  not be granted a refund of any
 employee contribution made by her  to  the  New  York  state  and  local
 employees' retirement system.
   § 2. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this
 act shall be borne by the Voorheesville public library.
   § 3. 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.
                                                            LBD10007-02-3
              

 S. 7062                             2
 
   This  bill  would  grant Tier 4 status in the New York State and Local
 Employees' Retirement System to Christine Fernandez, a  current  Tier  6
 member  employed by the Division of State Police, by changing their date
 of membership to September 1, 1984. There will be no  refund  of  member
 contributions.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will  be  an increase of approximately $8,800 in the
 annual contributions of the State of New York for the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2024. In future years, this cost  will  vary  as  the  billing
 rates and salary of Christine Fernandez change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past  service cost of approximately $21,800 which will be
 borne by the Voorheesville Public Library as a  one-time  payment.  This
 estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2024.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2022  Report  of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2020,
 2021,  and  2022  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
 tions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State  of  New  York:
 Audit and Control.
   The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2022
 New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
 Supplementary Information.
   I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
 fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
   This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
 of  the  proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
 the professional judgment of an attorney.
   This estimate, dated April 17, 2023, and intended for use only  during
 the  2023  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-139, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.