S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7559
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- (at request of the Governor) --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law and the criminal
procedure law, in relation to service rendered by investigators and
sworn officers of the waterfront commission of New York harbor
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision a and paragraph 1 of subdivision c of section
381-b of the retirement and social security law, subdivision a as
amended by chapter 684 of the laws of 1971 and paragraph 1 of subdivi-
sion c as amended by chapter 581 of the laws of 2001, are amended to
read as follows:
a. Membership. Every member or officer of the division of state police
in the executive department who enters or re-enters service in the divi-
sion on or after April first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, AND EVERY
INVESTIGATOR OR SWORN OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE COMMISSION CREATED BY
SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN
HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE, CONSTITUTING THE WATERFRONT COMMISSION ACT, AS
AMENDED, ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE, shall be
covered by the provisions of this section, and every member or officer
of the division of state police in the executive department in such
service on such date may elect to be covered by the provisions of this
section by filing an election therefor with the comptroller on or before
March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-two. To be effective, such
election must be duly executed and acknowledged on a form prepared by
the comptroller for that purpose.
(1) Police service. In computing the years of total creditable service
in such division, full credit shall be given and full allowance shall be
made:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD12012-02-3
S. 7559 2
(I) for service rendered as a police officer or member of a police
force or department of a state park authority or commission or an organ-
ized police force or department of a county, city, town, village, police
district, authority or other participating employer or member of the
capital police force in the office of general services while a member of
the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, of the
New York state and local employees' retirement system or of the New York
city police pension fund;
(II) FOR SERVICE RENDERED AS AN INVESTIGATOR OR SWORN OFFICER OF THE
WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR, AND FOR SERVICE RENDERED AS AN
INVESTIGATOR-TRAINEE OF THE WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR
THAT WAS CREDITABLE UNDER SUBDIVISION W OF SECTION THREE HUNDRED EIGHT-
Y-FOUR-D OF THIS ARTICLE; and
(III) for all service for which full credit has been given and full
allowance made pursuant to the provisions of section three hundred
seventy-five-h of this chapter provided, however, that full credit
pursuant to the provisions of such section shall mean only such service
as would be creditable service pursuant to the provisions of section
three hundred eighty-three or section three hundred eighty-three-a or
three hundred eighty-three-b enacted by chapter six hundred seventy-sev-
en of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six of this chapter or pursu-
ant to the provisions of title thirteen of the administrative code of
the city of New York for any member contributing pursuant to this
section who transferred to the division of state police.
§ 2. Subdivision 11 of section 302 of the retirement and social secu-
rity law is amended by adding a new paragraph k to read as follows:
K. SERVICE AS AN INVESTIGATOR OR SWORN OFFICER OF THE WATERFRONT
COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR OR THE COMMISSION CREATED BY SECTION SIX
OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED
FIFTY-THREE, CONSTITUTING THE WATERFRONT COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED.
§ 3. Paragraph (h) of subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal
procedure law, as amended by chapter 997 of the laws of 1970, is amended
to read as follows:
(h) An investigator employed by a commission created by an interstate
compact, OR BY SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO OF THE
LAWS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE, CONSTITUTING THE WATERFRONT
COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED, who is, to a substantial extent, engaged in
the enforcement of the criminal laws of this state;
§ 4. Paragraph (k) of subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal
procedure law, as separately amended by chapters 282 and 877 of the laws
of 1974, is amended to read as follows:
(k) A sworn officer of a police force of a public authority created by
an interstate compact, OR BY SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHT-
Y-TWO OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE, CONSTITUTING THE
WATERFRONT COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED;
§ 5. Paragraph (k) of subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal
procedure law, as amended by section 13 of part BBB of chapter 59 of the
laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
(k) A sworn officer of a police force of a public authority created by
an interstate compact, OR BY SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHT-
Y-TWO OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE, CONSTITUTING THE
WATERFRONT COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED, where such force is certified in
accordance with paragraph (d) of subdivision one of section eight
hundred forty-six-h of the executive law;
§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
section five of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the
S. 7559 3
same manner as section thirteen of part BBB of chapter 59 of the laws of
2021, takes effect.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) as
follows:
1) Add the titles of investigator and sworn officer employed by the
commission created by Section six of Chapter 882 of the Laws of 1953,
constituting the Waterfront Commission Act, to the definition of member-
ship in Section 381-b,
2) Allow service rendered as an investigator, investigator-trainee or
sworn officer of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor to be
creditable under Section 381-b, and
3) Add the titles of investigator and sworn officer of the Waterfront
Commission of New York Harbor to the definition of "police or fire
service" as defined in Section 302.
Additionally, this bill would amend the Criminal Procedure Law by
adding the titles of investigator and sworn officer of the Waterfront
Commission of New York Harbor to the definition of "police officer"
under Section 1.20.
If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $29,000 in the
annual contributions of the State of New York. This estimate assumes
that payment will be made on February 1, 2024.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $979,000 which will be
borne by the State of New York and all local participating employers in
the NYSLPFRS. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on Febru-
ary 1, 2024.
These estimated costs are based on eight affected members employed by
the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, with annual salary of
approximately $950,000 as of March 31, 2022.
Along with the direct costs quoted above, insofar as this proposal
allows certain previous service rendered as an investigator, investiga-
tor-trainee or sworn officer of the Waterfront Commission of New York
Harbor to be newly creditable under Section 381-b of the RSSL, addi-
tional past service costs could arise for the current New York State
Troopers covered by that section. It is estimated that such past service
cost will be 25% of an affected member's compensation for each year of
service that is newly credited pursuant to this legislation.
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.
S. 7559 4
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 June 2, 2023, and intended for use only during
the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-175, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
