S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 2438--A

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 15, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of A. ABBATE, PERALTA, SCHROEDER, PHEFFER, COLTON --
  Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK, CUSICK,  ENGLEBRIGHT,  WEISENBERG
  --  read  once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
  -- recommitted to the Committee on Governmental Employees  in  accord-
  ance  with  Assembly  Rule  3,  sec.  2  -- committee discharged, bill
  amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
  tee

AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
  the computation of final average salary

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision 1 of section 431 of the retirement and social
security law, as added by chapter 503 of the laws of 1971, is amended to
read as follows:
  1. lump sum payments for deferred compensation,  sick  leave,  accumu-
lated  vacation or other credits for time not worked, PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
THAT WITH RESPECT TO INDIVIDUALS WHO JOINED THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM BEFORE JULY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED  SEVEN-
TY-THREE,  PAYMENT  FOR UP TO THIRTY DAYS OF UNUSED ACCUMULATED VACATION
TIME CREDITED TO SUCH MEMBER AT THE TIME OF RETIREMENT MAY  BE  INCLUDED
IN DETERMINING FINAL AVERAGE SALARY,
  S  2. Subdivisions a and b of section 443 of the retirement and social
security law, subdivision a as amended and subdivision  b  as  added  by
chapter 379 of the laws of 1986, are amended to read as follows:
  a.  The  salary base used for the computation of benefits upon retire-
ment, hereinafter called in this article final average salary,  applica-
ble  to  all  members  of  the retirement systems who are subject to the
provisions of this article, shall be the average salary earned by such a
member during any three consecutive  years  which  provide  the  highest
average  salary,  exclusive  of any form of termination pay (which shall
include any compensation in anticipation of retirement), or any lump sum

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05433-03-0
              

A. 2438--A                          2

payment for deferred compensation, sick leave, or ANY accumulated  vaca-
tion  credit IN EXCESS OF THIRTY DAYS, or any other payment for time not
worked (other than compensation received while on sick leave or  author-
ized leave of absence); provided, however, if the salary or wages earned
during  any  year included in the period used to determine final average
salary exceeds that of the average of the previous  two  years  by  more
than twenty percentum, the amount in excess of twenty percentum shall be
excluded  from the computation of final average salary. Where the period
used to determine final average salary is the period  which  immediately
precedes  the  date of retirement, any month or months (not in excess of
twelve) which would otherwise be included  in  computing  final  average
salary but during which the member was on authorized leave of absence at
partial  pay  or  without  pay shall be excluded from the computation of
final average salary and the month or an equal number  of  months  imme-
diately preceding such period shall be substituted in lieu thereof.
  b.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions of subdivision a of this section,
with respect to the members of the New York state AND  LOCAL  employees'
retirement  system  and  New  York state [policemen's and firemen's] AND
LOCAL POLICE AND FIRE retirement system, the final average salary, shall
be equal to one-third of the highest  total  salary  earned  during  any
continuous  period  of employment for which the member was credited with
three years of service credit, exclusive of any form of termination  pay
(which  shall  include  any compensation in anticipation of retirement),
any lump sum payment for deferred compensation, sick leave, or ANY accu-
mulated vacation credit IN EXCESS OF THIRTY DAYS, or any  other  payment
for  time  not  worked  (other  than compensation received while on sick
leave or authorized leave of absence); provided, however, if the  salary
earned  during  any year of credited service included in the period used
to determine final average salary exceeds the average of the salaries of
the previous two years of credited  service  by  more  than  twenty  per
centum, the amount in excess of twenty per centum shall be excluded from
the computation of final average salary.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill will allow Tier 1 members with membership dates on or after
April 1, 1972, and all Tier 2 members of the New York  State  and  Local
Employees'  Retirement  System (NYSLERS) or the New York State and Local
Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS) to receive credit for up to
thirty (30) days of unused accumulated vacation time in the  calculation
of their final average salary.
  Insofar  as  this  bill  will affect employers in the NYSLERS, if this
bill is enacted, there will be  an  estimated  increase  in  the  annual
contributions  of the State of New York of approximately $11 million and
$16 million to the participating employers in the  NYSLERS.  Insofar  as
this  bill  would  affect  the NYSLPFRS, there will also be an estimated
increase in the annual contributions of approximately  $8.0  million  to
the  State of New York and $38 million to the participating employers in
the NYSLPFRS.
  This estimate, dated December 11,  2009  and  intended  for  use  only
during  the  2010  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2010-18,
prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'
Retirement  System  and  the  New  York  State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System.