Assembly Bill A2531

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

                                  2531

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 20, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. CALHOUN, FITZPATRICK -- read once and referred to
  the Committee on Governmental Employees

AN ACT to create the public pension system reform commission

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

  Section 1. Public  pension  system  reform  commission.  1.  A  public
pension  system  benefit  reform  commission  shall be appointed, within
ninety days from the effective date of this act, to evaluate and  report
on  the  creation of a new retirement plan for members who join a public
retirement system on or after a prospective date to be determined by the
commission. The commission shall  evaluate  and  consider,  but  not  be
limited  to  the  following:  (i)  the adoption of a hybrid-pension plan
where one-half of a member's pension benefit would  be  derived  from  a
defined  benefit  pension  plan  and  the  other  one-half of a member's
pension would be derived from a defined contribution pension plan;  (ii)
the  advantages  of  switching  from the current defined benefit pension
plan to a type of hybrid or defined contribution pension  plan  for  new
members;  (iii) taxpayer relief that could be achieved by adopting a new
retirement plan; (iv) the short-term and long-term fiscal  stability  of
the public pension funds and their ability to weather economic downturn;
(v)  the  predictability,  transparency  and  government cost-savings of
defined contribution pension plans  in  comparison  to  defined  benefit
pension plans.
  2.  Such  commission  shall consist of nine members including: (i) the
comptroller of the state of New York, or his or her designee, who  shall
act as chair of such commission; (ii) one member appointed by the gover-
nor  of  the state of New York; (iii) one member appointed by the tempo-
rary president of the senate; (iv) one member appointed by  the  speaker
of  the assembly; (v) one member appointed by the minority leader of the
senate; (vi) one member appointed by the minority leader of  the  assem-
bly;  (vii)  one  member appointed by the mayor of the city of New York;

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02408-01-9
              

A. 2531                             2

(viii) one member appointed by the board of trustees  of  the  New  York
state  teachers' retirement system; and (ix) one member appointed by the
board of trustees of the New York city employees' retirement system.
  3.  Such  commission may employ and at pleasure remove such personnel,
as it may deem necessary for the performance of its  functions  and  fix
their compensation within the amounts made available therefor.
  4.  The  commission  may meet within and without the state, shall hold
public hearings, and shall have all the powers of a legislative  commit-
tee pursuant to the legislative law.
  5.  The  members  of  the commission shall receive no compensation for
their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to this section.
  6. To the maximum extent feasible, the commission shall be entitled to
request and receive, and shall utilize and be provided with such facili-
ties, resources and data of  any  court,  department,  division,  board,
bureau,  commission  or agency of the state or any political subdivision
thereof as it may reasonably request to properly carry  out  its  powers
and duties pursuant to this section.
  7.  The  commission shall make a report, within one year from the date
of its establishment,  to  the  governor,  temporary  president  of  the
senate,  speaker  of  the  assembly,  minority  leader of the senate and
minority leader of the assembly of its findings, conclusions and  recom-
mendations  in  relation  to  but  not limited to: (i) the creation of a
hybrid defined  benefit/defined  contribution  pension  plan  (ii)  cost
savings  for  the  state and local governments that could be achieved by
the adoption of a new pension plan; and  (iii)  the  ability  of  a  new
pension  plan  to  lessen  the  burden of pension costs on taxpayers and
provide a safety net against economic downturn.  Such  report  shall  be
made  available  to the public and include such legislative proposals as
shall be necessary to implement the commission's recommendations.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.