S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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7219--A
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 26, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, CANESTRARI, COLTON, CHRISTENSEN, KOON,
PHEFFER, BENEDETTO, POWELL, ALESSI, JAFFEE, SPANO, WEINSTEIN, SCHIMEL,
HYER-SPENCER, RUSSELL, BARRON, DenDEKKER, D. WEPRIN -- Multi-Sponsored
by -- M. of A. ALFANO, AMEDORE, ARROYO, AUBRY, BACALLES, BALL,
BARCLAY, BARRA, BENJAMIN, BOYLAND, BOYLE, BRENNAN, BRODSKY,
BROOK-KRASNY, BURLING, BUTLER, CAHILL, CALHOUN, CARROZZA, CASTRO,
CLARK, CONTE, COOK, CORWIN, CROUCH, CUSICK, CYMBROWITZ, DelMONTE,
DESTITO, DINOWITZ, DUPREY, ENGLEBRIGHT, ERRIGO, ESPAILLAT, FIELDS,
FINCH, GABRYSZAK, GALEF, GIANARIS, GIBSON, GIGLIO, GLICK, GORDON,
GOTTFRIED, HAWLEY, HAYES, HEASTIE, HOOPER, HOYT, JACOBS, JOHN,
KAVANAGH, KOLB, LATIMER, LAVINE, LIFTON, P. LOPEZ, V. LOPEZ, LUPARDO,
MAGEE, MAISEL, MARKEY, MAYERSOHN, McDONOUGH, McENENY, McKEVITT, MENG,
J. MILLER, MILLMAN, MOLINARO, NOLAN, OAKS, O'DONNELL, O'MARA, ORTIZ,
PAULIN, PEOPLES-STOKES, PERRY, PRETLOW, RABBITT, RAIA, RAMOS, REILICH,
REILLY, J. RIVERA, N. RIVERA, P. RIVERA, ROBINSON, ROSENTHAL, SAYWARD,
SCARBOROUGH, SCHROEDER, SCOZZAFAVA, SWEENEY, TEDISCO, THIELE, TITONE,
TITUS, TOBACCO, TOWNS, TOWNSEND, WEISENBERG, WRIGHT, ZEBROWSKI -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Governmental Employees in accordance with
Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
certain members who re-enter public service
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivisions 2 and 4 of section 645 of the retirement and
social security law, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 322 of the laws
of 2002 and subdivision 4 as added by chapter 640 of the laws of 1998
and as renumbered by chapter 646 of the laws of 1999, are amended to
read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02353-05-0
A. 7219--A 2
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person [other than
a retiree of a public retirement system,] who previously was a member of
a public retirement system and whose membership in such public retire-
ment system ceased by reason of (i) insufficient service credit, (ii)
withdrawal of accumulated contributions, or (iii) withdrawal of member-
ship, upon rejoining such public retirement system or another public
retirement system, shall be deemed to have been a member of his or her
current retirement system during the entire period of time commencing
with and subsequent to the original date of such previous ceased member-
ship, provided that such person (a) makes application therefor to the
administrative head of his or her current public retirement system, and
(b) repays the amount refunded, if any, at the time such previous
membership ceased, together with interest at the rate of five percent
per annum compounded annually from the date of such refund through the
date of repayment. Upon such reinstatement of date of membership, such
member shall be entitled to all the rights, benefits and privileges to
which he or she would have been entitled had his or her current member-
ship begun on such original date of membership except that, solely for
the purposes of granting retirement credit to members of a public
retirement system other than the New York city teachers' retirement
system for service credited during such previous ceased membership where
such was in a public retirement system other than the member's current
retirement system, such previously credited service shall be deemed to
be prior service, not subsequent service. Furthermore, any such member
whose original date of membership was prior to July first, nineteen
hundred seventy-three shall be entitled to all the rights, benefits and
privileges to which he or she would have been entitled had he or she
been in active service on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-
three. Any contribution made to the public retirement system pursuant to
article fourteen or fifteen of this chapter by a member who rejoined his
or her current system on or after July twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred
seventy-six shall not be refunded.
4. The provisions of this article shall be applicable to a person who
[is, on the date this article becomes effective] WAS A MEMBER ON OR
BEFORE JANUARY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE, or who subsequent to
such date becomes, a member of a public retirement system.
S 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall only apply to
all persons who are alive as of the effective date of this act and shall
apply to payments made on or after the effective date of this act; and
provided further, that any retirees qualifying under this act shall have
their retirement allowance recalculated from July 1, 2010 or the date of
reinstatement, whichever is later.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow certain living retirees of New York public
retirement systems who retired prior to December 16, 1999 and who previ-
ously were members of a New York public retirement system to be deemed
to have become members of the systems from which they retired as of the
original date of such previous ceased membership. Tier 3 and 4 retirees
of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System or the New
York State Teachers' Retirement System who become Tier 1 or 2 retirees
and who have already purchased their previous service would receive a
refund of these contributions. No benefits will be deemed to have
accrued prior to the effective date of this act.
If this bill is enacted, insofar as this bill affects the New York
State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYS&LERS), approximately
1,590 retirees of the NYS&LERS will be affected. The estimated addi-
A. 7219--A 3
tional annual increase in contributions would be approximately $2.1
million. This cost will be shared by the State of New York and all
participating employers in the NYS&LERS.
Insofar as this bill would affect employers in the New York State and
Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYS&LPFRS), the estimated addi-
tional costs would be negligible.
In addition there will be costs for retirees who had a previous ceased
membership with a public employee retirement system other than the
NYS&LERS or the NYS&LPFRS. These costs would depend upon the number of
retirees affected and upon each retiree's age, salary, credited service,
plan coverage and tier. The number of retirees with such previous ceased
membership with another public retirement system cannot be readily
determined. These additional costs would be shared by the State of New
York and all participating employers in their respective systems.
This estimate, dated March 3, 2010 and intended for use only during
the 2010 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-109, prepared by
the Actuary for the NYS&LERS and the NYS&LPFRS.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend subdivisions 2 and 4 of section 645 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law to extend the tier reinstatement
provisions to any retiree of a public retirement system. The retiree
must be alive as of the effective date of the bill in order to be eligi-
ble. This bill only applies to payments made on or after the effective
date of this act.
The annual cost to the employers of members of the New York State
Teachers' Retirement System for this benefit is estimated to be $7.4
million or .05% of payroll if this bill is enacted.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2010-39 dated April 26,
2010 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2010 Legislative Session.