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

                                 7973--A

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 30, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A. ABBATE, McENENY, COLTON -- (at request of the
  State Comptroller) -- read once  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on
  Governmental  Employees  --  committed  to  Governmental  Employees --
  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
  decreasing the minimum  amount  of  time  required  before  a  service
  retirement  may  become  effective  and retirees of certain retirement
  systems may begin to receive their retirement

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

  Section  1.  Subdivision  a of section 70 of the retirement and social
security law, as amended by chapter 207 of the laws of 1978, is  amended
to read as follows:
  a. Any member may retire if he OR SHE shall have attained at least the
minimum retirement age while in service as a member, or while in federal
service,  or in the service of the United Nations or other international
organizations of which the United  States  is  a  member,  as  a  member
continued pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision f of section forty of
this article, or while entitled to make application for a vested retire-
ment  allowance pursuant to section seventy-six of this [chapter] TITLE.
Any such member desiring to retire shall execute and file with the comp-
troller an application for retirement, which shall specify the effective
date of his OR HER retirement, which shall be  not  less  than  [thirty]
FIFTEEN  nor more than ninety days subsequent to such date of filing. An
application for service retirement, filed hereunder in  accordance  with
the provisions of subdivision c of section sixty-two or subdivision f of
section sixty-three of this [chapter] ARTICLE, shall be processed in the
regular  manner,  provided  that if the application filed simultaneously
therewith under either of such subdivisions is granted, then and in that

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD10324-03-0

              

A. 7973--A                          2

event the retirement allowance granted in accordance with the provisions
of this section shall be appropriately adjusted.
  S 2. Subdivision a of section 370 of the retirement and social securi-
ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 570 of the laws of 1999, is amended to
read as follows:
  a. Any member may retire if he OR SHE shall have attained at least the
minimum retirement age while in service as a member, or while in federal
service, or in the service of the United Nations or other  international
organizations  of  which  the  United  States  is  a member, as a member
continued pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision f  of  section  three
hundred  forty of this article or while entitled to make application for
a vested retirement allowance pursuant to section three  hundred  seven-
ty-six  of  this  [chapter]  TITLE.   Any such member desiring to retire
shall execute and file with the comptroller an application  for  retire-
ment,  which  shall specify the effective date of his OR HER retirement,
which shall be not less than [thirty] FIFTEEN nor more than ninety  days
subsequent  to  such  date of filing. An application for service retire-
ment, filed hereunder in accordance with the provisions of subdivision c
of section sixty-two or subdivision f of  section  sixty-three  of  this
chapter,  shall be processed in the regular manner, provided that if the
application filed simultaneously therewith under either of such subdivi-
sions is granted, then and in that event the retirement allowance grant-
ed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be  appropri-
ately  adjusted.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any member
who is eligible to retire and who has died while in active service,  and
who  has  filed  an  application for service retirement less than thirty
days prior to death, shall be deemed to have retired  and  the  member's
designated  beneficiary  shall  have  the  option  to choose the benefit
provided by service retirement rather than the death benefit,  provided,
however that if the designated beneficiary elects the service retirement
benefit  such person shall be required to choose an option under section
three hundred ninety of this article.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This bill would decrease the minimum amount of time required before  a
service  retirement  may  become  effective  for members of the New York
State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) and the New  York
State  and  Local  Police  and  Fire  Retirement  System (NYSLPFRS). The
current minimum of 30 days would be replaced by 15 days.
  If this bill is enacted, there will be minimal administrative costs.
  This estimate, dated January 29,  2010,  and  intended  for  use  only
during  the  2010  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2010-110
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System and the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System.