Senate Bill S4325

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

                                 4325--A

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 22, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  MAZIARZ,  DeFRANCISCO  --  read twice and ordered
  printed, and when printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Civil
  Service  and  Pensions  -- 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
  providing  three years of retirement service credit to certain members
  of public retirement systems of the state  honorably  discharged  from
  the  military  for  medical  reasons  due  to injuries suffered during
  certain military conflicts

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

  Section  1.  Section 1000 of the retirement and social security law is
amended by adding a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
   2-A. A MEMBER, UPON APPLICATION TO SUCH RETIREMENT SYSTEM, MAY OBTAIN
A TOTAL OF THREE YEARS OF SERVICE CREDIT FOR LESS THAN  THREE  YEARS  OF
MILITARY  DUTY,  AS  DEFINED  IN  SECTION TWO HUNDRED FORTY-THREE OF THE
MILITARY LAW, IF THE MEMBER WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM  THE  MILITARY
FOR  MEDICAL REASONS DUE TO INJURIES SUFFERED DURING SUCH MILITARY DUTY,
IF ALL OR PART OF SUCH SERVICES WAS RENDERED IN THE  MILITARY  CONFLICTS
REFERENCED BELOW, AS FOLLOWS:
  (A) COMMENCING DECEMBER SEVENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED FORTY-ONE AND TERMI-
NATING DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED FORTY-SIX;
  (B)  COMMENCING JUNE TWENTY-SEVENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED FIFTY AND TERMI-
NATING JANUARY THIRTY-FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE;
  (C) COMMENCING FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE  AND
TERMINATING MAY SEVENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE;
  (D)  HOSTILITIES  PARTICIPATED IN BY THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE UNITED
STATES IN LEBANON, FROM THE FIRST DAY OF JUNE, NINETEEN HUNDRED  EIGHTY-
THREE  TO  THE  FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER, NINETEEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-SEVEN, AS
ESTABLISHED BY RECEIPT OF THE ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL, THE NAVY
EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL, OR THE MARINE CORPS EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL;

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01238-03-9
              

S. 4325--A                          2

  (E) HOSTILITIES PARTICIPATED IN BY THE MILITARY FORCES OF  THE  UNITED
STATES  IN  GRENADA,  FROM  THE  TWENTY-THIRD  DAY  OF OCTOBER, NINETEEN
HUNDRED EIGHTY-THREE TO  THE  TWENTY-FIRST  DAY  OF  NOVEMBER,  NINETEEN
HUNDRED  EIGHTY-THREE,  AS  ESTABLISHED  BY  RECEIPT OF THE ARMED FORCES
EXPEDITIONARY  MEDAL,  THE NAVY EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL, OR THE MARINE CORPS
EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL;
  (F) HOSTILITIES PARTICIPATED IN BY THE MILITARY FORCES OF  THE  UNITED
STATES  IN  PANAMA, FROM THE TWENTIETH DAY OF DECEMBER, NINETEEN HUNDRED
EIGHTY-NINE TO THE THIRTY-FIRST DAY OF JANUARY, NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY,
AS ESTABLISHED BY RECEIPT OF THE ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY  MEDAL,  THE
NAVY EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL, OR THE MARINE CORPS EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL; OR
  (G)  HOSTILITIES  PARTICIPATED IN BY THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE UNITED
STATES, FROM THE SECOND DAY OF AUGUST, NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY,  TO  THE
END  OF  SUCH HOSTILITIES IN CASE OF A VETERAN WHO SERVED IN THE THEATER
OF OPERATIONS INCLUDING IRAQ, KUWAIT, SAUDI ARABIA, BAHRAIN, QATAR,  THE
UNITED  ARAB  EMIRATES,  OMAN,  THE  GULF OF ADEN, THE GULF OF OMAN, THE
PERSIAN GULF, THE RED SEA, AND THE AIRSPACE ABOVE THESE LOCATIONS.
  HOWEVER, NOTHING CONTAINED IN  THIS  SUBDIVISION  SHALL  AUTHORIZE  OR
PERMIT  THE CREDITING OF SERVICE WHERE NOT PERMITTED PURSUANT TO SECTION
415(N) OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OR ANY REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THER-
EUNDER.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  be  deemed  to
have been in full force and effect on and after December 21, 1998.
  FISCAL NOTE.--This bill would amend Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000 to
allow  certain  individuals  with  less than three (3) years of military
duty, who were discharged from the military for medical reasons  due  to
injuries suffered during such military duty, to purchase three (3) years
of  service  credit  for  military  duty.  The additional service credit
granted pursuant to this legislation, when added to credit  granted  for
military service pursuant to any other provision of law shall not exceed
a total of three (3) years. Members must have at least five (5) years of
credited  service  and  would be required to make a payment of three (3)
percent of current compensation per year of additional services  granted
by this bill.
  The  exact number of members who could be affected by this legislation
cannot be readily determined. In all likelihood, very few members  would
be affected.
  Insofar as this bill would affect the New York State and Local Employ-
ees'  Retirement System and the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System, if it is enacted, there would be  an  immediate  past
service  cost  for  each  affected member. The amount of this cost would
depend on the member's age, current service,  annual  salary,  plan  and
tier  status, as well as on the amount of additional service to be cred-
ited. This cost would be shared by the State of New York and the partic-
ipating employers in the New York State and Local Employees'  Retirement
System  and  the  New  York  State  and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System.
  This estimate, dated March 24, 2009 and intended for use  only  during
the  2009  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2009-199, 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.
  FISCAL NOTE.--This bill would add a new  subdivision  2-a  to  Section
1000  of  the  Retirement  and  Social  Security Law to allow members of
public retirement systems of New York State to claim service credit  for
up  to  three  years  of  military service, for less than three years of

S. 4325--A                          3

military duty, if  the  member  was  honorably  discharged  for  medical
reasons  due  to  injuries  suffered during such military duty. A member
must have at least five years of credited service  to  be  eligible.  To
obtain  such  credit,  a member must deposit in the pension accumulation
fund three percent of his  or  her  current  annual  full-time  rate  of
compensation  per year of military service claimed. A member who retired
on or after December 21, 1998 may apply  for  credit  pursuant  to  this
section within one year of the effective date of this act.
  It is not possible to determine the total annual cost to the employers
of  members  of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System since the
total amount of service credit which would be claimed  under  this  bill
cannot  be  estimated.  However, the cost to the employers of members of
the New York State  Teachers'  Retirement  System  is  estimated  to  be
$16,400 per year of service credited if this bill is enacted.
  The  source  of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2009-61 dated May 5, 2009
prepared by the Actuary of  the  New  York  State  Teachers'  Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2009 Legislative Session.