S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7078
I N S E N A T E
March 10, 2010
___________
Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
transfer of retirement membership for employees of SUNY within the
professional, scientific and technical bargaining unit
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
a new section 618 to read as follows:
S 618. TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP INTO NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES'
RETIREMENT SYSTEM. A. DEFINITIONS. WHENEVER USED IN THIS SECTION:
1. THE TERM "ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE" SHALL MEAN A PERSON WHO AS OF THE
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION IS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF
NEW YORK IN A POSITION WITHIN THE PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL
BARGAINING UNIT AND WHO IS AS OF SAID EFFECTIVE DATE A MEMBER OF THE
OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM AND WHO FIRST BECAME AN EMPLOYEE OF THE
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ON A DATE BETWEEN JANUARY FIRST, NINETEEN
HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR AND DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND AND WHO IS
STILL EMPLOYED BY THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AS OF THE DATE SAID
EMPLOYEE FILES AN APPLICATION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION B OF THIS SECTION;
2. THE TERM "OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM" SHALL MEAN THE OPTIONAL
RETIREMENT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE EIGHT-B OF THE EDUCA-
TION LAW.
B. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE
SHALL BE ALLOWED TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM BY FILING AN APPLICATION WITH SAID RETIRE-
MENT SYSTEM NO LATER THAN DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN.
C. AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE WHO FILES AN APPLICATION TO BECOME A MEMBER OF
THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM SHALL BE
DEEMED TO BE A MEMBER OF THAT RETIREMENT SYSTEM WITH A DATE OF MEMBER-
SHIP AS OF THE DATE SAID ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE WAS FIRST EMPLOYED BY THE
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK. THE ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE
OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM SHALL TERMINATE AS OF THE DATE SAID APPLICA-
TION IS FILED.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16067-01-0
S. 7078 2
D. AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE WHO BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK STATE AND
LOCAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION B OF THIS
SECTION SHALL BEGIN ACCRUING SERVICE CREDIT IN SAID RETIREMENT SYSTEM AS
OF THE DATE SUCH APPLICATION IS FILED, BUT SAID ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE SHALL
NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY PREVIOUS SERVICE CREDIT FOR ANY PERIOD OF EMPLOY-
MENT DURING WHICH SAID ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE WAS A MEMBER OF THE OPTIONAL
RETIREMENT PROGRAM, EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION. AN ELIGIBLE
EMPLOYEE WHO BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES'
RETIREMENT SYSTEM PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION B OF THIS SECTION MAY ELECT TO
PURCHASE CREDIT FOR PREVIOUS SERVICE FOR ANY PERIOD DURING WHICH SAID
EMPLOYEE WAS A MEMBER OF THE OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM BY FILING AN
APPLICATION WITH THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT
SYSTEM NO LATER THAN DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN AND BY
PAYING TO SAID RETIREMENT SYSTEM AN AMOUNT AS DETERMINED BY THE COMP-
TROLLER EQUAL TO THE FULL COST OF SUCH PREVIOUS SERVICE CREDIT
PURCHASED. SAID PAYMENT MAY BE MADE BY A TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM THE
EMPLOYEE'S OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM ACCOUNT TO THE NEW YORK STATE AND
LOCAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM. SAID PAYMENT MAY ALSO BE MADE IN ONE
PAYMENT BY THE EMPLOYEE OR BY PAYROLL DEDUCTION OVER A PERIOD NOT TO
EXCEED FIVE YEARS.
S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE: Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will allow employees of the State University of New York
(SUNY) in a position within the Professional, Scientific and Technical
bargaining unit, who first became employed with SUNY between January 1,
1994 and December 31, 2000, and who enrolled in the Optional Retirement
Program to terminate their membership in the Optional Retirement Program
and to apply to become members of the New York State and Local Employ-
ees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) as of such date of application.
Affected members will have to pay the entire past service cost as deter-
mined by by Comptroller in order to get retirement service credit for
the service rendered before their dates of membership.
If this bill is enacted, the number of employees who may be affected
by this legislation cannot be readily determined. For every employee who
does so elect, there will be an annual cost to the State of New York of
approximately 9.2% of salary for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.
In addition to the annual cost above, for every member who elects this
benefit, there will be a past service cost that will depend on the age,
service and salary of the member. The members will be able to offset
this cost by the transfer of funds from their Optional Retirement
Program balances. For an individual member, if the amount transferred
from the Optional Retirement Program is less than the past service cost,
the member will have to make up the difference either as a one-time
payment or by making a series of payments over a period of five (5)
years.
This estimate, dated January 6, 2010 and intended for use only during
the 2010 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-9, prepared by the
Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.
