S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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11491
I N A S S E M B L Y
June 17, 2010
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Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Abbate) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
service retirement benefits for court reporters employed by the
unified court system
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision b of section 442 of the retirement and social
security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 1-a to read as
follows:
1-A. A MEMBER WHO IS A COURT REPORTER EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT
SYSTEM MAY RETIRE WITHOUT REDUCTION OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT BENEFIT
UPON HIS OR HER ATTAINMENT OF AT LEAST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND
COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE; AND
S 2. Subdivision a of section 503 of the retirement and social securi-
ty law, as amended by chapter 662 of the laws of 1988, is amended to
read as follows:
a. The normal service retirement benefit specified in section five
hundred four OF THIS ARTICLE shall be payable to general members, other
than elective members, who have met the minimum service requirements
upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, a
general member who is a peace officer employed by the unified court
system or a member of a teachers' retirement system may retire without
reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at least
fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or more years of
service; AND PROVIDED FURTHER THAT A GENERAL MEMBER WHO IS A COURT
REPORTER EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM MAY RETIRE WITHOUT
REDUCTION OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT BENEFIT UPON ATTAINMENT OF AT LEAST
FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF
SERVICE.
S 3. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
ty law, as amended by section 7 of part B of chapter 504 of the laws of
2009, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17288-02-0
A. 11491 2
a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement
pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of
section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c of section six hundred
four-g of this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this
article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
the New York state and local employees' retirement system who first
joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the unified
court system may retire without reduction of his or her retirement bene-
fit upon attainment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion
of thirty or more years of service, provided, however, that a uniformed
court officer or peace officer employed by the unified court system who
first becomes a member of the New York state and local employees'
retirement system on or after January first, two thousand ten and
retires without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attain-
ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
more years of service pursuant to this section shall be required to make
the member contributions required by subdivision f of section six
hundred thirteen of this article for all years of credited and credita-
ble service. A MEMBER WHO IS A COURT REPORTER EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED
COURT SYSTEM MAY RETIRE WITHOUT REDUCTION OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT BENE-
FIT UPON ATTAINMENT OF AT LEAST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND COMPLETION
OF TWENTY-FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.
S 4. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
ty law, as amended by section 3-a of chapter 19 of the laws of 2008, is
amended to read as follows:
a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement
pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
d of section six hundred four-d of this article, subdivision c of
section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c of section six hundred
four-g of this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
this article or subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of this
article provided, however, a member who is a peace officer employed by
the unified court system or a member of a teachers' retirement system or
the New York state and local employees' retirement system may retire
without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at
least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or more years of
service; A MEMBER WHO IS A COURT REPORTER EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT
SYSTEM MAY RETIRE WITHOUT REDUCTION OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT BENEFIT
UPON ATTAINMENT OF AT LEAST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND COMPLETION OF
TWENTY-FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.
S 5. Paragraph 1 of subdivision b of section 902 of the retirement and
social security law, as amended by section 10 of part B of chapter 504
of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
A. 11491 3
1. [An] EXCEPT FOR A COURT REPORTER OF THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM, AN
eligible employee (i) with a date of membership in a retirement system
on or after July twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred seventy-six and before
January first, two thousand ten, and (ii) who has ten or more years of
membership or ten or more years of credited service with a retirement
system under the provisions of article fourteen or fifteen of this chap-
ter shall not be required to contribute to a retirement system pursuant
to section five hundred seventeen or six hundred thirteen of this chap-
ter as of the cessation date. COURT REPORTERS OF THE UNIFIED COURT
SYSTEM WITH TEN OR MORE YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP OR TEN OR MORE YEARS OF
CREDITED SERVICE SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO CONTRIBUTE TO A RETIREMENT
SYSTEM PURSUANT TO SECTION SIX HUNDRED THIRTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER.
S 6. The cost attributable to the operation of this act shall be borne
by the unified court system.
S 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, that the amend-
ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
rity law made by section three of this act shall be subject to the expi-
ration and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to section 13 of
chapter 682 of the laws of 2003, as amended, when upon such date the
provisions of section four of this act shall take effect.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow Tier 2, 3, 4 and 5 Court Reporters employed by
the Unified Court System to retire without benefit reduction due to
early retirement upon the attainment of age fifty-five (55) and
completion of at least twenty-five (25) years of service. In addition,
the bill will provide that Tier 5 court reporters will stop paying 3%
member contributions after ten years of service credit.
If this bill is enacted, we anticipate that there will be an increase
of approximately $220,000 in the annual contributions of the State of
New York, on behalf of the Unified Court System for the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2011. In addition, for all Tier 5 court reporters
employed by the Unified Court System, there will also be an annual
increase to the State of New York of approximately 2.4%.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $9.64 million which
would be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This
estimate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on March
1, 2011.
These estimated costs are based on one thousand sixty-two (1,062)
known affected court reporters having a total estimated annual salary
for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009 of approximately $100 million.
This estimate, dated June 9, 2010 and intended for use only during the
2010 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-164, prepared by the
Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.