Senate Bill S4314

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

                                  4314

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 21, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. NOZZOLIO -- 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
  providing  credit to members of public retirement systems of the state
  for military service rendered during periods of military conflict

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

  Section  1.  Paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision 2 and subdivi-
sion 6 of section 1000 of the retirement and  social  security  law,  as
added  by  chapter  548  of  the  laws  of  2000, are amended to read as
follows:
  (a) 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];
  (b)  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];
  (c) 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  nine-
ty[,  as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal,
the navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary  medal];
or
  6.  To  be  eligible to receive credit for military service under this
section, a member must make  application  for  such  credit  before  the
effective  date of retirement. [Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD00834-02-9
              

S. 4314                             2

of this subdivision, an individual who  retired  on  or  after  December
twenty-first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-eight  and before the effective
date of this section may make application for credit  pursuant  to  this
section within one year following the effective date of this section, in
which  event, the cost to the retiree would be based on the twelve month
period immediately preceding retirement.] ANY RETIRED MEMBERS SEEKING TO
RECEIVE CREDIT FOR MILITARY SERVICE UNDER THIS SECTION MUST MAKE  APPLI-
CATION  FOR  SUCH  CREDIT WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE
CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND NINE WHICH AMENDED THIS SUBDIVISION.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to legislative law,  section  50:    This  bill
would  extend  the  benefits of Chapter 548, Laws of 2000 to members and
retirees of public retirement systems in New  York  State  who  rendered
military   service   in   Lebanon   from  6/1/83-12/1/87,  Grenada  from
10/23/83-11/21/83 or Panama from 12/20/89-1/31/90 who did not receive an
expeditionary medal. However,the total service credit  granted  for  any
military  service shall not exceed three (3) years. Members must have at
least five years of credited service (not including  military  service).
Retirees  must  have retired on or after December 21, 1998. The recalcu-
lated annual allowance will be retroactive to the  date  of  retirement.
Members  would  be  required to make a payment of three percent of their
most recent compensation per year of additional service  credit  granted
by this bill. Retirees will receive this additional service credit at no
charge.
  If this bill is enacted, insofar as this proposal affects the New York
State  and  Local  Employees  Retirement System (ERS), there would be an
estimated past service cost  which  would  exceed  10  percent  of  each
members'  salary  for  each  year  of  additional service credit that is
purchased.
  Insofar as this proposal affects the New York State and  Local  Police
and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), the cost per person would vary great-
ly. If a member purchases this additional service credit to enable imme-
diate  retirement,  the cost would exceed 30% of the member's salary for
each year of additional service credit that is purchased. For  a  member
on  a retirement plan which is capped after reaching a certain number of
years of service credit, there would be no benefit from this  additional
service credit if they will or already have reached the cap without this
service credit.
  If less than 200 of the active membership and post 12/21/1998 retirees
have  such  military  service and will benefit by purchasing the service
credit, there will be estimated increases  in  annual  contributions  of
less  than  $250,000  to  employers in the ERS and less than $100,000 to
employers in the PFRS.
  In addition to the above costs, there would be  additional  costs  for
future  members  of  the  Retirement  System's  who  have  such military
service.
  This estimate, dated April 21, 2009 and intended for use  only  during
the  2009  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2009-220, 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.