Assembly Bill A10131

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

                                  10131

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               May 9, 2012
                               ___________

Introduced by 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
  providing veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan  with  the
  option  to  purchase  retirement service credit for time served in the
  theater of operation

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

  Section  1. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section 1000 of
the retirement and social security law, as added by chapter 548  of  the
laws  of  2000,  are amended and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as
follows:
  (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 ninety,
as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary  medal,  the
navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal; [or]
  (d)  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[.]; OR
  (E) HOSTILITIES PARTICIPATED IN BY THE MILITARY FORCES OF  THE  UNITED
STATES, FROM THE SEVENTH DAY OF OCTOBER, TWO THOUSAND ONE, TO THE END OF
SUCH  HOSTILITIES  IN THE CASE OF A VETERAN WHO SERVED IN THE THEATER OF
OPERATIONS INCLUDING EITHER IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN AND THE  AIRSPACE  ABOVE
THESE LOCATIONS.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill would amend subdivision 2 of section 1000 of the Retirement
and Social Security Law to add Iraq and Afghanistan to the list of thea-
ters of operations in which a member of a public  retirement  system  of
New  York  State  may  claim  service credit. A member may claim service

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

                                                           LBD15597-01-2

A. 10131                            2

credit for up to  three  years  of  military  service  performed  during
hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United States,
from  the  seventh  day of October, two thousand one, to the end of such
hostilities.  A member must have at least five years of credited service
to be eligible and make application for such credit before the effective
date of retirement. To obtain such credit, the member shall  deposit  in
the  pension  accumulation fund a sum equal to the product of the period
of military service being claimed  and  three  percent  of  his  or  her
current  annual  full-time  rate  of  compensation.  This act shall take
effect immediately.
  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
$18,300 per year of service credited for Tier 1 and 2  members,  $17,900
per  year  of service credited for Tier 3 and 4 members, and $16,700 per
year of service credited for Tier 5 members if this bill is enacted.
  The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2012-18 dated March 7, 2012
prepared by the Actuary of  the  New  York  State  Teachers'  Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2012 Legislative Session.
I,  Richard  A.  Young,  am the Actuary for the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System. I am a member of the American  Academy  of  Actuaries
and  I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu-
aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This bill would allow up to three (3)  years  of  service  credit  for
members  of  public  retirement  systems  in New York State who rendered
military service from October 7, 2001 to the end of such hostilities  in
Afghanistan and were assigned to the theater of operations. 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). 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.
  If this bill is enacted, insofar as this proposal affects the New York
State and Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS), it is estimated that
the  past  service  cost  will  average approximately 12% of an affected
members' compensation 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), it is estimated that the past service
cost will average approximately 17% of an affected members' compensation
for each year of additional service that is purchased.
  If  less  than 300 of the active membership have such military service
and will benefit by purchasing the service credit, there will  be  esti-
mated increases in annual contributions of less than $450,000 to employ-
ers in the ERS and less than $170,000 to employers in the PFRS.
  In  addition  to  the above costs, there would be additional costs for
future members of the Retirement System who have such military service.
  Summary of relevant resources:
  Data: March 31, 2011 Actuarial Year End  File  with  distributions  of
membership  and  other  statistics  displayed  in the 2011 Report of the
Actuary and 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

A. 10131                            3

  Assumptions and Methods: 2010 and 2011  Annual  Report  to  the  Comp-
troller  on  Actuarial  Assumptions,  Codes Rules and Regulations of the
State of New York: Audit and Control.
  Market  Assets and GASB Disclosures: March 31, 2011 New York State and
Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary  Informa-
tion.
  Valuations  of Benefit Liabilities and Actuarial Assets: summarized in
the 2011 Actuarial Valuations report.
  I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
  This estimate, dated February 17,  2012  and  intended  for  use  only
during  the  2012  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2012-65,
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.