S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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7386--A
Cal. No. 744
I N S E N A T E
April 25, 2016
___________
Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
-- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second
report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the transfer of members between public retirement systems; and to
repeal subdivisions g and i of section 43 of such law relating thereto
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivisions b and d of section 43 of the retirement and
social security law, subdivision b as amended by chapter 724 of the laws
of 1959 and subdivision d as amended by chapter 905 of the laws of 1971,
are amended to read as follows:
b. In order to effect such a transfer, a member must give notice to
the administrative head of the retirement system of which he OR SHE is a
member, prior to his OR HER withdrawal therefrom, of his OR HER inten-
tion to enter such other retirement system [within one year. In the case
of a person who has withdrawn from a retirement system and has been
entitled to at least thirty years of total service credit in such
system, however, such notice may be given within three years from the
time of such withdrawal. In the case of a person who was a member of a
retirement system, and who while under such status becomes a member of
such second retirement system, and who has not withdrawn his contrib-
utions to the first such retirement system, any provisions of law
notwithstanding, such notice may be given on or before June thirtieth,
nineteen hundred fifty-nine]. A person so transferring from one retire-
ment system to another shall be deemed to have been a member of the
system to which he OR SHE has transferred during the entire period of
membership service credited to him OR HER in the system from which he OR
SHE has transferred. Such transferee, however, shall not receive more
than three per cent interest on his OR HER contributions and accumulated
contributions unless he OR SHE has continuously been a member in either
the system from which or to which he OR SHE is transferring since a date
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15108-04-6
S. 7386--A 2
prior to July first, nineteen hundred forty-three. This shall not be
construed to prevent a change in the interest rate to such member if the
interest rate payable to other members of the system to which he OR SHE
has transferred is changed. Any member who heretofore transferred from
one retirement system to another shall, commencing with the effective
date of [this act] CHAPTER NINE HUNDRED THREE OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN
HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN, be entitled to the same rights, privileges and
benefits, and shall be subject to the same obligations, as a transferee
who [hereafter] THEREAFTER transfers. He OR SHE shall receive no credit
for prior service, except as hereinafter provided. He OR SHE shall be
permitted to deposit in the second retirement system the total amount of
his contributions withdrawn from the first retirement system. [Upon such
deposit within one year or within three years, or on or before June
thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-nine, as the case may be, he or the
administrative head of the system to which he desires to transfer, shall
request the administrative head of the first retirement system to trans-
fer to the second retirement system a credit on account of his member-
ship in such system.]
d. Such reserve shall be transferred from the appropriate fund or
funds of the first system to the appropriate fund or funds of the second
system [within one year from the date of the request for a transfer of
credit]. Such member, thereupon, shall be given such status and credited
with such service in the second retirement system as he was allowed in
the first retirement system. Such contributor, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, shall on retirement [after three years of member
service in the second retirement system] be entitled to a pension based
on salary earned during member service [in either retirement system, or]
in both retirement systems together, [whichever may produce the greater
pension] pursuant to the statutory requirements of the second retirement
system. [No such contributor, however, shall be entitled on retirement
within three years of the date of his transfer, to a greater or lesser
pension for such service rendered before his transfer than he would have
received had he remained under the pension provisions of the first
retirement system.]
S 2. Subdivisions g and i of section 43 of the retirement and social
security law are REPEALED.
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law Section 50:
PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: This proposed legislation would
amend subdivisions b and d of Section 43 of the Retirement and Social
Security Law (RSSL) to simplify the administration of transfers between
the retirement systems within New York State. The proposed legislation
would also repeal subdivisions g and i of Section 43 of the RSSL to
simplify the statute by removing outdated language that no longer
affects members of any of the retirement systems.
The effective date of the proposed legislation would be the date of
enactment.
IMPACT ON BENEFITS: The proposed change to subdivision b of Section 43
of the RSSL would eliminate the one-year time limit for members to give
notice of their intent to transfer between retirement systems. The
proposed change to subdivision d of Section 43 of the RSSL would elimi-
nate the requirement that a transferee acquire at least three years of
service in the second retirement system in order to have their pension
calculated using service credit and salary history as if they were
always in the second retirement system.
S. 7386--A 3
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The number of members expected to be impacted by
this proposed legislation cannot be readily determined. However, based
on the small number of members who would have been affected by this
change in the past, enactment of this proposed legislation is expected
to result in an increase in employer contributions of no more than
$25,000 per year, in total, to the New York City Employees' Retirement
System, the New York City Teachers' Retirement System and the New York
City Board of Education Retirement System.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES: The enactment of this
legislation is expected to serve to alleviate administrative burdens by
reducing multiple transfers by members who change employment several
times.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu-
ary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am an Associate of the
Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries
and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I meet the Qualifica-
tion Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actu-
arial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only
during the 2016 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2016-16, dated
April 5, 2016 prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City
Employees' Retirement System, the New York City Teachers' Retirement
System and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law Section 50:
This bill will remove the one year time limit for members to give
notice of their intent to transfer between public retirement systems in
New York State. In addition this bill will remove the requirement that
the transferee attain at least three years of service credit in the
second system in order to have their pension calculated using service
credit and salary history as if they were always in the second system.
Lastly, this bill repeals subdivisions g and i of Section 43 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law that no longer affect members of the
retirement system.
If this legislation is enacted during the 2016 legislative session, we
estimate that the annual cost will be negligible.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2015 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2015
Report of the Actuary and the 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015
Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes
Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2015
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
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 June 7, 2016, and intended for use only during
the 2016 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2016-113, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law Section 50:
This bill would amend Section 43 of the Retirement and Social Security
Law to remove the one year time limit for members to give notice of
their intent to transfer between retirement systems. This bill would
S. 7386--A 4
also remove the restriction on a member who transfers that he/she may
not retire within three years and receive a greater benefit for the
service rendered before transfer than he/she would have received under
the prior retirement system. Additionally, this bill would repeal subdi-
visions g and i of Section 43.
The annual cost to the employers of members of the New York State
Teachers' Retirement System is estimated to be negligible if this bill
is enacted.
Employee data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation
files, consisting of data provided by the employers to the Retirement
System. Data distributions and statistics can be found in the System's
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). System assets are as
reported in the System's financial statements, and can also be found in
the CAFR. Actuarial assumptions and methods are provided in the System's
Actuarial Valuation Report.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2016-27 dated June 9, 2016
prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2016 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.
