S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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7342--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 24, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on
Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
calculating pension benefits for public employees
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 75 of the retirement and social security law is
amended by adding a new subdivision e to read as follows:
E. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS TITLE, ALL FINAL AVERAGE SALARIES SHALL BE
CALCULATED EXCLUSIVE OF ANY FORM OF OVERTIME COMPENSATION, UNUSED VACA-
TION TIME, UNUSED SICK LEAVE OR UNUSED PERSONAL TIME.
§ 2. Section 375 of the retirement and social security law is amended
by adding a new subdivision e to read as follows:
E. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS TITLE, ALL FINAL AVERAGE SALARIES SHALL BE
CALCULATED EXCLUSIVE OF ANY FORM OF OVERTIME COMPENSATION, UNUSED VACA-
TION TIME, UNUSED SICK LEAVE OR UNUSED PERSONAL TIME.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would reduce the retirement benefits for members who retire
from the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and
the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) by
requiring the exclusion of any form of overtime compensation, unused
vacation time, unused sick leave or unused personal time in the calcu-
lation of final average salary (FAS).
This legislation would reduce the benefits of many members in the ERS
and PFRS who retire on or after the effective date. If this becomes law,
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10333-03-8
A. 7342--A 2
it is likely to face a constitutional challenge based upon the guarantee
that a member's benefits may not be diminished.
There would be an administrative cost to the System to change the FAS
calculation.
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, 2017 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2017
Report of the Actuary and the 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, and 2017 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
tions, 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, 2017
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 March 5, 2018, and intended for use only during
the 2018 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2018-70, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.