Senate Bill S3991A

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  3991--A
     Cal. No. 1458
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 1, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MURPHY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- committee discharged and said bill committed to  the  Committee  on
   Rules  --  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
   including  assistant  wardens  as  eligible members for performance of
   duty disability retirement benefits
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivisions  a,  b  and  paragraph 2 of subdivision d of
 section 63-b of the retirement and social  security  law,  as  added  by
 chapter 639 of the laws of 1999, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  A  member employed by a county shall be eligible for a performance
 of duty disability retirement if the county elects to make the  benefits
 provided  herein  available,  as  provided  for in subdivision d of this
 section, and such member is a  sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  undersheriff,
 ASSISTANT WARDEN or correction officer.
   b.  Any  sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  undersheriff, ASSISTANT WARDEN or
 correction officer as defined in subdivision  a  of  this  section,  who
 becomes  physically  or  mentally  incapacitated  for the performance of
 duties as the natural and proximate result of an  injury,  sustained  in
 the  performance or discharge of his or her duties by, or as the natural
 and proximate result of an act of any inmate or any person  confined  in
 an  institution  under  the jurisdiction of such county, shall be paid a
 performance of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that  which
 is  provided  in  section  sixty-three  of  this  title,  subject to the
 provisions of section sixty-four of this title.
   2. The performance of duty disability retirement as defined in  subdi-
 visions  b  and  c  of this section shall be available only to sheriffs,
 deputy sheriffs, undersheriffs, ASSISTANT WARDENS and  correction  offi-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02321-04-7

 S. 3991--A                          2
 
 cers whose employer elects to provide such benefits by adopting a resol-
 ution  to such effect and filing a certified copy thereof with the comp-
 troller. Such resolution shall be accompanied by the  affidavit  of  the
 chief  executive  officer  of the county that the county has received an
 estimate from the retirement system of the cost of the benefit  provided
 by this section.
   §  2.  Subdivisions  a  and  f  of section 607-c of the retirement and
 social security law, subdivision a as added by chapter 639 of  the  laws
 of  1999  and subdivision f as added by chapter 521 of the laws of 2014,
 are amended to read as follows:
   a. Any sheriff, deputy  sheriff,  undersheriff,  ASSISTANT  WARDEN  or
 correction  officer as defined in subdivision a of section sixty-three-b
 of this chapter, and who  are  employed  in  a  county  which  makes  an
 election  pursuant  to  subdivision d of such section sixty-three-b, who
 becomes physically or mentally  incapacitated  for  the  performance  of
 duties  as  the  natural and proximate result of an injury, sustained in
 the performance or discharge of his or her duties by, or as the  natural
 and  proximate result of any act of any inmate or any person confined in
 an institution under the jurisdiction of such county, shall  be  paid  a
 performance  of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that which
 is provided in section sixty-three  of  this  chapter,  subject  to  the
 provisions of section sixty-four of this chapter.
   f.  Any  sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  undersheriff, ASSISTANT WARDEN or
 correction officer as defined in subdivision a of section  sixty-three-b
 of this chapter, and who are employed in Westchester county, who becomes
 physically  or  mentally  incapacitated for the performance of duties as
 the natural and proximate result of an injury, sustained in the perform-
 ance or discharge of his or her duties by, or as the natural and  proxi-
 mate  result of an intentional or reckless act of any civilian visiting,
 or otherwise present at, an institution under the jurisdiction  of  such
 county, shall be paid a performance of duty disability retirement allow-
 ance  equal  to  that  which  is provided in section sixty-three of this
 chapter, subject to the provisions of section sixty-four of  this  chap-
 ter.
   §  3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall  be  subject  to  the  appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL  NOTE.--This  bill  will  grant  coverage  under  a  75% of pay
 performance of duty  disability  benefit  for  assistant  wardens  whose
 employers  already  have elected to provide this benefit for their sher-
 iff, undersheriff, deputy sheriffs and correction officers.
   If this bill is enacted, the increase in the annual  contributions  of
 such affected counties will depend on the current salary and plan cover-
 age  of  the  affected members in its employ. For the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2018, the additional annual cost, expressed as a percentage of
 annual pay of the affected members, will be 2.1% of pay for tiers  3,  4
 and  5,  and  1.9%  of pay for tier 6. In future years, this annual cost
 will vary as the billing rates of these plans change.
   There would also be a one-time past  service  cost  of  12.6%  of  the
 affected  wardens' annual billing salaries. This past service cost would
 be shared by the State of New York and the  participating  employers  in
 the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.
   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, 2016  actuarial  valu-

 S. 3991--A                          3

 ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2016
 Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2016  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015
 and 2016 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, 2016
 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  January  30,  2017,  and intended for use only
 during the  2017  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2017-41,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.