S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                   6604
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               March 9, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ABBATE  -- (at request of the New York State
   Teachers' Retirement System) -- read once and referred to the  Commit-
   tee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education  law, in relation to making technical
   corrections  to  eliminate  the  restrictions  upon  transferring  for
   members of the New York state teachers' retirement system
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section  522  of  the  education  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  219  of  the  laws  of 1976, is amended to read as
 follows:
   2. Any contributor entering the retirement system after  having  with-
 drawn from another retirement system and having given notice at the time
 of  withdrawal  to  the  retirement  board  of such system of his OR HER
 intention of becoming [within one  year]  a  member  of  the  retirement
 system, may deposit in the annuity savings fund the amount of his OR HER
 accumulated contributions withdrawn from such other retirement system or
 if  the  member  had no accumulated contributions credited to his OR HER
 individual account in such other retirement system, such member shall in
 lieu of depositing moneys in the annuity savings fund, file a notice  of
 intent  to  transfer  pursuant  to  rules and regulations adopted by the
 retirement board.  [Within one year of such deposit or] UPON the  filing
 of  a  notice of intent to transfer as provided by this subdivision, the
 pension reserve to his OR HER credit in such other retirement system, if
 such other retirement system is operated upon an actuarial  basis  under
 the  laws  of this state, shall be transferred, and if such other system
 is operated upon an actuarial basis under the laws of another state, may
 be  transferred  to  the  pension  accumulation  fund.   Notwithstanding
 anything  to  the  contrary  in  this article, such contributor shall be
 classified in this retirement system as a present teacher or  as  a  new
 entrant  accordingly  as  he  OR  SHE would have been classified had the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD10537-01-7

 A. 6604                             2
 
 service rendered in the other retirement system been  rendered  while  a
 member  of  this  retirement  system.  A  person  so transferred to this
 retirement system or who has heretofore transferred to  this  retirement
 system  shall  be deemed to have been a member of this retirement system
 during the entire period of membership service credited to him OR HER in
 the system from which he OR SHE has transferred. Such transferee, howev-
 er, shall not receive more than three per cent interest on  his  OR  HER
 contributions and accumulated contributions unless he OR SHE has contin-
 uously  been  a  member  in  either  the system from which he OR SHE has
 transferred or in this retirement system since a date prior to the first
 day of July, nineteen hundred forty-eight. 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 this retirement system is  changed.  In
 case he OR SHE comes from a retirement system not under the laws of this
 state,  he  OR  SHE shall be given a prior service certificate showing a
 period of service such that the liability  incurred  by  the  retirement
 system  on  his OR HER account by reason of prior service shall be equal
 in amount to the amount of the reserve so transferred, provided that  in
 no  case  shall such a contributor who is classified as a new entrant be
 given less credit in his OR HER prior service certificate than he OR SHE
 would have received had no  reserve  been  transferred  on  his  OR  HER
 account.  In  case  a  contributor  transfers between retirement systems
 under the laws of this state, he OR SHE shall be credited in the  system
 to  which  he  OR SHE is transferring with all service allowed to him OR
 HER in the first system. Such  contributor,  notwithstanding  any  other
 provision  of  law, shall on retirement [after three years of service in
 the second retirement system] be entitled to a pension based on [a final
 average] salary earned during [any five  consecutive  years  of]  MEMBER
 service  [in  either  retirement  system  or] in both retirement systems
 together, [whichever average amount may be the greater, with the  condi-
 tion  that  no  such  contributor shall be entitled on retirement within
 three years of the date of his transfer to a greater  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]
 PURSUANT TO THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECOND RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
   §  2.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
 have been in full force and effect on and after November 14, 2016.
   FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would amend subdivision 2 of Section 522  of  the  Education
 Law  to  remove  the  one  year time limit for members to give notice of
 their intent to transfer between retirement  systems.  This  bill  would
 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.
   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.

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   The  source  of  this  estimate is Fiscal Note 2017-3 dated October 7,
 2016 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers'  Retirement
 System and is intended for use only during the 2017 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.