S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  2910--C
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 18, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. GOLDEN, FUNKE, ORTT -- read twice and ordered print-
   ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service
   and  Pensions  --  recommitted  to  the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions in accordance  with  Senate  Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  committee
   discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
   to  said  committee  --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered
   reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  committee  --  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
   criminal justice faculty employed by a community college
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  211 of the retirement and social security law is
 amended by adding a new subdivision 9 to read as follows:
   9. ANY PERSON EMPLOYED BY A COMMUNITY  COLLEGE  AS  A  FACULTY  MEMBER
 UNDER  A CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAM OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK OR
 CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK WHO RETIRED FROM PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT  WHILE  A
 MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  AND  LOCAL POLICE AND FIRE RETIREMENT
 SYSTEM, THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE PENSION FUND, OR THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE
 DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND AND WHO IS  ENTITLED  TO  RECEIVE  A  RETIREMENT
 ALLOWANCE  FROM SUCH RETIREMENT SYSTEM PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT DATE OF
 SUCH EMPLOYMENT BY A COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHALL AUTOMATICALLY BE DEEMED  TO
 HAVE  BEEN  GRANTED  A WAIVER OF RETIREMENT EARNINGS LIMITATION AND SUCH
 PERSON MAY BE EMPLOYED BY A COMMUNITY COLLEGE WITHOUT  LOSS,  SUSPENSION
 OR  DIMINUTION  OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE.  ANY PERSON EMPLOYED
 BY A COMMUNITY COLLEGE AS A FACULTY  MEMBER  UNDER  A  CRIMINAL  JUSTICE
 PROGRAM  OF  THE  STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK OR CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW
 YORK WHO HAS NOT RETIRED AS A MEMBER OF THE NEW  YORK  STATE  AND  LOCAL
 POLICE  AND  FIRE  RETIREMENT  SYSTEM,  THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE PENSION
 FUND, OR THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND SHALL NOT  AUTO-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD05989-09-8

 S. 2910--C                          2
 
 MATICALLY BE DEEMED TO HAVE BEEN GRANTED A WAIVER OF RETIREMENT EARNINGS
 LIMITATION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill will allow certain retirees of the New York State and Local
 Police and Fire Retirement System to work in a community  college  as  a
 faculty  member of a criminal justice program of the state university of
 New York or city university of New  York  without  loss,  suspension  or
 diminution of his or her retirement allowance.
   If  this bill is enacted, insofar as it will affect the New York State
 and Local Police and Fire Retirement System, we expect few  retirees  to
 be affected. There would be negligible additional annual costs.
   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  November  15,  2017, and intended for use only
 during the 2018 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2018-6, prepared
 by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY OF BILL: With respect to the New York City Police Pension Fund
 (Police) and the New York City Fire Pension Fund (Fire),  this  proposed
 legislation  would  amend  Retirement  and  Social  Security  Law (RSSL)
 Section 211 to permit eligible retirees to serve as faculty  members  in
 the criminal justice programs of the State University of New York (SUNY)
 or  City  University  of New York (CUNY) by way of an automatic post-re-
 tirement earnings waiver pursuant to the provisions of RSSL Section 211.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   IMPACT ON PENSION PAYMENTS:  Retirees  of  public  pension  funds  and
 retirement  systems who return to public service within New York, and do
 not rejoin the applicable public fund or system, are  generally  subject
 to  various post-retirement earnings restrictions. Police and Fire reti-
 rees are  subject  to,  among  other  things,  post-retirement  earnings
 restrictions as provided in RSSL Sections 211 and 212.
   Those who elect to be covered under the provisions of RSSL Section 212
 are permitted to earn post-retirement earnings from a public employer in
 an  amount  not  exceeding a specific dollar limit in each calendar year
 without loss, suspension, or diminution of their retirement  allowances.
 Once this dollar limit is reached, the retiree's retirement allowance is
 suspended  for the remainder of that calendar year. Generally, there are
 no earnings limitations in, or following, the calendar year in which the
 retiree attains age 65. Currently, the RSSL Section 212  post-retirement
 earnings limitation in effect for calendar year 2007 and each year ther-
 eafter is $30,000.

 S. 2910--C                          3
 
   When  certain  exigent  criteria  are met and approval is given to the
 employer by a specially designated entity, a  waiver  pursuant  to  RSSL
 Section  211  may  be granted, for a two-year period. Under RSSL Section
 211, there is no salary restriction for reemployment with a public enti-
 ty that is not the former employer.
   Under  the  proposed legislation, the RSSL Section 211 post-retirement
 public service earnings waiver would be automatically  granted,  without
 the  need  to  satisfy  the criteria currently required pursuant to RSSL
 Section 211, to retired Police and Fire members employed  as  a  faculty
 member in a SUNY or CUNY criminal justice program.
   For  purposes of this fiscal note, it has been assumed that Police and
 Fire retirees who are or would be employed as faculty members in a  SUNY
 or  CUNY  criminal  justice program would not be subject to any post-re-
 tirement earnings limitation pursuant to RSSL  Section  211  since  they
 would not be working for their former employer.
   For illustrative purposes only, the table below presents the estimated
 additional  retirement  allowances  paid if RSSL Section 211 waivers are
 granted in lieu of applying RSSL Section  212  post-retirement  earnings
 limitation  for  various  sample  combinations of post-retirement annual
 earnings and annual retirement allowance amounts.
 
 Annual Retirement   Annual Post-Retirement Earnings in Calendar Year
    Allowance          $40,000        $50,000        $60,000
    $30,000            $ 7,500        $12,000        $15,000
    $40,000            $10 000        $16,000        $20,000
    $50,000            $12,500        $20,000        $25,000
    $60,000            $15,000        $24,000        $30,000
    $70,000            $17,500        $28,000        $35,000

   FINANCIAL IMPACT - EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  In  accordance  with  the
 Administrative   Code   of   the   City  of  New  York  (ACCNY)  Section
 13-638.2(k-2), new Unfunded  Accrued  Liability  (UAL)  attributable  to
 benefit changes are to be amortized as determined by the Actuary but are
 generally  amortized  over  the  remaining  working  lifetime  of  those
 impacted by the benefit changes. However, since changes in the  applica-
 ble  retirement  allowances  paid to Police and Fire retirees under this
 proposed legislation are not known in advance, the increase  in  pension
 payments  due to this legislation would be treated as an actuarial loss.
 These actuarial losses would be amortized  over  a  15-year  period  (14
 payments  under  the One-Year Lag Methodology (OYLM)) using level dollar
 payments.
   The number of Police  and  Fire  retirees  who  could  potentially  be
 impacted  by  this  proposed  legislation  cannot be readily determined.
 However, the Actuary believes the increase in pension payments,  if  the
 proposed  legislation is enacted, would be approximately $1.5 million to
 $2.0 million per year for  each  100  faculty  SUNY  and  CUNY  criminal
 justice  program  positions created for eligible Police and Fire service
 retires.  This would result in an increase in annual  employer  contrib-
 utions  of  $180,000  to $240,000 compounded each year (e.g. $240,000 in
 the first year, $480,000 in the second year, $720,000 in the third year,
 etc.) for 14 years and then will remain level thereafter,  assuming  100
 such  faculty  members are employed each year. Future years' costs would
 depend on factors such as, but not limited to, the  number  of  retirees
 that  benefit under the legislation and the amount of their earnings and
 retirement allowances.

 S. 2910--C                          4
 
   CONTRIBUTION TIMING: For purposes of this Fiscal Note, it  is  assumed
 that  the change in the UAL would be reflected for the first time in the
 June 30, 2019 actuarial valuations of Police and Fire. Under  the  OYLM,
 the  first  fiscal  year in which these changes in benefits would impact
 employer contributions would be Fiscal Year 2021.
   OTHER  COSTS:  Not  measured  in  this  Fiscal  Note  are any possible
 increased administrative costs attributable to enactment of the proposed
 legislation.
   CENSUS DATA: For purposes of analyzing  the  impact  of  the  proposed
 legislation,  illustrative  examples  with various salary and retirement
 allowance amounts have been provided above.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes  in  employer  contrib-
 utions presented herein have been calculated based on the same actuarial
 assumptions  and methods in effect for the June 30, 2017 (Lag) actuarial
 valuation used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal  Year  2019  employer
 contributions  of  Police  and  Fire.  Please note these assumptions and
 methods are subject to change as this valuation is not considered  final
 until the end of the Fiscal Year 2019.
   STATEMENT  OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu-
 ary for, and independent of, the New York City  Retirement  Systems  and
 Pension  Funds.  I  am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled
 Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security  Act  of  1974
 (ERISA),  a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of
 the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification  Stand-
 ards  of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opin-
 ion contained herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results contained
 herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuari-
 al principles and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards  of  Prac-
 tice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2018-50, dated August 14,
 2018  was  prepared  by  the  Chief Actuary for the New York City Police
 Pension Fund and the New York City Fire Pension Fund. This  estimate  is
 intended for use only during the 2018 Legislative Session.