Assembly Bill A7615A

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7615--A
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on  Governmental  Employees  --  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
   establishing  a  twenty-five  year  retirement  plan  for firefighters
   employed by the division of military and naval affairs
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 89-x to read as follows:
   §  89-X. TWENTY-FIVE YEAR RETIREMENT PLAN FOR FIREFIGHTERS EMPLOYED BY
 THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS FIREFIGHTERS. A. A MEMBER WHO
 SERVES AS AN AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER  APPRENTICE,  AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER  I,
 AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY
 OFFICER AND IS EMPLOYED BY THE DIVISION OF MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  AFFAIRS
 SHALL  BE ELIGIBLE TO RETIRE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
 SUCH ELIGIBILITY SHALL BE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE  ELIGIBILITY  PROVISIONS
 AVAILABLE  UNDER  ANY OTHER PLAN OF THIS ARTICLE TO WHICH SUCH MEMBER IS
 SUBJECT.
   B. SUCH MEMBER SHALL BE ENTITLED TO  RETIRE  UPON  THE  COMPLETION  OF
 TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE BY FILING AN APPLICATION
 THEREFOR IN THE MANNER PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION SEVENTY OF THIS ARTICLE.
   C. UPON COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  SUCH  SERVICE  AND  UPON
 RETIREMENT,  EACH  SUCH  MEMBER  SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION WHICH, TOGETHER
 WITH AN ANNUITY WHICH SHALL BE THE ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT OF  HIS  OR  HER
 ACCUMULATED  CONTRIBUTIONS  AT  THE TIME OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT AND AN
 ADDITIONAL PENSION WHICH IS THE ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT  OF  THE  RESERVED-
 FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY  TO  WHICH  HE  OR  SHE MAY THEN BE ENTITLED
 SHALL BE SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE HIM OR HER WITH  A  RETIREMENT  ALLOWANCE
 EQUAL TO ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11140-03-9
              

 A. 7615--A                          2
 
   D. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, "CREDITABLE SERVICE" SHALL INCLUDE ANY AND
 ALL  SERVICES PERFORMED AS A FIREFIGHTER APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER
 I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER  III,  OR  TRAINING  AND
 SAFETY OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS.
   E.  CREDIT  FOR SERVICE AS A PAID FIREFIGHTER OR OFFICER OF ANY ORGAN-
 IZED FIRE DEPARTMENT SHALL ALSO BE DEEMED TO BE CREDITABLE  SERVICE  AND
 SHALL  BE  INCLUDED  IN  COMPUTING YEARS OF TOTAL SERVICE FOR RETIREMENT
 PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION.
   F. A MEMBER CONTRIBUTING ON THE BASIS OF THIS SECTION AT THE  TIME  OF
 RETIREMENT,  MAY  RETIRE  AFTER  THE  COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF
 TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE. APPLICATION THEREFOR MAY BE FILED IN A  MANNER
 SIMILAR  TO  THAT  PROVIDED  IN  SECTION  SEVENTY  OF THIS ARTICLE. UPON
 COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SUCH  SERVICE  AND  UPON  RETIREMENT,
 EACH SUCH MEMBER SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION WHICH, TOGETHER WITH AN ANNUITY
 WHICH  SHALL  BE  THE  ACTUARIAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  HIS OR HER ACCUMULATED
 CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE TIME OF HIS OR HER  RETIREMENT  AND  AN  ADDITIONAL
 PENSION  WHICH  IS  THE  ACTUARIAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  THE RESERVED-FOR-IN-
 CREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY TO WHICH HE OR SHE MAY THEN BE ENTITLED  SHALL  BE
 SUFFICIENT  TO  PROVIDE  HIM OR HER WITH A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO
 ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY; FOR SERVICE BEYOND  TWENTY-
 FIVE  YEARS  AND FOR NON-FIREFIGHTER SERVICE THE BENEFIT IS INCREASED BY
 ONE-SIXTIETH OF FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR EACH YEAR OF ADDITIONAL SERVICE
 CREDIT.
   G. IN COMPUTING THE TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TOTAL  SERVICE  OF  A  MEMBER
 PURSUANT  TO  THIS SECTION FULL CREDIT SHALL BE GIVEN AND FULL ALLOWANCE
 SHALL BE MADE FOR SERVICE OF SUCH MEMBER IN TIME OF WAR AFTER WORLD  WAR
 I AS DEFINED IN SECTION TWO OF THIS CHAPTER, PROVIDED SUCH MEMBER AT THE
 TIME  OF HIS OR HER ENTRANCE INTO THE ARMED FORCES WAS IN THE SERVICE OF
 THE STATE.
   H. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO PREVENT A MEMBER, WHO
 DOES NOT RETIRE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, FROM UTILIZ-
 ING SERVICE WHICH IS CREDITABLE SERVICE PURSUANT TO  THE  PROVISIONS  OF
 THIS  SECTION FOR SERVICE CREDIT PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF ANY OTHER
 PLAN OF THIS ARTICLE TO WHICH SUCH MEMBER IS SUBJECT.
   I. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONTROLLING NOTWITHSTANDING
 ANY OTHER PROVISION IN THIS ARTICLE TO THE CONTRARY.
   J. ANY MEMBER WHO, ON OR BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, IS
 A FIREFIGHTER APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II,
 AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER EMPLOYED BY  THE
 DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS MAY, BY FILING AN ELECTION WITHIN
 ONE  YEAR  AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, ELECT TO BE SUBJECT
 TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION. SUCH ELECTION SHALL  BE  IN  WRITING,
 SHALL BE DULY EXECUTED AND FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER AND SHALL BE IRRE-
 VOCABLE.
   § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
 read as follows:
   a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to  the  provisions
 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire-
 ment  for  disability, unless he or she is a police officer, an investi-
 gator member of the New York city employees'  retirement  system,  fire-
 fighter,  correction  officer, a qualifying member as defined in section
 eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of  the  laws
 of  nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation worker, a
 special officer (including persons employed by the city of New  York  in
 the  title  urban  park  ranger  or associate urban park ranger), school

 A. 7615--A                          3
 
 safety agent, campus peace officer or a taxi  and  limousine  commission
 inspector  member  of  the New York city employees' retirement system or
 the New York city board of education  retirement  system,  a  dispatcher
 member  of  the  New  York  city  employees' retirement system, a police
 communications member of the New York city employees' retirement system,
 an EMT member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a depu-
 ty sheriff member of the New York city employees' retirement  system,  a
 correction  officer  of  the Westchester county correction department as
 defined in section eighty-nine-e of this chapter or employed in  Suffolk
 county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added
 by  chapter  five  hundred  eighty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred
 ninety-seven,  of  this  chapter,  employed  in  Suffolk  county  as   a
 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of this chapter,
 or  employed  in  Nassau  county  as  a  correction  officer,  uniformed
 correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy  sheriff,
 as  defined  in  section  eighty-nine-g  of this chapter, or employed in
 Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an  ambulance  medical
 technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical techni-
 cian  related  services, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as amended
 by chapter five hundred seventy-eight of the laws  of  nineteen  hundred
 ninety-eight,  of  this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a peace
 officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added by  chapter  five
 hundred  ninety-five  of  the  laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of
 this chapter, or employed in Albany county as a  sheriff,  undersheriff,
 deputy sheriff, correction officer or identification officer, as defined
 in  section eighty-nine-h of this chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence
 county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer,
 as defined in section eighty-nine-i of this chapter or  is  employed  in
 Orleans  county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction
 officer, as defined in section  eighty-nine-l  of  this  chapter  or  is
 employed  in Jefferson county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff
 or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chap-
 ter or is employed in Onondaga county as a deputy sheriff-jail  division
 competitively  appointed  or  as  a  correction  officer,  as defined in
 section eighty-nine-k of this chapter or is employed in a  county  which
 makes  an  election under subdivision j of section eighty-nine-p of this
 chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer
 as defined in such section eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County
 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff  or  correction  officer,  as
 defined  in  section eighty-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county
 deputy sheriff-court security, or deputy sheriff-jailor  as  defined  in
 section  eighty-nine-n, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven of
 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is  employed
 in   Greene  county  as  a  sheriff,  undersheriff,  deputy  sheriff  or
 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-o of this  chapter
 or  is  a  traffic officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section
 eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is employed by Suffolk county as a park
 police officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-r of this  chapter  or
 is  a peace officer employed by a county probation department as defined
 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred three  of  the
 laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter or is employed in
 Rockland  county as a deputy sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-
 nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the
 laws of two thousand one, or is employed in Rockland county as a superi-
 or correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this  chap-
 ter  as added by chapter five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thou-

 A. 7615--A                          4
 
 sand one or is a paramedic employed by the police department in the town
 of Tonawanda and retires under the provisions of  section  eighty-nine-v
 of  this  chapter,  as  added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the
 laws  of two thousand one, or is a county fire marshal, supervising fire
 marshal, fire marshal, assistant  fire  marshal,  assistant  chief  fire
 marshal  or  chief  fire  marshal  employed  by  the county of Nassau as
 defined in section eighty-nine-w of this chapter, OR  IS  A  FIREFIGHTER
 APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIRE-
 FIGHTER  III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE DIVISION OF
 MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS AS DEFINED IN SECTION EIGHTY-NINE-X  OF  THIS
 CHAPTER  and  is  in  a  plan  which  permits  immediate retirement upon
 completion of a specified period  of  service  without  regard  to  age.
 Except as provided in subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-a
 of  this  article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-b of
 this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-c of this
 article, subdivision c of section  four  hundred  forty-five-d  of  this
 article,  subdivision  c  of  section  four hundred forty-five-e of this
 article, subdivision c of section  four  hundred  forty-five-f  of  this
 article  and  subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-h of this
 article, a member in such a plan and such an occupation,  other  than  a
 police  officer  or  investigator member of the New York city employees'
 retirement system or a firefighter, shall not  be  permitted  to  retire
 prior  to  the  completion  of  twenty-five  years  of credited service;
 provided, however, if such a member in such an occupation is in  a  plan
 which  permits  retirement  upon  completion  of twenty years of service
 regardless of age, he or she may retire upon completion of twenty  years
 of  credited service and prior to the completion of twenty-five years of
 service, but in such event the benefit provided from  funds  other  than
 those  based  on  such a member's own contributions shall not exceed two
 per centum of final average salary per each year of credited service.
   § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is  amended
 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
   U.  THE  SERVICE  RETIREMENT  BENEFIT SPECIFIED IN SECTION SIX HUNDRED
 FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE PAYABLE TO MEMBERS WITH TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS
 OF  CREDITABLE  SERVICE,  WITHOUT REGARD TO AGE, WHO ARE EMPLOYED BY THE
 DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL  AFFAIRS  AS  A  FIREFIGHTER  APPRENTICE,
 AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III,
 OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER AS DEFINED IN  SECTION  EIGHTY-NINE-X  OF
 THIS CHAPTER IF:  (I) SUCH MEMBERS HAVE MET THE MINIMUM SERVICE REQUIRE-
 MENTS  UPON  RETIREMENT; AND (II) IN THE CASE OF A MEMBER SUBJECT TO THE
 PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE FOURTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER,  SUCH  MEMBER  FILES  AN
 ELECTION  THEREFOR  WHICH PROVIDES THAT HE OR SHE WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE
 PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE AND TO NONE OF THE PROVISIONS OF SUCH ARTICLE
 FOURTEEN. SUCH ELECTION, WHICH SHALL BE IRREVOCABLE, SHALL BE  IN  WRIT-
 ING,  DULY  EXECUTED  AND SHALL BE FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER WITHIN ONE
 YEAR OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION OR WITHIN ONE YEAR  AFTER
 ENTERING  THE EMPLOYMENT WITH THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS
 UPON WHICH ELIGIBILITY IS BASED, WHICHEVER COMES LATER. FOR THE PURPOSES
 OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE TERM "CREDITABLE SERVICE" SHALL HAVE THE  MEAN-
 ING  AS SO DEFINED IN BOTH SECTIONS EIGHTY-NINE-X AND SIX HUNDRED ONE OF
 THIS CHAPTER.
   § 4. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is  amended
 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
   U.  THE  EARLY SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT FOR A MEMBER WHO IS EMPLOYED
 IN THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS AS A  FIREFIGHTER  APPREN-
 TICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER

 A. 7615--A                          5
 
 III,  OR  TRAINING  AND  SAFETY  OFFICER  EMPLOYED AS DEFINED IN SECTION
 EIGHTY-NINE-X OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE A PENSION EQUAL  TO  ONE-FIFTIETH
 OF  FINAL  AVERAGE  SALARY  TIMES  YEARS  OF  CREDITED  SERVICE  AT  THE
 COMPLETION  OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SERVICE AS SUCH DIVISION OF MILITARY
 AND NAVAL AFFAIRS FIREFIGHTER APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT
 FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER,
 BUT NOT EXCEEDING ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   § 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill will allow airport firefighters employed by the division  of
 military and naval affairs to retire to become covered by the provisions
 of  a  special  25 year retirement plan, which will provide a benefit of
 one-half of final average salary upon retirement for all  tiers  and  an
 additional benefit of one-sixtieth of final average salary for each year
 of  service, including non-firefighter service in excess of 25 years for
 tiers 1 and 2 only.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session there will
 be  an increase of approximately $120,000 in the annual contributions of
 the State of New York for the fiscal year  ending  March  31,  2020.  In
 future  years,  this cost will vary as the billing rates and salaries of
 the affected firefighters change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of $886,000 which will be  borne  by  the
 State  of  New York as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the
 assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2020.
   This estimate is based on 71  airport  firefighters  employed  by  the
 division of military and naval affairs with an annual salary of approxi-
 mately $4.5 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   The identities of the members who are affected by this legislation are
 not  obtainable  from  our database. Job title code data provided by the
 Civil Service Employees Association was relied upon to identify affected
 members.
   The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
 change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2018 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2018
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016,  2017  and  2018  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, 2018
 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 fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
 of  the  proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
 the professional judgment of an attorney.
   This estimate, dated January 24,  2019,  and  intended  for  use  only
 during  the  2019  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2019-27,
 prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement
 System.