Senate Bill S1385

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1385
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  ORTT  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT in relation to credit for  certain  graduate  assistant,  teacher
   assistant  or teaching assistant work for the purposes 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. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contra-
 ry, a member of the New  York  state  teachers'  retirement  system  who
 joined  such  system  on or prior to July 1, 1992, shall be eligible for
 credit for service, if service was rendered  as  a  graduate  assistant,
 teacher  assistant  or teaching assistant during the period July 1, 1982
 to September 30, 1991 for  a  state-operated  institution  or  community
 college  under  the  jurisdiction  of the board of trustees of the state
 university which participates in such system. Payments for such  service
 shall  be  made by members subject to article 14 or 15 of the retirement
 and social security law in accordance with section 609 of such  law,  in
 the  case  of  such  service  rendered prior to such member joining such
 system, provided the member must be credited with two years  of  service
 credit at the time credit for such service is granted. Payments for such
 service  shall  be  made  by  members subject to article 14 or 15 of the
 retirement and social security law in accordance  with  section  613  of
 such  law, in the case of such service rendered after such member joined
 such system, together with interest at the  rate  of  five  percent  per
 annum from the date such service was rendered to the date of payment.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and be deemed to have been
 in  full  force  and  effect on and after June 30, 2018. Effective imme-
 diately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of  any  rules  or  regu-
 lations  necessary  for  the implementation of this act on its effective
 date are authorized to be made on or before such date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD03965-02-9

 S. 1385                             2
 
   This bill would allow active members of the New York  State  Teachers'
 Retirement  System with a date of membership on or prior to July 1, 1992
 to claim service credit for service rendered as  a  graduate  assistant,
 teacher  assistant  or teaching assistant during the period July 1, 1982
 to  September  30,  1991  for  a state-operated institution or community
 college under the jurisdiction of the board of  trustees  of  the  state
 university  which  is  a  participating  employer  of the New York State
 Teachers' Retirement System. Payments for such credit must  be  made  by
 those  members  subject to Article 14 or 15 of the Retirement and Social
 Security Law in accordance with section 609 of such law in the case such
 service was rendered prior to such member joining  the  New  York  State
 Teachers'  Retirement  System  provided  the member is credited with two
 years of service credit at the time credit for such service is  granted.
 Payments  for such credit must be made to those members subject to Arti-
 cle 14 or 15 of the Retirement and Social  Security  Law  in  accordance
 with section 613 of such law in the case such service was rendered after
 such  member  joined  the  New  York  State  Teachers' Retirement System
 together with interest at the rate of five percent annum from  the  date
 such service was rendered to the date of payment.
   It is not possible to determine the total annual cost to the employers
 of  members  of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System since the
 total amount of service credit which would be claimed  under  this  bill
 cannot be estimated. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate the annu-
 al  increase  in the employers' cost for this bill. Whatever increase in
 liabilities that arises for service credited under this  bill  would  be
 shared  and  spread  through the employer contribution rate. It is esti-
 mated that the increase in liabilities as a percentage of  the  member's
 salary  per year of service credited would be 13.6% for Tier 1, 2, 3 and
 4 members. The increase in liabilities as a percentage of  the  member's
 salary  per  year  of service credited would be 11.1% for Tier 5 members
 and 10.7% for Tier 6 members.  These  percentages  would  be  offset  by
 member contribution percentages required under this bill if enacted.
   Member  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 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.
   The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note  2019-8  dated  January  7,
 2019  prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
 System and is intended for use only during the 2019 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.