S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6059--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               April 1, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, 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 commit-
   tee
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to a
   child care leave credit for New York city uniformed  correction  offi-
   cers    who   are   members   of   the   New   York   city   uniformed
   correction/sanitation revised plan
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision h of section 513 of the retirement and social
 security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012,  is  amended
 to read as follows:
   h.  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of this section, any general
 member in the uniformed correction force of the New York city department
 of correction AND ANY MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED FORCE OF THE NEW YORK CITY
 DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTION  WHO   IS   A   NEW   YORK   CITY   UNIFORMED
 CORRECTION/SANITATION REVISED PLAN MEMBER, who is absent without pay for
 a  child  care  leave of absence pursuant to regulations of the New York
 city department of correction shall be  eligible  for  credit  for  such
 period  of  child care leave provided such member files a claim for such
 service credit with the retirement system by December thirty-first,  two
 thousand five or within ninety days of the termination of the child care
 leave,  whichever  is later, and contributes to the retirement system an
 amount which such member would have contributed  during  the  period  of
 such  child  care  leave, together with interest thereon. Service credit
 provided pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed one year of cred-
 it for each period of authorized child care leave. In the event there is
 a conflict between the provisions of this subdivision and the provisions

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06269-04-2
              

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 of any other law or code to the contrary, the provisions of this  subdi-
 vision  shall  govern[,  provided,  however, that the provisions of this
 subdivision shall not apply to a member of the uniformed  force  of  the
 New  York city department of correction who is a New York city uniformed
 correction/sanitation revised plan member].
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Section 513  of
 the  Retirement  and  Social  Security  Law  (RSSL) to permit Correction
 members in the Tier 3 Revised or Enhanced plans of  the  New  York  City
 Employees'  Retirement  System  (NYCERS) to apply for and purchase up to
 one year of service credit for each period of  authorized  unpaid  child
 care leave.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   BACKGROUND:  Currently,  provisions  permitting  Correction members to
 purchase service credit for the time spent while  on  authorized  unpaid
 child  care  leave  do  not  apply  to  Correction members in the Tier 3
 Revised or Enhanced plans of NYCERS.
   Under the proposed legislation, if enacted, Correction members in  the
 Tier  3  Revised  or Enhanced plans of NYCERS who take authorized unpaid
 child care leave would be eligible to apply for the purchase of  service
 credit for the period of leave within 90 days of the termination of such
 leave.  To  purchase  such  leave, members must contribute to NYCERS the
 amount which would have been contributed during the period of such child
 care leave, including interest. The maximum service credit that  can  be
 purchased for each period of authorized child care leave is one year.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the anticipated number of
 members purchasing service  and  the  assumed  amount  of  service  they
 purchase  each  year,  as  well as the actuarial assumptions and methods
 described herein, the  enactment  of  this  proposed  legislation  would
 increase  the  Present Value of Future Benefits by approximately $92,000
 each year, and increase the Present Value  of  member  contributions  by
 approximately $5,200 each year after taking into account the member cost
 of  the  buyback.  The net result is an increase in the Present Value of
 future employer contributions of approximately $86,800 each year.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS:  Enactment  of  this
 proposed  legislation  would increase employer contributions, where such
 amount would depend on the number of years of eligible child care  leave
 service  credited  as  well  as other characteristics including the age,
 years of service, and  salary  history  of  the  member  purchasing  the
 service.
   Since  employer  contributions  to  NYCERS generally do not anticipate
 future purchases of service by members, the financial  impact  would  be
 recognized  at  the  time  of  event.  Consequently, changes in employer
 contributions have been estimated assuming  that  the  increase  in  the
 Present Value of future employer contributions will be financed over the
 same  time  period  used for actuarial losses in accordance with Section
 13-638.2(k-2) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York.  Using
 this  approach, the additional Present Value of future employer contrib-
 utions would be amortized over a  closed  15-year  period  (14  payments
 under the One-Year Lag Methodology) using level dollar payments.
   The  enactment  of  this proposed legislation is estimated to increase
 annual employer contributions by approximately $10,300 each  year.  With
 respect  to the timing, increases in employer contributions would depend
 upon when  members  apply  for  and  purchase  the  service.  Generally,
 S. 6059--A                          3
 
 increased employer contributions will first occur the second fiscal year
 following processing and payment of the buyback application.
   CONTRIBUTION  TIMING:  For  the  purposes  of  this Fiscal Note, it is
 assumed that the  changes  in  the  Present  Value  of  future  employer
 contributions  and  annual employer contributions would be reflected for
 the first time in the June 30, 2023 actuarial valuation  of  NYCERS.  In
 accordance  with  the OYLM used to determine employer contributions, the
 increase in employer contributions would first be  reflected  in  Fiscal
 Year 2025.
   CENSUS  DATA:  The  estimates presented herein are based on the census
 data for Corrections used in the Preliminary June 30, 2021 (Lag) actuar-
 ial valuation of NYCERS to determine the Preliminary  Fiscal  Year  2023
 employer contributions.
   There  are  currently  3,720  Correction  members in Tier 3 revised or
 enhanced plans who could immediately benefit from  the  proposed  legis-
 lation. To better reflect the future impact of the proposed legislation,
 it  was  assumed  that  the population of the Correction workforce would
 eventually consist entirely of Tier 3 enhanced  members  with  the  same
 characteristics  as  the  current  population  of Correction members who
 would benefit  from  the  proposed  legislation.  These  characteristics
 include  a  total of 7,850 (out of 8,054) who have less than 25 years of
 service and therefore could potentially benefit from the proposed legis-
 lation, with an average age of  approximately  40.7  years,  an  average
 service  of  approximately 10.2 years, and an average salary of approxi-
 mately $108,100.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes in the Present Value of
 future  employer  contributions  and   annual   employer   contributions
 presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions
 and  methods in effect for the Preliminary June 30, 2021 (Lag) actuarial
 valuations used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year  2023  employer
 contributions of NYCERS.
   Supplemental data for child care leave service purchased by Correction
 Tiers 1, 2, and original Tier 3 members was provided by NYCERS. Based on
 this  data,  an average frequency of four purchases per year was assumed
 and an average of nine months of credited service was assumed  for  each
 purchase.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, as well  as
 certain  demographic  characteristics  of  NYCERS  and  other  exogenous
 factors such as investment, contribution, and  other  risks.  If  actual
 experience  deviates  from actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could
 differ from those presented herein. Costs  are  also  dependent  on  the
 actuarial  methods used, and therefore different actuarial methods could
 produce different results. Quantifying these risks is beyond  the  scope
 of this Fiscal Note.
   Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   o The initial, additional administrative costs of NYCERS and other New
 York City agencies to implement the proposed legislation.
   o  The  impact  of  this  proposed legislation on Other Postemployment
 Benefit costs.
   STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Michael J. Samet,  am  the  Interim
 Chief  Actuary  for,  and  independent  of, the New York City Retirement
 Systems and Pension Funds. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and
 a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I meet the  Qualification
 Standards  of  the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
 opinion contained herein. To the  best  of  my  knowledge,  the  results
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 contained  herein  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  generally
 accepted actuarial principles and  procedures  and  with  the  Actuarial
 Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2022-43 dated May 5, 2022
 was  prepared  by  the  Interim  Chief  Actuary  for  the  New York City
 EmployeesÆ Retirement System. This estimate is  intended  for  use  only
 during the 2022 Legislative Session.