The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6670
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 11, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COONEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT in relation to granting Tier II status in the New York state  and
   local employees' retirement system to Walter C. Bedford
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any  other  provision  of  law,  Walter  C.
 Bedford,  who  was  an  employee  of the North Greece fire district from
 August 1, 2007 through the present and was an employee of  the  town  of
 Greece  and  the  North Greece fire district commencing October 13, 1975
 through January 1, 1986 and was thereby eligible to participate  in  the
 New  York  state  and local employees' retirement system, who through no
 fault of his own did not become a member of the New York state and local
 employees' retirement system when he was first employed by the  town  of
 Greece  in  October 1975, shall be granted retroactive membership in the
 New York state and local  employees'  retirement  system  with  Tier  II
 status,  if within one year from the effective date of this act he shall
 make a written application to that effect, duly executed and filed  with
 such retirement system.
   §  2. No contributions made to the New York state and local employees'
 retirement system by Walter C. Bedford shall be returned or refunded  to
 him pursuant to this act.
   § 3. All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be
 borne by the state of New York.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  allow  Walter C. Bedford, who is currently a Tier 4
 member in the New York State  and  Local  Employees'  Retirement  System
 employed  by the North Greece Fire District, to elect Tier 2 status with
 a date of membership of October 13, 1975, his first date  of  employment
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10932-02-1

 S. 6670                             2
 
 with  the  Town  of  Greece.  There will be no refund of member contrib-
 utions.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session and Tier 2
 status is subsequently elected, the change in plan coverage would result
 in  a  diminished  benefit  relative  to  that  provided by the member's
 current Tier 4 plan coverage. Thus, there would be no cost to enact this
 legislation.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
 al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
 2020 Report of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 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, 2020
 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 April 26, 2021, and intended for use only during
 the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-130,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.