Senate Bill S8565

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8565
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 14, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to authorize John Hawley to receive certain credit under  section
   384-d of the retirement and social security law
 
   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,  John  Hawley,
 currently  a  Village  of Bath police officer and member of the New York
 state and local police and fire retirement  system  covered  by  section
 384-d  of  the  retirement  and social security law, who between July 9,
 1997 and September 9, 2005 was employed by the Steuben County  Sheriff's
 Department where he was a member of the New York state and local employ-
 ees'  retirement  system, and who, for reasons not ascribable to his own
 negligence, was not granted service credit under section  384-d  of  the
 retirement and social security law for his period of employment with the
 Steuben County Sheriff's Department, shall be granted such service cred-
 it  under  section  384-d  of the retirement and social security law and
 shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits associated with cover-
 age under such section, provided a request to that effect is filed  with
 the  state  comptroller  within one year from the effective date of this
 act.
   § 2. All past service costs incurred in implementing the provisions of
 this act shall be borne by the Village of Bath.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would grant  service  credit  under  section  384-d  of  the
 Retirement  and  Social Security Law to John Hawley, a current member of
 the  New  York  State  and  Local  Police  and  Fire  Retirement  System
 (NYSLPFRS)  employed  by  the Village of Bath, for the period of July 9,
 1997 through September 9, 2005, during which he was employed as a deputy
 sheriff in Steuben County. Currently,  deputy  sheriff  service  is  not
 creditable in a NYSLPFRS twenty-year police retirement plan.
   If  this  bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session and John
 Hawley transfers his deputy sheriff  service  credit  to  the  NYSLPFRS,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14626-02-2
 S. 8565                             2
 
 there  will  be an immediate past service cost of approximately $308,000
 which will be borne by the Village of Bath as a one-time  payment.  This
 estimate  is based on the assumption that payment will be made on Febru-
 ary 1, 2023.
   There  will  be no increase in the annual contributions of the Village
 of Bath.
   Internal Revenue Service (IRS)  plan  qualification  issues:  granting
 service  credit towards retirement in a twenty-year plan in the NYSLPFRS
 for employment that was not rendered in the  NYSLPFRS  could  jeopardize
 the  Retirement System's governmental plan status and its exemption from
 the Employees Retirement Income Security  Act.  This  development  could
 result in the loss of qualified status, which would mean the loss of tax
 benefits.  This  result would substantially impair the System's value to
 our more than one million participants.
   Prior to the enactment of this legislation, we recommend that a favor-
 able ruling be obtained from the IRS stating that these provisions would
 not harm the qualification status of the System. It  is  estimated  that
 the  costs  to obtain such a ruling would be $28,000 for the services of
 the IRS, and $800 per hour for legal consultants.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
 2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 and 2021 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, 2021
 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 March 10, 2022, and intended for use only during
 the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2022-86,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.