S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                   7468
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 24, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. JONES -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   granting members or officers of the state police credit for service as
   a  deputy  sheriff,  county  corrections officer, or state corrections
   officer

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  1  of  subdivision  c  of section 381-b of the
 retirement and social security law, as amended by  chapter  581  of  the
 laws  of  2001,  is  amended  and  a new paragraph 3 is added to read as
 follows:
   (1) Police service. In computing the years of total creditable service
 in such division, full credit shall be given and full allowance shall be
 made for service rendered as a police officer  or  member  of  a  police
 force or department of a state park authority or commission or an organ-
 ized police force or department of a county, city, town, village, police
 district,  authority  or  other  participating employer or member of the
 capital police force in the office of general services while a member of
 the New York state and local police and fire retirement system,  of  the
 New York state and local employees' retirement system or of the New York
 city  police  pension fund and for all service for which full credit has
 been given and full allowance made pursuant to the provisions of section
 three hundred seventy-five-h of this [chapter] ARTICLE provided,  howev-
 er,  that  full  credit pursuant to the provisions of such section shall
 mean only such service as would be creditable service  pursuant  to  the
 provisions  of  section  three  hundred  eighty-three  or  section three
 hundred eighty-three-a or three hundred eighty-three-b enacted by  chap-
 ter six hundred seventy-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six
 of  this [chapter] TITLE or pursuant to the provisions of title thirteen
 of the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York  for  any  member
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04956-05-3
              

 A. 7468                             2
 
 contributing pursuant to this section who transferred to the division of
 state police.
   (3)  (A)  DEPUTY  SHERIFF,  COUNTY  CORRECTIONS,  OR STATE CORRECTIONS
 SERVICE. UPON COMPLETION OF MORE THAN SEVENTEEN YEARS OF  SERVICE,  EACH
 SUCH  MEMBER  WHO WAS PREVIOUSLY CREDITED WITH SERVICE CREDIT IN THE NEW
 YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM AS A  DEPUTY  SHERIFF,
 COUNTY  CORRECTIONS  OFFICER,  OR  MEMBER  IN THE UNIFORMED PERSONNEL IN
 INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND
 COMMUNITY SUPERVISION AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION I OF SECTION EIGHTY-NINE
 OF THIS CHAPTER AND WHO WAS ENGAGED DIRECTLY IN LAW  ENFORCEMENT  ACTIV-
 ITIES  WHILE  PERFORMING  SUCH  SERVICES  SHALL  RECEIVE THREE MONTHS OF
 SERVICE CREDIT FOR EACH SUCH FIVE MONTHS OF PREVIOUS SERVICE,  UP  TO  A
 TOTAL OF NO GREATER THAN TWO YEARS OF PREVIOUS SERVICE CREDIT.
   (B)  TO OBTAIN SUCH CREDIT, A MEMBER SHALL PAY SUCH RETIREMENT SYSTEM,
 FOR DEPOSIT IN THE FUND USED TO ACCUMULATE EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS, A SUM
 EQUAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THE NUMBER OF  YEARS  OF  POLICE  SERVICE  BEING
 CLAIMED  AND  THREE  PERCENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S COMPENSATION EARNED DURING
 THE TWELVE MONTHS OF CREDITED SERVICE  IMMEDIATELY  PRECEDING  THE  DATE
 THAT THE MEMBER MADE APPLICATION FOR CREDIT PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION. IF
 PERMITTED BY RULE OR REGULATION OF THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM, THE MEMBER MAY
 PAY  SUCH MEMBER COSTS BY PAYROLL DEDUCTION FOR A PERIOD WHICH SHALL NOT
 EXCEED THE TIME PERIOD OF POLICE SERVICE TO BE CREDITED PURSUANT TO THIS
 SECTION. IN THE EVENT THE MEMBER LEAVES THE EMPLOYER  PAYROLL  PRIOR  TO
 COMPLETION  OF  PAYMENT,  HE OR SHE SHALL FORWARD ALL REMAINING REQUIRED
 PAYMENTS TO THE APPROPRIATE RETIREMENT SYSTEM  PRIOR  TO  THE  EFFECTIVE
 DATE  OF RETIREMENT. IF THE FULL AMOUNT OF SUCH MEMBER COSTS IS NOT PAID
 TO THE APPROPRIATE RETIREMENT SYSTEM PRIOR TO THE  MEMBER'S  RETIREMENT,
 THE AMOUNT OF SERVICE CREDITED SHALL BE PROPORTIONAL TO THE TOTAL AMOUNT
 OF THE PAYMENTS MADE PRIOR TO RETIREMENT.
   (C)  TO  BE  ELIGIBLE  TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR POLICE SERVICE UNDER THIS
 PARAGRAPH, A MEMBER MUST MAKE APPLICATION FOR  SUCH  CREDIT  BEFORE  THE
 EFFECTIVE DATE OF RETIREMENT.
   (D)  NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, IN THE EVENT OF DEATH
 PRIOR TO RETIREMENT, AMOUNTS PAID BY THE  MEMBER  FOR  THE  PURCHASE  OF
 POLICE SERVICE CREDIT PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE REFUNDED, WITH
 INTEREST,  TO  THE EXTENT THE POLICE SERVICE PURCHASED WITH SUCH AMOUNTS
 DOES NOT PRODUCE A GREATER DEATH BENEFIT THAN WOULD  HAVE  BEEN  PAYABLE
 HAD THE MEMBER NOT PURCHASED SUCH CREDIT.
   (E)  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  OTHER  PROVISION  OF  LAW,  IN THE EVENT OF
 RETIREMENT, AMOUNTS PAID BY  THE  MEMBER  FOR  THE  PURCHASE  OF  POLICE
 SERVICE  CREDIT  PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL BE REFUNDED, WITH INTER-
 EST, TO THE EXTENT THE POLICE SERVICE PURCHASED WITH SUCH  AMOUNTS  DOES
 NOT  PRODUCE A GREATER RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE THAN WOULD HAVE BEEN PAYABLE
 HAD THE MEMBER NOT PURCHASED SUCH CREDIT.
   (F) IN THE EVENT THE SERVICE CREDIT GRANTED  PURSUANT  TO  THIS  PARA-
 GRAPH,  WHEN  ADDED TO A MEMBER'S CURRENT SERVICE CREDIT, RENDERS HIM OR
 HER ELIGIBLE FOR SERVICE RETIREMENT, SUCH MEMBER SHALL BE DEEMED  ELIGI-
 BLE  FOR SUCH SERVICE RETIREMENT AND MAY ELECT TO RETIRE UNDER THE RULES
 SET FORTH BY THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
   § 2.  All costs for service credited to a member pursuant to paragraph
 3 of subdivision c of section 381-b of the retirement and social securi-
 ty law, as added by section one of this act, other than the member costs
 set forth in subparagraph (b) of such paragraph, shall be  paid  by  the
 state of New York.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
 A. 7468                             3
 
   This  bill  would  allow up to two years of service credit for service
 rendered as a  deputy  sheriff,  county  corrections  officer  or  state
 corrections officer engaged directly in law enforcement activities to be
 creditable  to  State  Police  officers.  State Police officers would be
 eligible  to  purchase  three  months  of  service credit for every five
 months of such previous deputy sheriff  or  correction  officer  service
 rendered.  The  officers  must have at least seventeen years of credited
 service and would be required to make a  payment  of  three  percent  of
 their  most  recent  compensation  per year of additional service credit
 granted by this bill. Currently, such service is not creditable in a New
 York State and Local Police and Fire twenty-year police retirement plan.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2023  legislative  session,  it  is
 estimated  that  the past service cost will average approximately 22% of
 an affected officer's compensation for each year of  additional  service
 credit  that is purchased. This cost will be borne entirely by the State
 of New York.
   Internal Revenue Service (IRS)  plan  qualification  issues:  granting
 service  credit  towards  retirement  in  a 20-year plan in the New York
 State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS) for employ-
 ment that was not rendered in the NYSLPFRS could jeopardize the  Retire-
 ment  System's governmental plan status and its exemption from Employees
 Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). 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 Retirement System. It is esti-
 mated that the costs to obtain such a ruling would be  $38,000  for  the
 services of the IRS, and $1,000 per hour for legal consultants.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
 al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
 2022  Report  of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2020,
 2021,  and  2022  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
 tions, 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, 2022
 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 May 17, 2023, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2023  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-117, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.