S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7139--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 18, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. MANNION -- 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
   authorizing the transfer of memberships for certain members of the New
   York state and local police and fire retirement system to the New York
   state and local employees' retirement system
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 384-d of the retirement and social security law is
 amended by adding a new subdivision z to read as follows:
   Z. ANY MEMBER CURRENTLY ENROLLED PURSUANT  TO  THIS  SECTION  AND  WHO
 PREVIOUSLY HAD A MEMBERSHIP WITH THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES'
 RETIREMENT SYSTEM MAY ELECT TO RETROACTIVELY TRANSFER HIS OR HER MEMBER-
 SHIP  IN  THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL POLICE AND FIRE RETIREMENT SYSTEM
 TO THE NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow any active member of  the  New  York  State  and
 Local  Police  and  Fire  Retirement  System  (NYSLPFRS)  covered by the
 provisions of section 384-d of the Retirement and  Social  Security  Law
 (RSSL)  and  who was previously a member of the New York State and Local
 Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS)  to  retroactively  transfer  all
 NYSLPFRS  service credit to the NYSLERS. Such transfer would not require
 employment in any position that would grant membership in  the  NYSLERS.
 Resulting  plan  coverage,  as  well  as  the  cost  of mandatory member
 contributions, would be based upon date of membership and last  reported
 employment instance in the NYSLERS.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11197-04-4
              

 S. 7139--A                          2
 
   Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Retirement
 System, the cost will depend upon the applicant's age, service,  salary,
 plan, and any benefit type otherwise payable.
   Insofar  as  this  bill affects the NYSLERS, pursuant to Section 25 of
 the RSSL, any costs would be borne entirely by the State of New York and
 would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay  the  cost  of
 the provision.
   In  addition to the per-person costs discussed above, implementing the
 provisions of this legislation would generate administrative costs.
   The number of members and retirees  who  could  be  affected  by  this
 legislation cannot be readily determined, but all 25,968 active NYSLPFRS
 members  covered by the provisions of section 384-d of the RSSL would be
 eligible.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
 al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
 2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual  Comprehensive  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
 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, 2023
 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  February  5,  2024,  and intended for use only
 during the 2024  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2024-117,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.