S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7559
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 6, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- (at request of the Governor) --
   read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
   the Committee on Rules
 
 AN  ACT to amend the retirement and social security law and the criminal
   procedure law, in relation to service rendered  by  investigators  and
   sworn officers of the waterfront commission of New York harbor
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision a and paragraph 1 of subdivision c  of  section
 381-b  of  the  retirement  and  social  security  law, subdivision a as
 amended by chapter 684 of the laws of 1971 and paragraph 1  of  subdivi-
 sion  c  as  amended  by chapter 581 of the laws of 2001, are amended to
 read as follows:
   a. Membership. Every member or officer of the division of state police
 in the executive department who enters or re-enters service in the divi-
 sion on or after April first, nineteen  hundred  sixty-nine,  AND  EVERY
 INVESTIGATOR  OR  SWORN  OFFICER  EMPLOYED  BY THE COMMISSION CREATED BY
 SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO OF THE LAWS OF  NINETEEN
 HUNDRED  FIFTY-THREE,  CONSTITUTING  THE  WATERFRONT  COMMISSION ACT, AS
 AMENDED, ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-THREE,  shall  be
 covered  by  the provisions of this section, and every member or officer
 of the division of state police in  the  executive  department  in  such
 service  on  such date may elect to be covered by the provisions of this
 section by filing an election therefor with the comptroller on or before
 March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-two. To be effective,  such
 election  must  be  duly executed and acknowledged on a form prepared by
 the comptroller for that purpose.
   (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:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD12012-02-3
 S. 7559                             2
              

 
   (I) 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;
   (II) FOR SERVICE RENDERED AS AN INVESTIGATOR OR SWORN OFFICER  OF  THE
 WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR, AND FOR SERVICE RENDERED AS AN
 INVESTIGATOR-TRAINEE  OF  THE  WATERFRONT  COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR
 THAT WAS CREDITABLE UNDER SUBDIVISION W OF SECTION THREE HUNDRED  EIGHT-
 Y-FOUR-D OF THIS ARTICLE; and
   (III)  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  provided,  however,  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 chapter six hundred seventy-sev-
 en  of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six of this chapter or pursu-
 ant to the provisions of title thirteen of the  administrative  code  of
 the  city  of  New  York  for  any  member contributing pursuant to this
 section who transferred to the division of state police.
   § 2. Subdivision 11 of section 302 of the retirement and social  secu-
 rity law is amended by adding a new paragraph k to read as follows:
   K.  SERVICE  AS  AN  INVESTIGATOR  OR  SWORN OFFICER OF THE WATERFRONT
 COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR OR THE COMMISSION CREATED BY  SECTION  SIX
 OF  CHAPTER  EIGHT  HUNDRED  EIGHTY-TWO  OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED
 FIFTY-THREE, CONSTITUTING THE WATERFRONT COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED.
   § 3. Paragraph (h) of subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of  the  criminal
 procedure law, as amended by chapter 997 of the laws of 1970, is amended
 to read as follows:
   (h)  An investigator employed by a commission created by an interstate
 compact, OR BY SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED  EIGHTY-TWO  OF  THE
 LAWS  OF  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  FIFTY-THREE,  CONSTITUTING  THE  WATERFRONT
 COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED, who is, to a substantial extent, engaged  in
 the enforcement of the criminal laws of this state;
   §  4.  Paragraph (k) of subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal
 procedure law, as separately amended by chapters 282 and 877 of the laws
 of 1974, is amended to read as follows:
   (k) A sworn officer of a police force of a public authority created by
 an interstate compact, OR BY SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHT-
 Y-TWO OF THE LAWS OF  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  FIFTY-THREE,  CONSTITUTING  THE
 WATERFRONT COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED;
   §  5.  Paragraph (k) of subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal
 procedure law, as amended by section 13 of part BBB of chapter 59 of the
 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
   (k) A sworn officer of a police force of a public authority created by
 an interstate compact, OR BY SECTION SIX OF CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHT-
 Y-TWO OF THE LAWS OF  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  FIFTY-THREE,  CONSTITUTING  THE
 WATERFRONT  COMMISSION ACT, AS AMENDED, where such force is certified in
 accordance with paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision  one  of  section  eight
 hundred forty-six-h of the executive law;
   §  6.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
 section five of this act shall take effect on the same date and  in  the
 S. 7559                             3
 
 same manner as section thirteen of part BBB of chapter 59 of the laws of
 2021, takes effect.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) as
 follows:
   1)  Add  the  titles of investigator and sworn officer employed by the
 commission created by Section six of Chapter 882 of the  Laws  of  1953,
 constituting the Waterfront Commission Act, to the definition of member-
 ship in Section 381-b,
   2)  Allow service rendered as an investigator, investigator-trainee or
 sworn officer of the Waterfront Commission of  New  York  Harbor  to  be
 creditable under Section 381-b, and
   3)  Add the titles of investigator and sworn officer of the Waterfront
 Commission of New York Harbor to  the  definition  of  "police  or  fire
 service" as defined in Section 302.
   Additionally,  this  bill  would  amend  the Criminal Procedure Law by
 adding the titles of investigator and sworn officer  of  the  Waterfront
 Commission  of  New  York  Harbor  to the definition of "police officer"
 under Section 1.20.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate that there will be an increase of  approximately  $29,000  in  the
 annual  contributions  of  the  State of New York. This estimate assumes
 that payment will be made on February 1, 2024.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $979,000 which  will  be
 borne  by the State of New York and all local participating employers in
 the NYSLPFRS. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on  Febru-
 ary 1, 2024.
   These  estimated costs are based on eight affected members employed by
 the Waterfront Commission of New York  Harbor,  with  annual  salary  of
 approximately $950,000 as of March 31, 2022.
   Along  with  the  direct  costs quoted above, insofar as this proposal
 allows certain previous service rendered as an investigator,  investiga-
 tor-trainee  or  sworn  officer of the Waterfront Commission of New York
 Harbor to be newly creditable under Section 381-b  of  the  RSSL,  addi-
 tional  past  service  costs  could arise for the current New York State
 Troopers covered by that section. It is estimated that such past service
 cost will be 25% of an affected member's compensation for each  year  of
 service that is newly credited pursuant to this legislation.
   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.
 S. 7559                             4
 
   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  June 2, 2023, and intended for use only during
 the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-175,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.