S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6976
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   the  eligibility  of certain participants in the New York city employ-
   ees' retirement system to opt into  the  twenty-five  year  retirement
   program for EMT members
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph 3 of  subdivision  b  of  section  604-e  of  the
 retirement  and social security law, as added by chapter 577 of the laws
 of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
   3. Each EMT member, other than an EMT member subject to paragraph  one
 or  two  of  this  subdivision, who becomes subject to the provisions of
 this article on or after the  starting  date  of  the  twenty-five  year
 retirement  program  shall  become a participant in the twenty-five year
 retirement program on the date [he or she] SUCH PERSON becomes  such  an
 EMT  member.  Provided, however, a person subject to this paragraph, and
 who has exceeded age twenty-five upon employment as an EMT member, shall
 be exempt from participation in the improved twenty-five year retirement
 program if such person elects  not  to  participate  by  filing  a  duly
 executed  form with the retirement system within one hundred eighty days
 of becoming an EMT member. PROVIDED FURTHER, HOWEVER, THAT A PERSON  WHO
 HAS  OPTED  TO BE EXEMPT PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH MAY BECOME A PARTIC-
 IPANT IN THE TWENTY-FIVE YEAR RETIREMENT PROGRAM IF SUCH PERSON FILES  A
 DULY  EXECUTED  ELECTION  FORM  WITH  THE  RETIREMENT  SYSTEM WITHIN ONE
 HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE  LAWS
 OF  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE THAT AMENDED THIS PARAGRAPH, PROVIDED SUCH
 PERSON IS AN EMT MEMBER ON THE DATE SUCH ELECTION  IS  FILED,  AND  SUCH
 PERSON  SHALL  PAY ALL ADDITIONAL MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS REQUIRED PURSUANT
 TO SUBDIVISION E OF THIS SECTION FROM THE DATE THAT SUCH  PERSON  BECAME
 AN  EMT MEMBER TO THE DATE SUCH PERSON ELECTS TO BECOME A PARTICIPANT IN
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10284-03-3
              

 S. 6976                             2
 
 THE PROGRAM TOGETHER WITH INTEREST COMPUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH
 FOUR OF SUBDIVISION E OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY  OF  BILL: This proposed legislation would amend provisions of
 the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to allow eligible  Tier  4
 and Tier 6 EMT Members who opted out of the EMT 25-Year Plan pursuant to
 RSSL  section 604-e another opportunity to rejoin such Plan by filing an
 application with the New York City Employee's Retirement System (NYCERS)
 within 180 days of the effective date.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   BACKGROUND: Eligible EMT Members who were employed in such position on
 December 8, 2000 could elect to join the EMT 25-Year Plan  by  filing  a
 timely  application  with NYCERS or could remain in their existing plan.
 New EMT Members were generally  mandated  into  the  EMT  25-Year  Plan,
 however,  members  who  exceeded  age  25 upon employment as an EMT were
 eligible to opt out of participation in the Plan. Members  who  did  not
 initially  join,  or  opted  out  of,  EMT  25-Year  Plan  participation
 remained, or became, applicable underlying basic plan  members  and  are
 currently ineligible to join the EMT 25-Year Plan.
   IMPACT  ON  PAYABILITY:  The  anticipated group of members expected to
 benefit from, and therefore expected to elect to join  the  EMT  25-Year
 Plan  if  the  proposed  legislation  is  enacted,  are Tier 4 57/5 Plan
 members in employed in a physically taxing position.  These members  can
 begin collecting an unreduced pension at age 57 with at least five years
 of service, or as early as age 50 with 25 years of service. Electing the
 EMT  25-Year  Plan would allow such members to begin collecting an unre-
 duced pension with 25 years of service. Members in other plans  are  not
 expected to benefit from joining the EMT 25-Year Plan.
   MEMBER  CONTRIBUTIONS: Members of the EMT 25-Year Plan are required to
 make, in addition to the basic member contributions,  additional  member
 contributions (AMC) of 6.25% until the attainment of 30 years of credit-
 ed  service.  Active  members  who  join  the  EMT  25-Year Plan will be
 required to contribute any AMC, with interest, from the date  that  such
 person  became  an EMT member to the date such person elects to become a
 participant in the EMT 25-Year Plan.  For purposes of this fiscal  note,
 AMC balances, including physically taxing AMC, are assumed to offset the
 AMC payment required to join the EMT 25-Year Plan.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the anticipated group of
 members electing to join the EMT 25-Year Plan and the actuarial  assump-
 tions  and  methods  described  herein,  the  enactment of this proposed
 legislation would result in an increase in the present value  of  future
 employer contributions of approximately $343,000.
   This  net  increase is a result of an increase in the Present Value of
 Future Benefits (PVFB) of approximately $937,000 and an increase in  the
 present  value  of  member contributions of approximately $594,000 which
 includes the required retroactive AMCs.
   Under the Entry Age Normal cost method used to determine the  employer
 contributions  to  NYCERS,  there  would  be an increase in the Unfunded
 Accrued Liability (UAL) of approximately $754,000 offset by  a  decrease
 in  the  present  value  of future employer Normal Cost of approximately
 $411,000.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  The  enactment  of
 this  proposed legislation would result in an initial increase in annual
 employer contributions of approximately $284,000.
 S. 6976                             3

   New UAL attributable to benefit changes are generally  amortized  over
 the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
 The  remaining  working  lifetime  for  this group is approximately five
 years and the increase in UAL was therefore amortized over  a  five-year
 period  (four  payments  under the One-Year Lag Methodology) using level
 dollar payments.
   CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based  on  the  census
 data  used  in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuation of NYCERS to deter-
 mine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions.
   There are 22 EMT members assumed to elect the EMT 25-Year Plan  as  of
 June  30,  2022.  All  22 are members of the Tier 4 57/5 Plan in a phys-
 ically taxing position. The active members had an average age of approx-
 imately 49.4 years, average service of approximately 24.7 years, and  an
 average salary of approximately $94,200.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
 been  calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used for
 the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of NYCERS.
   To determine the impact of the elective nature of the proposed  legis-
 lation,  a subgroup of EMT members was developed based on who is assumed
 to benefit actuarially by comparing the  net  present  value  of  future
 employer  costs  of  each  member's benefit under their current plan and
 under the applicable EMT 25-Year Plan.
   For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that  the  changes
 would  be  reflected  for  the first time in the June 30, 2022 actuarial
 valuation of NYCERS used to determine employer contributions for  Fiscal
 Year 2024.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used,  demograph-
 ics  of  the  impacted  population and other factors such as investment,
 contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from  actu-
 arial  assumptions,  the  actual costs could differ from those presented
 herein.
   Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and  therefore
 different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
 these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
   Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   *  The  initial  additional  administrative  costs  to  implement  the
 proposed legislation.
   * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
 Benefit costs.
   STATEMENT  OF  ACTUARIAL  OPINION:  I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
 Actuary for, and independent of, the New York  City  Retirement  Systems
 and  Pension  Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
 Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
 do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I  meet  the  Qualification
 Standards  of  the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
 opinion contained herein. To the  best  of  my  knowledge,  the  results
 contained  herein  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  generally
 accepted actuarial principles and  procedures  and  with  the  Actuarial
 Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This  Fiscal Note 2023-48 dated May 12,
 2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City  Employees'
 Retirement  System.    This estimate is intended for use only during the
 2023 Legislative Session.