Senate Bill S10436

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S10436

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the ordinary disability benefit for enhanced plan members of the New
York city fire department pension fund

 
PURPOSE:

To provide an ordinary disability retirement benefit for Tier 3 enhanced
plan members in the NYC Fire Department Pension Fund that aligns with
the ordinary disability retirement benefit of their Tier 2 counterparts
with whom they work on a daily basis.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision c-1 of Section 506 of the Retirement and
Social Security Law to provide that Tier 3 enhanced plan members in the
New York City Fire Department Pension Fund receive an ordinary disabili-
ty retirement pension benefit that would be calculated in the same
              

manner as Tier 2 members of the New York City Fire Department Pension
Fund. Specifically, the Tier 3 enhanced plan members would receive an
ordinary disability retirement pension benefit calculated by taking
one-fortieth of their annual compensation at the time of retirement
multiplied by their total years of city service, but not less than one-
half of their annual salary if such member has at least ten (10) years
of city service; or not less than one-third of their annual salary if
that member has less than ten (10) years of City service. In addition,
with respect to determining the number of years of city-service for an
enhanced plan member of the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund,
this bill would also amend subdivision c-1 of Section 506 of the Retire-
ment and Social Security Law to clarify that all continuous public
service immediately prior to the date of membership in the NYC Fire
Department Pension Fund shall be counted towards the number of years of
city-service credited to him or her, not including any period when the
member was not on the payroll of the public employer for more than 30
days.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current legal provisions, Tier 3 enhanced plan members of the NYC
Fire Department Pension Fund receive a worse ordinary disability retire-
ment benefit than the Tier 2 members of the same Fire Department Pension
Fund. For example, presently, unlike their Tier 2 counterparts in the
Fire Department Pension Fund, Retirement and Social Security Law 506
sets forth an ordinary disability retirement benefit for Tier 3 enhanced
plan members after completing five (5) years of credited service. By
contrast, Tier 2 members of same Pension Fund do not have any requisite
length of service as a requirement to receive an ordinary disability
retirement benefit. In addition, the Tier 2 members of the Fire Depart-
ment Pension Fund also currently receive a greater financial ordinary
disability retirement benefit.

The current statutory differences between the ordinary disability
retirement benefit for a Tier 3 enhanced plan member, when compared to a
Tier 2 member, create an unjust inequity for Tier 3 members who suffer a
disabling condition through no fault of their own. This proposed legis-
lation seeks to align the ordinary disability retirement benefit for
Tier 3 enhanced plan members of the NYC Fire Department Pension Fund
with their Tier 2 counterparts so that there is equity amongst Tier 3
and Tier 2 employees who work in the same profession. Indeed, Tier 3
enhanced plan members and their Tier 2 counterparts respond and work
together to handle fires or other emergency calls in New York City. This
legislative amendment would establish the same ordinary disability
retirement pension benefit provisions within the NYC Fire Department
Pension Fund, promoting consistency and fairness between members who are
performing the identical emergency response work.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect immediately.