Senate Bill S10436A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                 10436--A
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 15, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
   and recommitted to said committee
 
 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
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions c, c-1 and c-2 of section 506 of  the  retire-
 ment  and  social security law, subdivision c as added by chapter 890 of
 the laws of 1976, subdivision c-1 as added by chapter 298 of the laws of
 2016, subdivision c-2 as added by section 1 of part UU of chapter 55  of
 the laws of 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   c.  For  the  purpose  of  applying  the five year service eligibility
 requirement in subdivision a of this section, AND THE YEARS OF  CREDITED
 SERVICE  FOR  PURPOSES OF CALCULATING THE ORDINARY DISABILITY RETIREMENT
 BENEFIT FOR ENHANCED PLAN MEMBERS IN THE NEW YORK CITY  FIRE  DEPARTMENT
 PENSION  FUND  AS  PROVIDED  IN SUBDIVISION C-1 OF THIS SECTION, service
 shall mean all credited service rendered since a member  last  joined  a
 public  retirement  system.  Provided however, if the member had been in
 active public service prior to joining the system involved, all  contin-
 uous public service immediately prior to the date of membership shall be
 counted  toward the five year service requirement, AND PROVIDED FURTHER,
 THAT PREVIOUS SERVICE AS  DEFINED  IN  SUBDIVISION  B  OF  SECTION  FIVE
 HUNDRED  THIRTEEN OF THIS ARTICLE EITHER PURCHASED OR TRANSFERRED TO THE
 NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND, SHALL BE COUNTED AS CREDITED
 SERVICE FOR PURPOSES OF CALCULATING THE ORDINARY  DISABILITY  RETIREMENT
 BENEFIT  FOR  ENHANCED PLAN MEMBERS IN THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT
 PENSION FUND AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION C-1 OF  THIS  SECTION.  For  the
 purpose  of  this  subdivision,  continuous  public  service  shall mean
 service during a period in which an employee was not off the payroll  of
 a public employer for more than thirty days.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14743-03-6
              

 S. 10436--A                         2
 
   c-1.  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of subdivision a or b
 of this section, the ordinary disability benefit for  a  New  York  city
 enhanced  plan member in active service who is not eligible for a normal
 retirement benefit, has completed five years or more of service, and has
 been  determined  to  be eligible for primary social security disability
 benefits shall be a pension equal to the greater of (i) thirty-three and
 one-third percent of final average salary, or (ii) two percent of  final
 average  salary  times  years  of  credited service not in excess of the
 maximum years of service  for  computing  service  retirement,  PROVIDED
 HOWEVER,  THAT THE ORDINARY DISABILITY BENEFIT FOR ENHANCED PLAN MEMBERS
 IN THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND SHALL BE  ONE-FORTIETH
 OF  FINAL  AVERAGE  SALARY MULTIPLIED BY THE NUMBER OF YEARS OF CREDITED
 SERVICE, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL BE LESS THAN ONE-HALF  OF  FINAL  AVERAGE
 SALARY FOR SUCH MEMBER WHO HAS TEN OR MORE YEARS OF CREDITED SERVICE AND
 NO  LESS THAN THIRTY-THREE AND ONE-THIRD PERCENT OF FINAL AVERAGE SALARY
 FOR SUCH MEMBER WITH LESS  THAN  TEN  YEARS  OF  CREDITED  SERVICE,  AND
 PROVIDED  FURTHER,  THAT  such benefit in each case to be reduced by one
 hundred percent of any workers' compensation benefits payable.
   c-2. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of subdivision a, b or
 c-1 of this section, the ordinary disability benefit for a New York city
 enhanced plan member in the New York city fire department  PENSION  FUND
 shall  not  be  conditioned  upon  eligibility  for, or upon receipt of,
 primary social security disability  benefits,  BEING  INELIGIBLE  FOR  A
 NORMAL SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT OR HAVING COMPLETED FIVE OR MORE YEARS
 OF CREDITED SERVICE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY:  This  proposed  legislation  would  increase  and expand the
 eligibility for Ordinary  Disability  Retirement  benefits  for  Tier  3
 Enhanced Plan members of the New York City Fire Pension Fund (FIRE).
          EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
           by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
 
                          Year      FIRE
                          2027      5.6
                          2028      5.9
                          2029      6.2
                          2030      6.5
                          2031      6.8
                          2032      7.0
                          2033      7.3
                          2034      7.6
                          2035      7.9
                          2036      8.2
                          2037      8.5
                          2038      8.8
                          2039      9.1
                          2040      9.3
                          2041      9.6
                          2042      9.8
                          2043      10.0
                          2044      7.9
                          2045      8.1
                          2046      8.2
                          2047      8.4
                          2048      8.6
 S. 10436--A                         3
 
                          2049      8.7
                          2050      8.8
                          2051      9.0
 
   Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
 For Fiscal Year 2052 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as
 a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 0.24%.
   The entire increase in employer contributions will be allocated to New
 York City.
   PRESENT  VALUE  OF  BENEFITS:  The  Present  Value  of Benefits is the
 discounted expected value of benefits paid to  current  members  if  all
 assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
 Future new hires are not included in this present value.
          INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                    as of June 30, 2025 ($ in Millions)
 
                Present Value (PV)                      FIRE
                (1) PV of Employer Contributions:       72.3
                (2) PV of Employee Contributions:       0.0
                Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):         72.3
 
   UNFUNDED  ACCRUED  LIABILITY  (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
 the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past  service.
 Changes  in UAL were amortized over the expected remaining working life-
 time of those impacted using level dollar payments.
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
                                                        FIRE
                Increase (Decrease) in UAL:             22.1 M
                Number of Payments:                     17
                Amortization Payment:                   2.3 M
 
   CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based  on  preliminary
 census  data  collected  as  of  June  30, 2025. The census data for the
 impacted population is summarized below.
 
                                              FIRE
                Active Members
                - Number Count:               6,509
                - Average Age:                34.5
                - Average Service:            6.4
                - Average Salary:             118,200
 
   IMPACT ON ORDINARY DISABILITY ELIGIBILITY: Currently, Tier 3  Enhanced
 Plan  FIRE  members are only eligible for an Ordinary Disability Retire-
 ment if they are in active service, have at least five years of credited
 service, and are ineligible for Normal Service  Retirement  (i.e.,  have
 less than 20 years of credited service).
   Under the proposed legislation, both the five-year service requirement
 and  the  requirement of being ineligible for Normal Service Retirement,
 would be removed.
   IMPACT ON ORDINARY DISABILITY BENEFITS: Currently, the Ordinary  Disa-
 bility  Retirement  benefit for a Tier 3 Enhanced Plan FIRE member is an
 annual pension equal to 2.0% of Final Average Salary (FAS) per  year  of
 credited service, but not less than one-third of FAS.
 S. 10436--A                         4
 
   Under  the  proposed  legislation,  the Ordinary Disability Retirement
 benefit for such members would be an annual pension equal to 2.5% of FAS
 per year of credited service, but not less than  one-third  of  FAS  for
 members  with fewer than 10 years of credited service, and not less than
 50% of FAS for members with 10 or more years of credited service.
   Additionally,  the proposed legislation would expand the definition of
 credited service used in the  calculation  of  the  Ordinary  Disability
 Retirement  benefit to include certain public service that preceded FIRE
 membership that was either purchased or transferred into FIRE.
   ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The  estimates  presented  herein  have  been
 calculated  based  on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems. In addition:
   * New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so  that  total
 payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo-
 graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial
 judgement.
   *  Members  who  become  disabled  with more than 30 years of credited
 service were assumed to choose an Ordinary Disability  Retirement  which
 under  the  proposed  legislation could exceed 75% of FAS, instead of an
 Accident Disability Retirement which is always 75% of FAS.
   * Based on historical data, costs associated  with  the  inclusion  of
 prior  service  in  the  calculation  of the Ordinary Disability benefit
 under the proposed legislation were assumed to be minimal and  have  not
 been included in this Fiscal Note.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods,  and  models  used,  demo-
 graphics  of  the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
 ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates  from
 actuarial   assumptions,  the  actual  costs  could  differ  from  those
 presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the  scope  of  this
 Fiscal Note.
   This  Fiscal  Note  is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
 does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative  and  Other
 Postemployment  Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
 laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
   STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
 sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy  of
 Actuaries.  We  are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
 objectivity, and we meet the Qualification  Standards  of  the  American
 Academy  of  Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
 To the best of our 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 2026-96 dated June 1,
 2026 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City  Retirement
 Systems  and  Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2026
 Legislative Session.