Senate Bill S8863

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8863
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 12, 2026
                                ___________
 
 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
   authorizing  a  thirty  year retirement benefit for certain members in
   Nassau county
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivisions c, g and h of section 89-g of the retirement
 and social security law, as added by chapter 653 of the laws of 1988 and
 such section as renumbered by chapter 771  of  the  laws  of  1988,  are
 amended to read as follows:
   c.  (1)  Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon
 retirement, each such member shall receive  a  pension  which,  together
 with  an  annuity  which shall be the actuarial equivalent of [his] SUCH
 MEMBER'S accumulated contributions at the time of  [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 retirement  and  an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent
 of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which  [he]  SUCH  MEMBER
 may  then  be  entitled shall be sufficient to provide [him] SUCH MEMBER
 with a retirement allowance equal to one-half  of  [his]  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 final average salary.
   (2)  FOR A MEMBER EMPLOYED BY NASSAU COUNTY WITH A TITLE OF CORRECTION
 RECRUIT, CORRECTION OFFICER, CORRECTION CORPORAL,  CORRECTION  SERGEANT,
 CORRECTION  LIEUTENANT, OR CORRECTION CAPTAIN, UPON COMPLETION OF THIRTY
 YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE  AND  UPON  RETIREMENT,  EACH  SUCH  MEMBER  SHALL
 RECEIVE  A  PENSION  WHICH,  TOGETHER WITH AN ANNUITY WHICH SHALL BE THE
 ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S ACCUMULATED CONTRIBUTIONS  AT  THE
 TIME  OF SUCH MEMBER'S RETIREMENT AND AN ADDITIONAL PENSION WHICH IS THE
 ACTUARIAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  THE  RESERVED-FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY  TO
 WHICH  SUCH  MEMBER  MAY THEN BE ENTITLED SHALL BE SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE
 SUCH MEMBER WITH A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO SIXTY PERCENT  OF  SUCH
 MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   g.  A member, contributing on the basis of this section at the time of
 retirement, shall retire after the completion of  twenty-five  years  OR
 THIRTY  YEARS  of  total creditable service. Application therefor may be
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD09321-05-6
 S. 8863                             2

 filed in a manner similar to that provided in section  seventy  of  this
 article.  Upon  completion  of twenty-five years OR THIRTY YEARS of such
 service and upon retirement, each such member shall  receive  a  pension
 which,  together with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent
 of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S accumulated contributions at the  time  of  [his]
 SUCH MEMBER'S retirement and an additional pension which is the actuari-
 al  equivalent  of the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to which [he]
 SUCH MEMBER may then be entitled shall be sufficient  to  provide  [him]
 SUCH  MEMBER with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of [his] SUCH
 MEMBER'S final average salary FOR A MEMBER RETIRING AFTER THE COMPLETION
 OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE, OR A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO
 SIXTY PERCENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR A MEMBER  RETIR-
 ING AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THIRTY YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE.
   h. In computing the twenty-five years OR THIRTY YEARS of total service
 of a member pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full
 allowance  shall be made for service of such member in time of war after
 World War I as defined in section two of  this  chapter,  provided  such
 member at the time of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S entrance into the armed forces
 was in the service of the county of Nassau.
   § 2. Subdivision e of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 771 of the laws of 1988, is amended to
 read as follows:
   e. 1. The early service retirement for a member  who  is  employed  in
 Nassau  county  as  a  correction officer, uniformed correction division
 personnel, sheriff,  undersheriff  or  deputy  sheriff,  as  defined  in
 section  eighty-nine-g of this chapter, shall be a pension equal to one-
 fiftieth of final average salary times years of credited service at  the
 completion  of  twenty-five years of service as such correction officer,
 uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy
 sheriff, but not exceeding one-half of [his or her] SUCH MEMBER'S  final
 average salary.
   2. THE EARLY SERVICE RETIREMENT FOR A MEMBER WHO IS EMPLOYED BY NASSAU
 COUNTY   WITH   A  TITLE  OF  CORRECTION  RECRUIT,  CORRECTION  OFFICER,
 CORRECTION CORPORAL,  CORRECTION  SERGEANT,  CORRECTION  LIEUTENANT,  OR
 CORRECTION  CAPTAIN,  SHALL  BE A PENSION EQUAL TO ONE-FIFTIETH OF FINAL
 AVERAGE SALARY TIMES YEARS OF CREDITED  SERVICE  AT  THE  COMPLETION  OF
 THIRTY  YEARS  OF  SERVICE AS SUCH CORRECTION OFFICER, BUT NOT EXCEEDING
 SIXTY PERCENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   §  3.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Nassau and may be
 amortized over a period of ten years.
   §  4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall  be  subject  to  the  appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   §  5.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
 members who retire on or after such date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would modify the service retirement benefit for  members  of
 the  New  York  State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed by
 the county of  Nassau  as  correction  officers.  The  modified  service
 retirement  benefit  will be one-half of final average salary (FAS) upon
 completion of twenty-five years of creditable service and sixty  percent
 of  FAS  upon  completion  of  thirty  years  of creditable service. The
 current service retirement benefit is one-half of FAS upon completion of
 twenty-five years of creditable service.
 S. 8863                             3
 
   We estimate that the county  of  Nassau's  annual  contributions  will
 increase  $418,000  beginning  FYE  2027. Annual costs will vary but are
 expected to average 0.3% of salary.
   In  addition,  there  will  be an immediate past service cost of $7.31
 million borne by the county of Nassau as a one-time payment.  This  cost
 assumes  that payment will be made on February 1, 2027. If the county of
 Nassau elects to amortize this cost over 10 years,  the  cost  for  each
 year will be $933,000.
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 729 affected members employed by
 the county of Nassau, with annual salary of approximately  $112  million
 as of March 31, 2025.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
 the  bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
 of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial  Report.  The
 actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
 Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
 and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and  Control.  The  fair
 value  of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
 Statements and Supplementary Information.
   Assumptions, demographics, and  other  considerations  may  have  been
 modified  to  better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
 change(s).
   This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
 of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
 sional judgment of an attorney.
   This estimate, dated January 9, 2026, and intended for use only during
 the  2026  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-51. As Chief
 Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System  (NYSLRS),  I,
 Aaron  Schottin  Young,  hereby certify that this analysis complies with
 applicable Actuarial Standards of  Practice  as  well  as  the  Code  of
 Professional  Conduct  and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which I am a member. I am a member of  NYSLRS  but  do  not  believe  it
 impairs my objectivity.