Senate Bill S9394

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9394
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 9, 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
   providing  for  a twenty year retirement of county correction officers
   in Suffolk county
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivisions b, g and h of section 89-f of the retirement
 and social security law, subdivision b as added by chapter  591  of  the
 laws  of  1988 and such section as renumbered by chapter 771 of the laws
 of 1988, subdivisions g and h as amended by chapter 576 of the  laws  of
 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   b.  Such  member  shall  be  entitled to retire upon the completion of
 [twenty-five] TWENTY years of total  creditable  service  by  filing  an
 application  therefor  in  the manner provided for in section seventy of
 this article.
   g. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the  time  of
 retirement,  shall  retire after the completion of TWENTY YEARS, twenty-
 five years or thirty years  of  total  creditable  service.  Application
 therefor  may  be  filed in a manner similar to that provided in section
 seventy of this article. Upon completion of  TWENTY  YEARS,  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 such member's accumulated contrib-
 utions at the time of such member's retirement and an additional pension
 which is the actuarial  equivalent  of  the  reserve-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  FORTY
 PERCENT  OF  SUCH  MEMBER'S  FINAL  AVERAGE SALARY FOR A MEMBER RETIRING
 AFTER THE COMPLETION OF TWENTY YEARS, one-half of  such  member's  final
 average salary for a member retiring after the completion of twenty-five
 years, or a retirement allowance equal to sixty percent of such member's
 final average salary for a member retiring after the completion of thir-
 ty years.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14625-02-6
 S. 9394                             2
 
   h. In computing the TWENTY YEARS, 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 such member's entrance into the
 armed forces was in the service of the county of Suffolk.
   § 2. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of  subdivision  c  of  section  89-f  of  the
 retirement and social security law are renumbered paragraphs 2 and 3 and
 a new paragraph 1 is added to read as follows:
   (1)  UPON  COMPLETION OF TWENTY YEARS OF SUCH SERVICE AND UPON RETIRE-
 MENT, EACH SUCH  MEMBER  SHALL  BE  THE  ACTUARIAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  SUCH
 MEMBER'S  ACCUMULATED CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE TIME OF SUCH MEMBER'S RETIRE-
 MENT 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 FORTY PERCENT OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   § 3. Subdivision c of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 672 of the laws of 1990, is amended to
 read as follows:
   c. The service retirement benefit specified  in  section  six  hundred
 four  of  this  article  shall  be payable to members with [twenty-five]
 TWENTY or more years of creditable service, without regard to  age,  who
 are  employed  in  Suffolk  county as a correction officer as defined in
 section eighty-nine-f of this chapter if: (i) such members have met  the
 minimum  service requirements upon retirement, and (ii) in the case of a
 member subject to the provisions of article fourteen  of  this  chapter,
 such  member  files an election therefor which provides that [he or she]
 THEY will be subject to the provisions of this article and  to  none  of
 the  provisions  of such article fourteen. Such election, which shall be
 irrevocable, shall be in writing, duly executed and shall be filed  with
 the  comptroller  on or before September first, nineteen hundred eighty-
 nine or within one year after  entering  into  employment  with  Suffolk
 county  as a corrections officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of
 this chapter, whichever is later. For the purposes of this  subdivision,
 the  term  "creditable  service" shall have the meaning as so defined in
 both sections eighty-nine-f and six hundred one of this chapter.
   § 4. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of subdivision d of section 604 of the retire-
 ment and social security law are renumbered paragraphs 2 and 3 and a new
 paragraph 1 is added to read as follows:
   1. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  THE
 EARLY  SERVICE RETIREMENT FOR A MEMBER WHO IS EMPLOYED IN SUFFOLK COUNTY
 AS A CORRECTION OFFICER AS DEFINED  IN  SECTION  EIGHTY-NINE-F  OF  THIS
 CHAPTER, SHALL BE A PENSION EQUAL TO ONE-FIFTIETH OF FINAL AVERAGE SALA-
 RY  TIMES YEARS OF CREDITED SERVICE AT THE COMPLETION OF TWENTY YEARS OF
 SERVICE AS SUCH CORRECTION OFFICER, BUT NOT EXCEEDING FORTY  PERCENT  OF
 SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   §   5.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing  the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Suffolk  and  may
 be amortized over a period of ten years.
   §  6. 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.
   §  7.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
 members that retire on or after such date.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
 S. 9394                             3
 
   This bill would modify the service retirement benefit for  members  of
 the  New  York  State and Local Employees' Retirement System employed by
 Suffolk County as correction officers. Members are currently awarded  50
 percent  of  final  average  salary (FAS) upon completion of 25 years of
 creditable  service or 60 percent upon completion of 30 years. The modi-
 fied benefit will alternately award 40 percent of FAS upon completion of
 20 years of creditable service.
   We estimate that Suffolk County's annual contributions  will  increase
 $2.7 million beginning FYE 2027, with near-term costs increasing 2.7% of
 salary  for  Tier  6 participants, from 16.2% to 18.9%. Subsequent costs
 will vary annually but are expected to average  2.0%  of  salary,  long-
 term.
   In  addition,  there  will  be an immediate past service cost of $27.1
 million borne by Suffolk County as a one-time payment. This cost assumes
 that payment will be made on February 1, 2027. If Suffolk County  elects
 to  amortize  this  cost  over  10 years, the cost for each year will be
 $3.46 million.
   These estimated costs are based on 881 affected  members  employed  by
 Suffolk  County,  with annual salary of approximately $122 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 March 5, 2026, and intended for use  only  during
 the  2026  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-114. 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.