STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6252--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 10, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, ADDABBO, HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing cost-of-living adjustments The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision f of section 78-a of the retirement and social 2 security law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 5 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 6 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 7 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 8 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 9 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 10 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 11 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 12 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 13 according to the following schedule: 14 Year of retirement Percentage 15 1968 through 1996 50% 16 1966 and 1967 55% 17 1965 60% 18 1964 65% 19 1963 70% EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08541-06-4
S. 6252--A 2 1 1962 80% 2 1961 90% 3 prior to 1961 100% 4 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 5 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise 6 payable, computed without optional modification. Any benefit received 7 pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit received 8 pursuant to section seventy-eight of this title. 9 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-four, all retired 10 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 11 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 12 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 13 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 14 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 15 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 16 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 17 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 18 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 19 Year of retirement Percentage 20 1973 through 1996 50% 21 1971 and 1972 55% 22 1970 60% 23 1969 65% 24 1968 70% 25 1967 80% 26 1966 90% 27 prior to 1966 100% 28 Said adjusted benefit commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 29 four, shall be computed on the base benefit amount of the retirement 30 allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification, set 31 forth herein above. Any benefit received pursuant to this subdivision 32 shall be in lieu of any benefit received pursuant to section seventy- 33 eight of this title. 34 § 2. Subdivision f of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu- 35 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to 36 read as follows: 37 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 38 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 39 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 40 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 41 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 42 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 43 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 44 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 45 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 46 according to the following schedule: 47 Year of retirement Percentage 48 1968 through 1996 50% 49 1966 and 1967 55% 50 1965 60% 51 1964 65% 52 1963 70% 53 1962 80% 54 1961 90%
S. 6252--A 3 1 prior to 1961 100% 2 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 3 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise 4 payable, computed without optional modification. Any benefit received 5 pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit received 6 pursuant to section three hundred seventy-eight of this title. 7 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-four, all retired 8 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 9 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 10 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 11 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 12 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 13 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 14 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 15 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 16 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 17 Year of retirement Percentage 18 1973 through 1996 50% 19 1971 and 1972 55% 20 1970 60% 21 1969 65% 22 1968 70% 23 1967 80% 24 1966 90% 25 prior to 1966 100% 26 Said adjusted benefit commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 27 four, shall be computed on the base benefit amount of the retirement 28 allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification, set 29 forth herein above. Any benefit received pursuant to this subdivision 30 shall be in lieu of any benefit received pursuant to section three 31 hundred seventy-eight of this title. 32 § 3. Subdivision f of section 532-a of the education law, as added by 33 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows: 34 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 35 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 36 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 37 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 38 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 39 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 40 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 41 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 42 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 43 according to the following schedule: 44 Year of retirement Percentage 45 1968 through 1996 50% 46 1966 and 1967 55% 47 1965 60% 48 1964 65% 49 1963 70% 50 1962 80% 51 1961 90% 52 prior to 1961 100% 53 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 54 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise 55 payable, computed without optional modification excluding any annuity
S. 6252--A 4 1 derived from voluntary contributions made by members, except those made 2 pursuant to elections under subdivision one of section five hundred 3 eleven-a or paragraph c of subdivision three of section five hundred 4 sixteen of this article. Any benefits received pursuant to this subdivi- 5 sion shall be in lieu of any benefits received pursuant to section five 6 hundred thirty-two of this article, unless such benefits are in excess 7 of those provided by this section, in which case such benefits shall be 8 paid by the retirement system pursuant to such provision. 9 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-four, all retired 10 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 11 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 12 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 13 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 14 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 15 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 16 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 17 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 18 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 19 Year of retirement Percentage 20 1973 through 1996 50% 21 1971 and 1972 55% 22 1970 60% 23 1969 65% 24 1968 70% 25 1967 80% 26 1966 90% 27 prior to 1966 100% 28 Said adjusted benefit, commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 29 four, shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to exceed eighteen 30 thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed 31 without optional modification, set forth herein above. Any benefit 32 received pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit 33 received pursuant to section five hundred thirty-two of this article, 34 unless such benefits are in excess of those provided by this section, in 35 which case such benefits shall be paid by the retirement system pursuant 36 to such provision. 37 § 4. Subdivision f of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the 38 city of New York, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is 39 amended to read as follows: 40 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 41 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 42 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 43 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 44 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 45 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 46 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 47 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 48 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 49 according to the following schedule: 50 Year of retirement Percentage 51 1968 through 1996 50% 52 1966 and 1967 55% 53 1965 60% 54 1964 65% 55 1963 70%
S. 6252--A 5 1 1962 80% 2 1961 90% 3 prior to 1961 100% 4 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 5 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the annual fixed retirement allow- 6 ance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification. Any 7 benefit received pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any 8 benefit received pursuant to chapter three hundred ninety of the laws of 9 nineteen hundred ninety-eight, and any preceding provision of law 10 providing for supplementation. 11 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-four, all retired 12 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 13 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 14 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 15 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 16 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 17 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 18 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 19 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 20 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 21 Year of retirement Percentage 22 1973 through 1996 50% 23 1971 and 1972 55% 24 1970 60% 25 1969 65% 26 1968 70% 27 1967 80% 28 1966 90% 29 prior to 1966 100% 30 Said adjusted benefit, commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 31 four, shall be computed on the base benefit amount of the retirement 32 allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification, set 33 forth herein above. Any benefit received pursuant to this subdivision 34 shall be in lieu of any benefit received pursuant to section 13-695 of 35 this article. 36 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would provide an increase in the defined benefit cost-of- living adjustment (COLA) for New York public retirement systems. Start- ing with a payment in September 2024, additional payments will be made for those members who retired after 1960 and prior to 1973. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS), pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, the increased costs would be borne entirely by the State of New York and would require an itemized appropriation suffi- cient to pay the cost of the provision. If this bill were enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, the increase in the present value of bene- fits would be approximately $171,000. To fund these costs, the State of New York will be required to pay $191,000 (including interest) as of March 1, 2025. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the increased costs would be shared by the State of New York and the local participating employers in the NYSLPFRS. If this bill were enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, the increase in the present value of benefits would be approximately $232,000.
S. 6252--A 6 NYSLPFRS Increase in present Increase in required value benefits contributions Tiers 1-5 $232,000 $111,000 Tier 6 $0 $121,000 Total $232,000 $232,000 In the NYSLPFRS, this benefit improvement will be funded by increasing the billing rates charged annually to cover both retrospective and prospective benefit increases. The annual contribution required of all participating employers in the NYSLPFRS would be approximately $4,300 to the State of New York and approximately $18,000 to the local participat- ing employers in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. This permanent annual cost will vary in subsequent billing cycles with changes in the billing rate and salary of the affected members. These estimated costs are based on 42 retirees and beneficiaries in the NYSLERS and 41 pin the NYSLPFRS as of March 31, 2023. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali- fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated January 31, 2024, and intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-44, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.