Allows Tier 3 and 5 correction officers and Tier 3, 4 and 5 security hospital treatment assistants to become eligible to receive benefits under article 15

14 Co-sponsors

• José Peralta
• William Colton
• Audrey Pheffer
• Dennis H. Gabryszak
• Timothy P. Gordon
• Michael Benjamin
• Sam Hoyt
• Aileen Gunther
• William Magee
• Nancy Calhoun
• David Townsend
• Teresa Sayward
• Mark J.F. Schroeder
• David Koon

5 Multi-sponsors

• Jeffrion Aubry
• Michael Cusick
• Carl Heastie
• Susan John
• Dierdre Scozzafava

BILL NUMBER:A5849A

Title of bill

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to retirement and benefits for certain employees

Purpose or general idea of bill

This legislation will allow Tier III state correction officers and Tiers III and IV Security Hospital Treat- ment Assistants (SHTAs) the option to elect, when the benefit would be greater, to retire under the provisions of Tier IV.

Summary of specific provisions

The bill would allow State Correction Officers and SHTAs to choose between the 25 year retirement plan or ordinary Tier 4 benefits.

Justification

The Legislature, in enacting the 25 year plan for state correction officers and SHTAs, recognized the difficult and stressful nature of the Correction Officer and SHTA occupations.

There are circumstances, however, where employees in the Correction Officer/SHTA Plan are disadvantaged by the inability to use prior ERS service for retirement purposes. For example, service prior to becoming a correction officer or SHTA is unusable toward retirement in the Correction Officer/SHTA Plan because it is not "creditable." As such, these individuals are faced with two options: (1) work 25 years in an appropriate Correction Officer or SHTA title to obtain the benefits of this Plan; or (2) if the ERS benefit is the better benefit, return to a general ERS job before retirement. This bill recognizes the inequity inherent in this situation and allows the member to elect the general ERS system.

Moreover, recent changes to ERS have improved the benefits available. For instance, a regular Tier IV member is allowed to retire prior to age 62, upon the attainment of 30 years of service to retire at age 55 with- out a reduction of benefits. A Correction Officer or SHTA with prior service would not be able to receive this benefit even with combined service of 30 years (i.e. 15 years in ERS and 15 years as a Correction Officer or SHTA). This legislation would correct that inequity.

Prior legislative history

2009: A.5849 - Referred to Assembly Govern- mental Employees Committee. 2008: A.1788-C - Reported Referred to the Assembly Ways & Means Commit- tee. 2007: A.1788-A - Referred to Assembly Governmental Employees Committee. 2006: A 3340 -A - Passed both Houses; Veto memo 4249 2005: A.3340 - Referred to Assembly Governmental Employees Committee. 2004: A.1654 -A - Referred to Assembly Governmental Employees Committee.

Fiscal implications

An immediate past service cost of approximately $135 million which would be borne as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2011. If the State of New York elects to amortize the past service cost over a period of five (5) or ten (10) years, the past service cost for the

first year including interest, would be approximately $31.3 million or 18.6 million, respectively. There will not be an increase in the annual state contributions of the State of New York for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011. (Fiscal Note 2010-70)

Effective date

Immediate.