Relates to the disclosure of records to public retirement systems of the city of New York

BILL NUMBER:S7692

Title of bill

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure of records to public retirement systems of the city of New York

Summary of Provisions: This bill amends Article 6-A of the New York State Public Officers Law, known as the Personal Privacy Protection Law, by adding a new paragraph (o) to Section 96 to allow the disclosure of records or personal information belonging to a "data subject" (generally, an employee of a state agency, board, public authority, etc.) to a public retirement system of the city of New York if the information being sought is necessary to process statutory pension benefits.

Reasons for Support:

Section 96 of the Public Officers Law lists the conditions under which the records or personal information of data subjects, as that term is defined in Section 92 of the Public Officers Law, may be disclosed Subdivision a of Section 96 requires that a data subject sign a written consent authorizing the release of his or her personal information and specifying the personal information being requested, the party who is requesting the information, and the purpose for which the information will be used. This provision adversely impacts public retirement systems of the city of New York which are essentially treated as third parties whenever personal information of data subjects is sought in connection with a pension transaction.

For example, a significant number of buyback applications are processed each year relating to purchasing previous service with a New York State agency. To process these applications a member's service and salary information must be verified. The Office of the State Comptroller, Bureau of State Payroll Services, is the keeper of service and salary information for pre-1998 service and it requires that a member submit a notarized release form before it can provide the information. The process is inefficient, time-consuming, and costs money.

In the case of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), another example relates to accessing non-member payroll information for the senior colleges of the City University of New York (CUNY) which has become crucial with the enactment of Chapter 18 of the Laws of 2012 (Tier 6). The payrolls of these CUNY colleges are administered by the Office of the State Comptroller, Bureau of State Payroll Services. To process a new Tier 6 membership, non-member payroll information is needed to assign a contribution rate. Without it, the salary upon which the contribution rate is based could not be determined. In addition, access to this information would expedite the buyback process for employees of CUNY senior colleges.

Accordingly, the NYCERS Board of Trustees urges the earliest possible favorable consideration of this proposal by the Legislature.

Effective Date of the Bill: This act shall take effect immediately.