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- Referred to cities
Companion bill
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Relates to the twenty-five year retirement system for certain New York city employees
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Employees · Sponsor Peter Abbate
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the establishment of a twenty-five year retirement program for members of the New York city employees' retirement system employed as fire protection inspectors and associate fire protection inspectors; and to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to the establishment of twenty-five year retirement programs for such members who are subject to articles 11 and 15 of such law
Summary of provisions
This bill would establish a 25-year retirement for fire protection inspectors, associate fire protection inspectors, and their supervisors who are uniformed fire service personnel and members of the New York City employees retirement system. The plan would be optional for those who are fire protection inspectors, associate fire protection inspectors or their supervisors and members of the system on the effective date.
The costs of the plan are paid for by required additional employee contributions of 6.00% of salary.
Read the full memo (602 words)
Justification
Fire protection inspectors and associate fire protection inspectors perform some of the most important jobs in New York City - inspecting and ensuring compliance with the fire code. This bill would afford these uniformed fire service personnel the opportunity to retire with a full pension after 25 years of service. It would grant them parity with other uniformed service personnel who perform essential tasks that mean the difference between life and death for New Yorkers -- police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other uniformed service employees.
Those who participate in the new pension program would be required to make additional member contributions of their earnings, which will cover the cost of the plan. Thus, there is no fiscal impact to the City of New York in providing this well-deserved pension.
A number of other classes of employees currently enjoy analogous benefits. For example, sanitation workers, who are members of the New York City employee retirement system, are granted the option of participating in a program that allows them to retire after twenty years of service regardless of age. See N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 13-159, 13-160; Ret. & Soc. Sec. L. § 445-b. Similarly, investigators, dispatchers, emergency medical technicians, special officers, parking control specialists, school safety agents, campus peace officers, and New York city taxi and limousine inspectors are granted the option of participating in a program that allows them to retire after twenty-five years of service.
See N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 13-157.1, §§ 13-157.2, § 13-157.2, (n.b. there are two sections 13157.2.), and §§ 13-157.3. Corrections officers and housing police have similar benefits, as do others. See, e.g., N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 13-155, 13-156, 13-157. Those opting to join the program are required to make additional contributions which are designed to pay for the benefits thereof.
To the extent that "uniformed service" employees should be given greater pension benefits than other city employees, it is because of the content of their jobs: uniformed service employees perform work of an emergent nature or which is of special need to the residents of the city, under hazardous conditions. The job performed by fire protection inspectors and associate fire protection inspectors have these same characteristics: it is hazardous work of an emergent nature which is of special need to the residents of New York City. Indeed, because these characteristics of their work are the characteristics of the work of uniformed services personnel, there is every reason they should be given analogous pension benefits.
Accordingly it is urged that this bill be approved.
Fiscal implications
See the bill
Effective date
This bill shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.