What's happening
This bill allows Yates County to offer deputy sheriff Megan Morehouse the option to join a twenty-year retirement plan.
Why it matters
Addresses a missed retirement enrollment opportunity. This bill specifically remedies a situation where Deputy Sheriff Megan Morehouse could not enroll in the twenty-year retirement plan due to circumstances beyond her control, ensuring she’s not permanently penalized for an administrative or procedural oversight.
Sets a precedent for individual pension corrections. By allowing a one-time exception for a specific employee, this legislation could signal to other public employers and employees that such individual corrections are possible, potentially influencing future policy or similar requests.
Financial responsibility falls on the county. All costs associated with Megan Morehouse joining the retirement plan—notably, an estimated annual increase of $5,000—are to be covered by Yates County, meaning local taxpayers, not the state or broader retirement system, bear the expense.
Maintains integrity of retirement system rules. The bill requires certification that the failure to enroll was not due to the employee’s negligence, aiming to balance fairness for the employee with safeguards against arbitrary or unjustified exceptions to pension rules.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Yates Deputy Gets Retirement Option
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Signed chap.495
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Home rule request
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.342
- Substituted for A10124
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Home rule request
- Ordered to third reading cal.1870
Show 2 earlier actions
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to civil service and pensions
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Allow Deputy Early Retirement
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Philip Palmesano
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8102
IN SENATE
March 28, 2018
Introduced by Sen. O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to authorize the county of Yates to offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to Megan Morehouse, a deputy sheriff employed by such county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the county of Yates, a participating employer in the New York state and local employees' retirement system, which previously elected to offer the optional twenty year retirement plan established pursuant to section 552 of the retirement and social security law, to deputy sheriffs employed by such county, is hereby authorized to make participation in such plan available to Megan Morehouse, a deputy sheriff employed by the county of Yates, who, for reasons not ascribable to her own negligence failed to make timely application to participate in such twenty year retirement plan. The county of Yates may so elect by filing with the state comptroller within three months of the effective date of this act, a resolution of the Yates county legislature together with certification that such deputy sheriff did not bar herself from participation in such retirement plan as a result of her own negligence. Thereafter, such deputy sheriff may elect to be covered by the provisions of section 552 of the retirement and social security law, and shall be entitled to the full rights and benefits associated with coverage under such section, by filing a request to that effect with the state comptroller on or before June 30, 2019.
§ 2. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be borne by Yates county.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Fiscal Note.--
This bill will allow Yates County to elect to reopen the provisions of
Section 552 of the Retirement and Social Security Law for deputy sheriff
Megan Morehouse.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14830-03-8
S. 8102 2
If this bill is enacted during the 2018 legislative session and Megan
Morehouse becomes covered under the provisions of Section 552, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $5,000 in the
annual contributions of Yates County for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2019. In future years, this cost will vary as the billing rates and
salary of Megan Morehouse change.
There is no past service cost.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2017 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2017
Report of the Actuary and the 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, and 2017 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
tions, 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, 2017
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 estimate, dated March 1, 2018, and intended for use only during
the 2018 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2018-67, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to authorize the county of Yates to offer an optional twenty year retirement plan to Megan Morehouse, a deputy sher- iff employed by such county
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill seeks to remedy an oversight that through no fault of her own, Megan Morehouse was not included in Section 552 of the retirement and social security law, pertaining to the plan offered to Yates County Deputy Sheriffs.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1: Permits Yates county to offer Megan Morehouse the opportunity to participate the twenty year retirement plan established pursuant to section 552 of the retirement and social security law.
Section 2: States that past service costs shall be borne to her county of employment.
Section 3: States the effective date.
Justification
Megan Morehouse was hired by Yates County Sheriffs Department in 2016. It was discovered in 2017 that Meagan had been inadvertently entered into the wrong retirement plan with the County. Since it was more than a year from her start date, the only way to correct the error is through legislation. This bill allows Megan Morehouse to be enrolled in the retirement plan provided to all Yates County Deputy Sheriffs.
Prior legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
Please refer to fiscal note.
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.