What's happening
This bill grants Kerry Brennan retroactive Tier IV membership in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.
Why it matters
This bill allows Kerry Brennan to retroactively join Tier IV of the retirement system, which typically has more favorable pension benefits (such as lower employee contribution rates and earlier retirement age) compared to Tier V, potentially increasing her future retirement income and benefits.
By granting retroactive membership to June 9, 2001, the bill acknowledges that her failure to enroll at that time was not due to her own negligence, highlighting a commitment to fairness for employees affected by administrative errors or misunderstandings.
The immediate financial impact includes a one-time cost of $20,200 to the State of New York and an approximate $1,900 annual increase in contributions for Yates County, illustrating how individual pension adjustments can have broader fiscal implications for both state and local budgets.
The bill sets a precedent for similar cases, signaling that the state is willing to correct past enrollment issues for public employees, which may encourage others in comparable situations to seek retroactive retirement benefits.
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Grant Retroactive Pension Membership
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
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History
- Held for consideration in governmental employees
- Referred to governmental employees
- Referred to governmental employees
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.
Restore Pension Rights for Kerry
In Senate Committee · Civil Service And Pensions · Sponsor Thomas F. O'Mara
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6743
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 18, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. PALMESANO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT granting retroactive membership in the New York state and local employees' retirement system to Kerry Brennan
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, Kerry Brennan, an employee of the County of Yates and a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, who was employed as a lifeguard for the Village of Penn Yan as a seasonal employee on June 9, 2001, who for reasons not ascribable to her own negligence, failed to become a member of such retirement system during such employment in the Village of Penn Yan in 2001, shall be deemed to have joined the New York state and local employees' retirement system on the date June 9, 2001 and shall be granted Tier IV status in such retirement system, if, within one year of the effective date of this act, she shall file a written request with the state comptroller.
§ 2. No contributions made to the New York state and local employees' retirement system by Kerry Brennan shall be returned or refunded to her pursuant to this act.
§ 3. All past service costs of implementing the provisions of this act shall be borne by the state of New York.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will grant Tier 4 status in the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System to Kerry Brennan, a current Tier 5 member
employed by the County of Yates, by changing her date of membership to
June 9, 2001, her first date of employment with the Village of Penn Yan.
There will be no refund of member contributions.
If this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $1,900 in the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08260-02-9
A. 6743 2
annual contributions of the County of Yates for the fiscal year ending
March 31, 2020. In future years, this cost will vary as the billing
rates and salary of Kerry Brennan change.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of $20,200 which will be borne by the
State of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the
assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2020.
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, 2018 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2018
Report of the Actuary and the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, 2017 and 2018 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial
Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New
York: Audit Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2018
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 judgement of an attorney.
This estimate, dated January 29, 2019, and intended for use only
during the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-33,
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.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.