What's happening
This bill allows George A. Amendola to retroactively receive Tier II retirement status and benefits, with related costs paid by the Niagara Falls school district.
Why it matters
Sets a precedent for individual exceptions. By allowing one person to retroactively access a more favorable pension tier, the bill could open the door for similar requests from others who missed out on benefits due to administrative errors, potentially impacting pension system consistency.
Financial impact on the local school district. The Niagara Falls school district—not the statewide pension fund—must pay the one-time cost (about $27,300), which means direct local budget implications rather than spreading the cost broadly.
Recognizes non-negligence in missed enrollment. The bill specifically acknowledges that George Amendola's failure to enroll in the Tier II system was not his fault, highlighting the importance of fairness and administrative responsibility in public benefits access.
No refund of contributions. While Amendola gains enhanced benefits, any prior retirement contributions he made under less favorable terms are not refunded, which balances his retroactive benefits with some limitation on financial windfall.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Grant Tier II for Amendola
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to civil service and pensions
- Referred to civil service and pensions
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1574
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to authorize George A. Amendola Tier II status in the New York state and local employees' retirement system
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, George A. Amendola, who was first eligible to join the public retirement system as of September 20, 1974 and who was employed by the Niagara Falls school district from September 20, 1974 to June 2, 1978 and who for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence was not afforded the opportunity to join the New York state and local employees' retirement system with Tier II status, shall be deemed to have become a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system as of September 20, 1974; and shall have Tier II status, if, no later than one year after the effective date of this act he shall file a written request with the state comptroller; and upon receipt of such application, the comptroller shall recalculate George Amendola's retirement benefits and thereafter pay such benefits accordingly as if he shall have been deemed to have joined such retirement system on September 20, 1974.
§ 2. No contributions made to the New York state and local employees' retirement system shall be returned or refunded to George A. Amendola pursuant to this act.
§ 3. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be borne by the Niagara Falls school district.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will grant Tier 2 status to George A. Amendola, a retired
Tier 4 member of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System, by changing his date of membership to September 20, 1974, his
first date of employment with the Niagara Falls school district. The
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02735-02-9
S. 1574 2
retirement benefit will be recalculated and payment will be made retro-
active to his date of retirement. There will be no refund of member
contributions.
If this legislation is enacted during the 2019 legislative session,
there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $27,300
which will be borne by the Niagara Falls school district as a one-time
payment. This cost is based on the assumption that payment will be made
on February 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 and 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 judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated January 9, 2019, and intended for use only during
the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-16, 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 George A. Amendola Tier II status in the New York state and local employees' retirement system
Purpose
This legislation provides George Amendola Tier II Status as of September 20, 1974.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 allows George Amendola to join ERS as of September 20, 1974 who through no fault of his own was not enrolled in the retirement system.
Section 2 states that there are no contributions to be returned to George Amendola.
Section 3 states cost will be borne by the Niagara Falls School District.
Section 4 is the effective date.
Justification
Through no fault of his own George Amendola was not enrolled in the retirement system when first eligible on September 20, 1974. This legis- lation seeks to fix this inequity.
Legislative history
2017-2018: S. 7822 referred to Civil Service and Pensions
Fiscal implications
Immediate past service cost of approximately $27,300 which will be borne by the Niagara Falls school district.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.