Equal Retirement for Corrections Staff

Section 1. Clause (ii) of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of subdivision a of section 600 of the retirement and social security law, as amended by section 149 of subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended and two new clauses (iii) and (iv) are added to read as follows:

(ii) a person who serves in the title of superintendent as of April first, two thousand six, who has had at least seven years of service credited toward the retirement plan established pursuant to this article while employed by the department of corrections and community supervision and who elects the retirement plan established pursuant to this article on or before September thirtieth, two thousand six. Such election shall be in writing, shall be duly executed and filed with the comptroller and shall be irrevocable as long as such person is in the title of superintendent[.]; or

(iii) a person who is appointed to the title of correction lieutenant, correction captain, deputy assistant superintendent or superintendent in institutions under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections and community supervision and who elects the retirement plan established pursuant to this article within ninety days of his or her appointment. Such election shall be in writing, shall be duly executed and filed with the comptroller and shall be irrevocable as long as such person is in

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD07052-02-9

S. 2052 2

the title of correction lieutenant, correction captain, deputy assistant superintendent or superintendent; or

(iv) a person who serves in the title of correction lieutenant, correction captain, deputy assistant superintendent or superintendent on the effective date of this clause and who elects the retirement plan established pursuant to this article within ninety days of the effective date of this clause. Such election shall be in writing, shall be duly executed and filed with the comptroller and shall be irrevocable as long as such person is in the title of correction lieutenant, correction captain, deputy assistant superintendent or superintendent.

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

This bill would allow certain Tier 3, 5 and 6 correction lieutenants,

correction captains, deputy assistant superintendents and superinten-

dents under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections and commu-

nity supervision of New York State to become eligible to receive bene-

fits under the provisions of Article 15 of the Retirement and Social

Security Law instead of the special plan giving 50% of final average

salary at 25 years of service. Affected members would have 90 days from

the later of the effective date of this bill and their date of being

appointed to one of the aforementioned titles to file for this benefit.

Such elections shall be irrevocable.

If this bill is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, there

will be an immediate past service cost for members currently in these

titles of approximately $52.2 million, which would be borne by the State

of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the assump-

tion that payment will be made on March 1, 2019.

In addition to this cost, there would also be future costs for members

who are appointed to these titles and become eligible for this improved

benefit in the future. These costs would depend on the age, service,

salary and tier of the affected members, and would be paid by the State

of New York as one-time payments as they occur.

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 17, 2019, and intended for use only

during the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-36,

prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement

System.