What's happening
This bill allows Division of Military and Naval Affairs firefighters to retire after 25 years with half their final average salary as pension.
Why it matters
Expands retirement benefits to a specialized group. By specifically including Division of Military and Naval Affairs firefighters (including apprentices, all firefighter levels, and training/safety officers), the bill acknowledges the hazardous and unique nature of their work, aligning their pension rights with those of other high-risk public safety personnel.
Recognizes prior and related service. The bill allows credit toward the 25-year retirement for other paid firefighting experience, and even certain military service during wartime if the individual was a state employee at the time, broadening who can benefit and how quickly they can reach eligibility.
Offers flexibility and choices for current employees. Existing qualifying employees have a one-year window to irrevocably opt into this new retirement plan, giving them agency to weigh the advantages of the new benefit formula against other potential retirement options.
Has fiscal impacts and policy precedents. The bill will increase state pension costs both immediately and in the future, and sets a precedent for extending “special retirement plans” to other state-employed emergency personnel, which could influence similar legislation for other groups.
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Who cares
Headline styles
25-Year Retirement for Firefighters
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 39
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to civil service and pensions
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.460
- Substituted for A7615A
- Referred to governmental employees
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 58–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1016
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Reported and committed to finance
- 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.
Firefighter 25-Year Retirement Plan
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Employees · Sponsor Peter Abbate
Full text
5 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5286
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 23, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to establishing a twenty-five year retirement plan for firefighters employed by the division of military and naval affairs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new section 89-x to read as follows:
§ 89-x. Twenty-five year retirement plan for firefighters employed by the division of military and naval affairs firefighters. a. A member who serves as an airport firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer and is employed by the division of military and naval affairs shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this section. Such eligibility shall be an alternative to the eligibility provisions available under any other plan of this article to which such member is subject.
b. Such member shall be entitled to retire upon the completion of twenty-five years of total creditable service by filing an application therefor in the manner provided for in section seventy of this article.
c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his or her accumulated contributions at the time of his or her retirement and an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the reservedfor-increased-take-home-pay to which he or she may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide him or her with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of his or her final average salary.
d. As used in this section, "creditable service" shall include any and all services performed as a firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11092-02-9
S. 5286 2
I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer employed by the division of military and naval affairs.
e. Credit for service as a paid firefighter or officer of any organized fire department shall also be deemed to be creditable service and shall be included in computing years of total service for retirement pursuant to this section.
f. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of retirement, may retire after the completion of twenty-five years of total creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his or her accumulated contributions at the time of his or her retirement and an additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which he or she may then be entitled shall be sufficient to provide him or her with a retirement allowance equal to one-half of his or her final average salary; for service beyond twentyfive years and for non-firefighter service the benefit is increased by one-sixtieth of final average salary for each year of additional service credit.
g. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full allowance shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the time of his or her entrance into the armed forces was in the service of the state.
h. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a member, who does not retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utilizing service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of this section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other plan of this article to which such member is subject.
i. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding any other provision in this article to the contrary.
j. Any member who, on or before the effective date of this section, is a firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer employed by the division of military and naval affairs may, by filing an election within one year after the effective date of this section, elect to be subject to the provisions of this section. Such election shall be in writing, shall be duly executed and filed with the comptroller and shall be irrevocable.
§ 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social security law, as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retirement for disability, unless he or she is a police officer, an investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement system, firefighter, correction officer, a qualifying member as defined in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation worker, a special officer (including persons employed by the city of New York in the title urban park ranger or associate urban park ranger), school safety agent, campus peace officer or a taxi and limousine commission inspector member of the New York city employees' retirement system or
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the New York city board of education retirement system, a dispatcher member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a police communications member of the New York city employees' retirement system, an EMT member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a deputy sheriff member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a correction officer of the Westchester county correction department as defined in section eighty-nine-e of this chapter or employed in Suffolk county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred eighty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, employed in Suffolk county as a correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a correction officer, uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an ambulance medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical technician related services, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred seventy-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-five of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, or employed in Albany county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, correction officer or identification officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-h of this chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-i of this chapter or is employed in Orleans county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is employed in Jefferson county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chapter or is employed in Onondaga county as a deputy sheriff-jail division competitively appointed or as a correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-k of this chapter or is employed in a county which makes an election under subdivision j of section eighty-nine-p of this chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer as defined in such section eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county deputy sheriff-court security, or deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in section eighty-nine-n, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is employed in Greene county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-o of this chapter or is a traffic officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is employed by Suffolk county as a park police officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or is a peace officer employed by a county probation department as defined in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred three of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter or is employed in Rockland county as a deputy sheriff-civil as defined in section eightynine-v of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the laws of two thousand one, or is employed in Rockland county as a superior correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thousand one or is a paramedic employed by the police department in the town of Tonawanda and retires under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v
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of this chapter, as added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the laws of two thousand one, or is a county fire marshal, supervising fire marshal, fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire marshal or chief fire marshal employed by the county of Nassau as defined in section eighty-nine-w of this chapter, or is a firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer employed by the division of military and naval affairs as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter and is in a plan which permits immediate retirement upon completion of a specified period of service without regard to age. Except as provided in subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-a of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-b of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-c of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-d of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-e of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of section four hundred forty-five-h of this article, a member in such a plan and such an occupation, other than a police officer or investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement system or a firefighter, shall not be permitted to retire prior to the completion of twenty-five years of credited service; provided, however, if such a member in such an occupation is in a plan which permits retirement upon completion of twenty years of service regardless of age, he or she may retire upon completion of twenty years of credited service and prior to the completion of twenty-five years of service, but in such event the benefit provided from funds other than those based on such a member's own contributions shall not exceed two per centum of final average salary per each year of credited service.
§ 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
u. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five years of creditable service, without regard to age, who are employed by the division of military and naval affairs as a firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter if: (i) such members have met the minimum service requirements upon retirement; and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the provisions of article fourteen of this chapter, such member files an election therefor which provides that he or she will be subject to the provisions of this article and to none of the provisions of such article fourteen. Such election, which shall be irrevocable, shall be in writing, duly executed and shall be filed with the comptroller within one year of the effective date of this subdivision or within one year after entering the employment with the division of military and naval affairs upon which eligibility is based, whichever comes later. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "creditable service" shall have the meaning as so defined in both sections eighty-nine-x and six hundred one of this chapter.
§ 4. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
u. The early service retirement benefit for a member who is employed in the division of military and naval affairs as a firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer employed as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth
S. 5286 5
of final average salary times years of credited service at the completion of twenty-five years of service as such division of military and naval affairs firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or training and safety officer, but not exceeding one-half of his or her final average salary.
§ 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will allow airport firefighters employed by the division of
military and naval affairs to retire to become covered by the provisions
of a special 25 year retirement plan, which will provide a benefit of
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to establishing a twenty-five year retirement plan for firefighters employed by the division of military and naval affairs
Purpose
This bill would grant more equitable pensions to airport firefighters and training and safety officers in the New York State Division of Mili- tary and Naval Affairs.
Summary of provisions
Section one amends the retirement and social security law by adding a new section 89(x) to establish a twenty-five year pension with half-pay.
Section two adds firefighter apprentice, airport firefighters, and training and safety officers employed by the division of military and naval affairs to those covered under the law.
Section three adds a new subdivision to define "creditable service" and provide specifics on what is required to retire.
Section four sets forth pension amounts.
Section five sets forth the effective date.
Justification
This bill would grant a more equitable pension to airport firefighters and training and safety officers in the New York State Division of Mili- tary and Naval Affairs. These employees face the same dangers as munici- pal firefighters but are not entitled to the same pension benefits. This legislation will grant them a pension of half-pay after twenty-five years. This legislation will help to ensure these brave men and women receive the benefits that they deserve.
Legislative history
None
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on January 1, 2020, with some provisions.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.