What's happening
This bill allows New York City firefighters to retire with full benefits after 20 years of service.
Why it matters
Directly impacts New York City firefighters and their families. by allowing them to qualify for full retirement benefits five years earlier than the current standard, potentially changing long-term financial planning, career decisions, and retirement timelines for thousands of uniformed FDNY personnel.
Represents a significant shift from existing law. , which currently requires 25 years of service for full pension benefits; this amendment creates a new retirement pathway specifically for FDNY members, distinguishing them from other uniformed city employees like police, corrections, and sanitation workers.
Could influence city budgeting and workforce dynamics. , as earlier retirements may increase pension costs for the city and accelerate the need for recruitment and training of new firefighters to maintain staffing levels, thereby affecting both municipal finances and public safety operations.
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Who cares
Uniformed Members of the New York City Fire Department
Directly impacted as the bill changes eligibility criteria for service retirement benefits, potentially allowing them to retire with full benefits after 20 years of service.
New York City Fire Department Pension Fund
The fund will need to adjust its calculations, funding, and administration to accommodate the new eligibility standards and timelines.
Current and Future Beneficiaries of FDNY Members
Spouses, dependents, and other beneficiaries may see changes in the timing or amount of benefits received due to altered retirement eligibility.
City of New York (Budget and Human Resources Officials)
Responsible for managing pension liabilities and workforce planning, the city must prepare for possible increased retirement rates and associated financial impacts.
Headline styles
Firefighter Retirement Changes
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to civil service and pensions
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10405
IN SENATE
May 15, 2026
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- 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 service retirement of uniformed members of the New York city fire department pension fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision d of section 505 of the retirement and social security law, as added by section 3 of part SS of chapter 55 of the laws of 2025, is amended to read as follows:
d. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, police/fire members of the New York city police pension fund and the New York city fire department pension fund shall be eligible for a normal service retirement benefit in lieu of an early service retirement benefit upon completing twenty years of service pursuant to subdivision d of section five hundred three of this article.
§ 2. Paragraph 2 of subdivision b of section 510 of the retirement and social security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
2. (i) The first day of the month following the date on which a member completes or would have completed twenty-five years of credited service, with respect to service retirement benefits for police/fire members and their beneficiaries, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and their beneficiaries or investigator revised plan members and their beneficiaries, except for uniformed members of the New York city fire department pension fund and their beneficiaries.
(ii) The first day of the month following the date on which the uniformed member becomes eligible for service retirement benefits for uniformed members of the New York city fire department pension fund.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14486-01-6
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 service retirement of uniformed members of the New York city fire department pension fund
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1 amends subdivision d of section 505 of the retirement and social security law to clarify that members of the New York City fire department pension fund are now eligible for a normal service retirement after 20 years of completed service in lieu of the previously-existing early service retirement benefit after 20 years of service.
Section 2 amends subdivision b of Section 510 of the retirement and social security law by exempting these members of the New York city fire department pension fund and their beneficiaries from the requirement of completing 25 years of credited service in order for their service retirement benefits to be subject to the full amount of annual esca- lation. Further, this legislation would create a new subsection (ii) under subdivision b of section 510 of the retirement and social security law, which would allow uniformed members of the New York city fire department pension fund to be applicable to full escalation added to their service retirement benefits on the first day of the month follow- ing the date on which a member becomes eligible for service retirement.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION::
The removal of the strict 25-year completion of credited service requirement would help to address workforce needs such as retention of experienced personnel for longer periods during critical staffing short- ages, and also to allow these members to retire from service based upon individual decision-making, as opposed to a more inflexible time limit that does not align with the member's personal circumstances.
This legislation is based upon the recent passage of the amendments to subdivision 17 of section 501 of the retirement and social security law and to subdivision d of section 503 of the retirement and social securi- ty law, which lowered the normal service retirement to twenty years of completed service for Tier 3 members of the fire department pension fund.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
To be determined.
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.