STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3476
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 26, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the retirement of members who serve as police medics, police medic
supervisors and members who perform police medic related services in
the Nassau county police department
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The section heading and subdivisions a and d of section
2 89-s of the retirement and social security law, as amended by chapter
3 578 of the laws of 1998, are amended to read as follows:
4 Retirement of members who serve as ambulance medical technicians,
5 ambulance medical technician/supervisors [and], members who perform
6 ambulance medical technician related services, police medics, police
7 medic supervisors and members who perform police medic related services
8 in the Nassau county police department.
9 a. Any member who serves as an ambulance medical technician, ambulance
10 medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical
11 technician related services, or a police medic, police medic supervisor
12 or a member who performs police medic related services and is employed
13 in the Nassau county police department shall be eligible to retire
14 pursuant to the provisions of this section. Such eligibility shall be an
15 alternative to the eligibility provisions available under any other plan
16 of this article to which such member is subject.
17 d. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include any and
18 all services performed as an ambulance medical technician, ambulance
19 medical technician/supervisor or member who performs ambulance medical
20 technician related services, or a police medic, police medic supervisor
21 or a member who performs police medic related services in the Nassau
22 county police department.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03627-02-1
A. 3476 2
1 § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi-
2 ty law, as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions
5 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire-
6 ment for disability, unless he or she is a police officer, an investi-
7 gator member of the New York city employees' retirement system, fire-
8 fighter, correction officer, a qualifying member as defined in section
9 eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of the laws
10 of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation worker, a
11 special officer (including persons employed by the city of New York in
12 the title urban park ranger or associate urban park ranger), school
13 safety agent, campus peace officer or a taxi and limousine commission
14 inspector member of the New York city employees' retirement system or
15 the New York city board of education retirement system, a dispatcher
16 member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a police
17 communications member of the New York city employees' retirement system,
18 an EMT member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a depu-
19 ty sheriff member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a
20 correction officer of the Westchester county correction department as
21 defined in section eighty-nine-e of this chapter or employed in Suffolk
22 county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added
23 by chapter five hundred eighty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred
24 ninety-seven, of this chapter, employed in Suffolk county as a
25 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of this chapter,
26 or employed in Nassau county as a correction officer, uniformed
27 correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff,
28 as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter, or employed in
29 Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an ambulance medical
30 technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical techni-
31 cian related services, or a police medic, police medic supervisor or a
32 member who performs police medic related services, as defined in section
33 eighty-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred seventy-eight of the
34 laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, or employed in
35 Nassau county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s,
36 as added by chapter five hundred ninety-five of the laws of nineteen
37 hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, or employed in Albany county as a
38 sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, correction officer or identifica-
39 tion officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-h of this chapter or is
40 employed in St. Lawrence county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sher-
41 iff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-i of this
42 chapter or is employed in Orleans county as a sheriff, undersheriff,
43 deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section
44 eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is employed in Jefferson county as a
45 sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined
46 in section eighty-nine-j of this chapter or is employed in Onondaga
47 county as a deputy sheriff-jail division competitively appointed or as a
48 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-k of this chapter
49 or is employed in a county which makes an election under subdivision j
50 of section eighty-nine-p of this chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff,
51 deputy sheriff or correction officer as defined in such section eighty-
52 nine-p or is employed in Broome County as a sheriff, undersheriff, depu-
53 ty sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-m of
54 this chapter or is a Monroe county deputy sheriff-court security, or
55 deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in section eighty-nine-n, as added by
56 chapter five hundred ninety-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred nine-
A. 3476 3
1 ty-one, of this chapter or is employed in Greene county as a sheriff,
2 undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined in
3 section eighty-nine-o of this chapter or is a traffic officer with the
4 town of Elmira as defined in section eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is
5 employed by Suffolk county as a park police officer, as defined in
6 section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or is a peace officer employed by
7 a county probation department as defined in section eighty-nine-t, as
8 added by chapter six hundred three of the laws of nineteen hundred nine-
9 ty-eight, of this chapter or is employed in Rockland county as a deputy
10 sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chapter as
11 added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the laws of two thousand one,
12 or is employed in Rockland county as a superior correction officer as
13 defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter
14 five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thousand one or is a paramedic
15 employed by the police department in the town of Tonawanda and retires
16 under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v of this chapter, as added
17 by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the laws of two thousand one, or
18 is a county fire marshal, supervising fire marshal, fire marshal,
19 assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire marshal or chief fire
20 marshal employed by the county of Nassau as defined in section eighty-
21 nine-w of this chapter and is in a plan which permits immediate retire-
22 ment upon completion of a specified period of service without regard to
23 age. Except as provided in subdivision c of section four hundred forty-
24 five-a of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-
25 five-b of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred forty-
26 five-c of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred
27 forty-five-d of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred
28 forty-five-e of this article, subdivision c of section four hundred
29 forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of section four hundred
30 forty-five-h of this article, a member in such a plan and such an occu-
31 pation, other than a police officer or investigator member of the New
32 York city employees' retirement system or a firefighter, shall not be
33 permitted to retire prior to the completion of twenty-five years of
34 credited service; provided, however, if such a member in such an occupa-
35 tion is in a plan which permits retirement upon completion of twenty
36 years of service regardless of age, he or she may retire upon completion
37 of twenty years of credited service and prior to the completion of twen-
38 ty-five years of service, but in such event the benefit provided from
39 funds other than those based on such a member's own contributions shall
40 not exceed two per centum of final average salary per each year of cred-
41 ited service.
42 § 3. Subdivision o of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
43 ty law, as amended by chapter 578 of the laws of 1998, is amended to
44 read as follows:
45 o. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
46 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five or
47 more years of creditable service, without regard to age, who are
48 employed as ambulance medical technicians, ambulance medical
49 technician/supervisors or a member who performs ambulance medical tech-
50 nician related services, or a police medic, police medic supervisor or a
51 member who performs police medic related services within the Nassau
52 county police department, as defined in section eighty-nine-s of this
53 chapter if: (i) such members have met the minimum service requirements
54 upon retirement, and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the
55 provisions of article fourteen of this chapter, such member files an
56 election therefor which provides that he or she will be subject to the
A. 3476 4
1 provisions of this article and to none of the provisions of such article
2 fourteen. Such election, which shall be irrevocable, shall be in writ-
3 ing, duly executed and shall be filed with the comptroller on or before
4 January first, two thousand. For the purposes of this subdivision, the
5 term "creditable service" shall have the meaning as so defined in both
6 sections eighty-nine-s and six hundred one of this chapter.
7 § 4. Subdivision p of section 604 of the retirement and social securi-
8 ty law, as amended by chapter 578 of the laws of 1998, is amended to
9 read as follows:
10 p. The early service retirement for a member who is employed as an
11 ambulance medical technician, ambulance medical technician/supervisor or
12 a member who performs ambulance medical technician related services, or
13 a police medic, police medic supervisor or a member who performs police
14 medic related services as defined in section eighty-nine-s of this chap-
15 ter, shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth of final average salary
16 times years of credited service at the completion of twenty-five years
17 of service, but not exceeding one-half of his or her final average sala-
18 ry; for service beyond twenty-five years the benefits shall increase by
19 one-sixtieth of final average salary for each year of additional service
20 credit provided, however, that the total allowance payable pursuant to
21 this section shall not exceed three-fourths of such member's final aver-
22 age salary.
23 § 5. The section heading, the opening paragraph of subdivision a and
24 subdivision g of section 605-e of the retirement and social security
25 law, as added by chapter 522 of the laws of 2014, are amended to read as
26 follows:
27 Accidental disability retirement for ambulance medical technician
28 supervisors, ambulance medical technician coordinators [and], ambulance
29 medical technicians, police medic supervisors, police medic coordina-
30 tors, and police medics in Nassau county.
31 A member employed as [a] an ambulance medical technician supervisor,
32 ambulance medical technician coordinator [and], ambulance medical tech-
33 nician, police medic supervisor, police medic coordinator, or police
34 medic in Nassau county shall be entitled to an accidental disability
35 retirement allowance if, at the time application therefor is filed, such
36 member is:
37 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this section shall
38 apply to ambulance medical technician supervisors, ambulance medical
39 technician coordinators [and], ambulance medical technicians, police
40 medic supervisors, police medic coordinators, and police medics in
41 Nassau county who were hired on or after July twenty-seventh, nineteen
42 hundred seventy-six.
43 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will add police medic titles and members who perform police
medic related services in Nassau County to the ambulance medical techni-
cian titles eligible for certain retirement benefits.
If this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session, there
will not be a past service cost as these members were previously in the
ambulance medical technician titles and covered by the same sections of
law.
There will be no increase in the annual contributions of Nassau Coun-
ty.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
A. 3476 5
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2020 Report of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
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, 2020
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 December 21, 2020, and intended for use only
during the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-3, prepared
by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.