S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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10131
I N A S S E M B L Y
May 9, 2012
___________
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
providing veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with the
option to purchase retirement service credit for time served in the
theater of operation
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section 1000 of
2 the retirement and social security law, as added by chapter 548 of the
3 laws of 2000, are amended and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as
4 follows:
5 (c) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
6 States in Panama, from the twentieth day of December, nineteen hundred
7 eighty-nine to the thirty-first day of January, nineteen hundred ninety,
8 as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal, the
9 navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal; [or]
10 (d) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
11 States, from the second day of August, nineteen hundred ninety, to the
12 end of such hostilities in case of a veteran who served in the theater
13 of operations including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the
14 United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the
15 Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the airspace above these locations[.]; OR
16 (E) HOSTILITIES PARTICIPATED IN BY THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE UNITED
17 STATES, FROM THE SEVENTH DAY OF OCTOBER, TWO THOUSAND ONE, TO THE END OF
18 SUCH HOSTILITIES IN THE CASE OF A VETERAN WHO SERVED IN THE THEATER OF
19 OPERATIONS INCLUDING EITHER IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN AND THE AIRSPACE ABOVE
20 THESE LOCATIONS.
21 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend subdivision 2 of section 1000 of the Retirement
and Social Security Law to add Iraq and Afghanistan to the list of thea-
ters of operations in which a member of a public retirement system of
New York State may claim service credit. A member may claim service
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15597-01-2
A. 10131 2
credit for up to three years of military service performed during
hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United States,
from the seventh day of October, two thousand one, to the end of such
hostilities. A member must have at least five years of credited service
to be eligible and make application for such credit before the effective
date of retirement. To obtain such credit, the member shall deposit in
the pension accumulation fund a sum equal to the product of the period
of military service being claimed and three percent of his or her
current annual full-time rate of compensation. This act shall take
effect immediately.
It is not possible to determine the total annual cost to the employers
of members of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System since the
total amount of service credit which would be claimed under this bill
cannot be estimated. However, the cost to the employers of members of
the New York State Teachers' Retirement System is estimated to be
$18,300 per year of service credited for Tier 1 and 2 members, $17,900
per year of service credited for Tier 3 and 4 members, and $16,700 per
year of service credited for Tier 5 members if this bill is enacted.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2012-18 dated March 7, 2012
prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2012 Legislative Session.
I, Richard A. Young, am the Actuary for the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries
and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu-
aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow up to three (3) years of service credit for
members of public retirement systems in New York State who rendered
military service from October 7, 2001 to the end of such hostilities in
Afghanistan and were assigned to the theater of operations. However, the
total service credit granted for any military service shall not exceed
three (3) years. Members must have at least five years of credited
service (not including military service). Members would be required to
make a payment of three percent of their most recent compensation per
year of additional service credit granted by this bill.
If this bill is enacted, insofar as this proposal affects the New York
State and Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS), it is estimated that
the past service cost will average approximately 12% of an affected
members' compensation for each year of additional service credit that is
purchased.
Insofar as this proposal affects the New York State and Local Police
and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), it is estimated that the past service
cost will average approximately 17% of an affected members' compensation
for each year of additional service that is purchased.
If less than 300 of the active membership have such military service
and will benefit by purchasing the service credit, there will be esti-
mated increases in annual contributions of less than $450,000 to employ-
ers in the ERS and less than $170,000 to employers in the PFRS.
In addition to the above costs, there would be additional costs for
future members of the Retirement System who have such military service.
Summary of relevant resources:
Data: March 31, 2011 Actuarial Year End File with distributions of
membership and other statistics displayed in the 2011 Report of the
Actuary and 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
A. 10131 3
Assumptions and Methods: 2010 and 2011 Annual Report to the Comp-
troller on Actuarial Assumptions, Codes Rules and Regulations of the
State of New York: Audit and Control.
Market Assets and GASB Disclosures: March 31, 2011 New York State and
Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Informa-
tion.
Valuations of Benefit Liabilities and Actuarial Assets: summarized in
the 2011 Actuarial Valuations report.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This estimate, dated February 17, 2012 and intended for use only
during the 2012 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2012-65,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System and the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System.