Bill Text: NY S07289 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Grants retroactive retirement membership in the New York state teachers' retirement system to Eileen Saumell.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-31 - PRINT NUMBER 7289A [S07289 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S07289-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7289--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      July 14, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  WEIK  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules  --  recommitted  to
          the  Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with Senate
          Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT granting retroactive retirement membership in the New York state
          teachers' retirement system to Eileen Saumell

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Eileen Saumell
     2  who is currently working at the  West  Babylon  school  district  and  a
     3  member  of  the  New  York  state  teachers'  retirement system, who was
     4  employed as a full-time employee  of  the  Nassau  County  Demonstration
     5  Project,  a  non-participating  employer  of  the  New York state public
     6  retirement systems, with a start date of August 8, 1994 until August 27,
     7  2004, and at that time a member of the United  Jewish  Appeal-Federation
     8  of  Jewish  Philanthropies  of New York, Inc. Retirement Plan, could not
     9  become a member of one of the New York state public  retirement  systems
    10  on August 8, 1994, shall be granted service credit in the New York state
    11  teachers'  retirement  system  for her employment with the Nassau County
    12  Demonstration Project for the period of August 8, 1994 until August  27,
    13  2004,  provided  that  an  application  is filed with the New York state
    14  teachers' retirement system within one year from the effective  date  of
    15  this act.
    16    § 2. Eileen Saumell shall not be entitled to receive any pension bene-
    17  fits  otherwise  due  to  her  by the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of
    18  Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc. Retirement Plan, and no contrib-
    19  utions made to the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthro-
    20  pies of New York, Inc.  Retirement  Plan  by  Eileen  Saumell  shall  be
    21  returned or refunded to her pursuant to this act.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10816-04-2
        S. 7289--A                          2

     1    § 3. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this
     2  act shall be borne by Nassau County.
     3    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow Eileen Saumell, an active member of the New York
        State Teachers' Retirement System with Tier 4 status, to receive service
        credit for the period August 8, 1994 until August 27, 2004 while she was
        employed with the Nassau County Demonstration Project, a non-participat-
        ing employer of the New York State public retirement systems. During Ms.
        Saumell's  employment  with the Nassau County Demonstration Project, she
        was a member of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation  of  Jewish  Philan-
        thropies of New York, Inc. Retirement Plan and could not become a member
        of  one  of  the New York State public retirement systems. Contributions
        made to the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies  of
        New  York,  Inc. Retirement Plan by Ms. Saumell shall not be returned or
        refunded to her pursuant to this bill. Ms. Saumell must file  a  written
        request  with the head of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System
        within one year of the effective date of this bill.
          The cost of this benefit is equal to the increase in the present value
        of liabilities, which is estimated to be $400,000. This  cost  would  be
        borne  by  the  county of Nassau. Granting service credit for employment
        with an organization that may potentially be considered a non-governmen-
        tal or private employer could jeopardize the System's governmental  plan
        status  and  its  exemption from ERISA which could result in the loss of
        tax-qualified status.
          Member data is from  the  System's  most  recent  actuarial  valuation
        files,  consisting  of  data provided by the employers to the Retirement
        System.  Data distributions and statistics can be found in the  System's
        Annual  Report.  System assets are as reported in the System's financial
        statements and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuari-
        al assumptions and methods are provided in the System's Actuarial  Valu-
        ation Report and the 2021 Actuarial Assumptions Report.
          The  source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2022-44 dated May 27, 2022
        prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New  York  State  Teachers'
        Retirement  System and is intended for use only during the 2022 Legisla-
        tive Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief 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 Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.