NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7479A
SPONSOR: Benedetto (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the retirement and social security
law, the education law and the administrative code of the city of New
York, in relation to supplemental military retirement allowances for
members of public retirement systems of the state
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill intends to provide veter-
ans who have retired from public service in the state with a veterans
pension benefit similar to that which active veteran public employees
are entitled to receive.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill would:
1. Provide that a member of a public retirement system of the State of
New York who retired prior to December twenty-first, nineteen hundred
ninety-eight may make application to the retirement system for a supple-
mental military allowance;
2. Apply to persons who meet the eligibility requirements of the veter-
an's service credit buy back law;
3. Provide a supplemental military allowance equal to .25% for each
month of military service of such person, to a maximum of 36 months;
4. Provide that the supplemental military allowance shall apply to the
first $15,000, prior to optional modification, of the retired person;
and 5. Require the application for the supplemental military allowance
be made no later than December 31, 2014.
EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL. WOULD ALTER: Chapter 548 of
the Laws of 2000 permits veterans in active public service to have up to
three years of military service credit added to their retirement
service, There is no provision to allow public retirees to receive a
commensurate benefit. This legislation provides that benefit.
JUSTIFICATION: The Veterans Service Credit of 2000 permitted active
military public employees who served in the military during specific
military conflict to purchase up to three years retirement credit for
that military service. This was the first opportunity veterans had to
include their military service in their public retirement plan since
1976.
Many Korean veterans were not eligible for that 1976 buy back law.
Vietnam veterans were just entering public service at that time. In the
ensuring years, many of these veterans provided years of dedicated
public service arid retired without the ability to add military credit
to their retirement. Current employees now have that ability.
It is unfair to ignore the service provided by veterans to our state and
country now that active employees can receive this benefit. This bill
overcomes that injustice by providing retired veterans with a comparable
supplemental military allowance.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2008: A.6805-A Towns Amended and recommit
to Governmental Employees Committee 2007: A6695 Towns Governmental
Employees Committee 2006: A5472-A Towns Governmental Employees Committee
2005: 45472 Towns Governmental Employees Committee 2004: 48374-A Tocci
Governmental Employees Committee 2003: A8374 Tocci Reported to Ways and
Means Committee 2002: A9839 Tocci Passed Assembly 2001: A4246 Vitaliano
Passed Assembly 2000: A11501 Vitaliano Passed Assembly
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: See fiscal notes
attached
EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7479--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 22, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO, RAMOS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education
law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to supplemental military retirement allowances for members of public
retirement systems of the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1000 of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 8-a to read as follows:
3 8-a. A person who retired prior to December twenty-first, nineteen
4 hundred ninety-eight and who would have been entitled to the provisions
5 of this section, may make application to such retirement system no later
6 than December thirty-first, two thousand fourteen for a supplemental
7 military retirement allowance pursuant to this subdivision. The supple-
8 mental retirement allowance provided by this subdivision shall be in
9 lieu of any benefit otherwise provided pursuant to this section and any
10 credit granted for military service with any retirement system of this
11 state pursuant to any other section of law. Upon receipt of an applica-
12 tion, the retirement system shall determine the amount of service credit
13 such person would have been entitled to receive pursuant to subdivisions
14 one and two of this section, subject to the limitations contained in
15 this section. The supplemental military retirement allowance shall equal
16 the retirement allowance of such person, computed without optional
17 modification and not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars, multiplied by
18 twenty-five one hundredths of one percent per month of the service cred-
19 it as determined pursuant to this subdivision. One-twelfth of the
20 supplemental military retirement allowance shall be added to the retire-
21 ment allowance of such person each month. The benefit payable pursuant
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07946-04-3
A. 7479--A 2
1 to this section shall commence on the next retirement allowance payable
2 at least thirty days after the receipt of an application from such
3 person. For the purposes of this subdivision, retirement allowance shall
4 exclude any annuity derived from voluntary contributions made by the
5 individual, except those made pursuant to elections under subdivision
6 one of section five hundred eleven-a or paragraph c of subdivision three
7 of section five hundred sixteen of the education law, but shall include
8 any cost of living adjustment derived from sections seventy-eight-a and
9 three hundred seventy-eight-a of this chapter or section five hundred
10 thirty-two-a of the education law, as applicable. The benefit payable
11 pursuant to this subdivision shall be payable for the life of the
12 retired member only, except that the surviving spouse of a deceased
13 member who retired under an option providing a benefit to be continued
14 for life to the surviving spouse after the death of the member shall be
15 entitled to receive fifty percent of the monthly benefit that the
16 retired member would be receiving pursuant to this subdivision, if
17 living, commencing with the next retirement allowance payable at least
18 thirty days after receipt of an application from the retired member for
19 the benefit or payable after the death of the retired member.
20 § 2. Subdivision b of section 78-a of the retirement and social secu-
21 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
22 read as follows:
23 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
24 retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
25 modification, but including any benefit derived from subdivision f of
26 this section [and], any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived
27 from this section and the amount of any supplemental military retirement
28 allowance derived from subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of
29 this chapter. Said percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this
30 section.
31 § 3. Subdivision b of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
32 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
33 read as follows:
34 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
35 retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
36 modification, but including any benefit derived from subdivision f of
37 this section [and], any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived
38 from this section and the amount of any supplemental military retirement
39 allowance derived from subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of
40 this chapter. Said percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this
41 section.
42 § 4. Subdivision b of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
43 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
44 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
45 retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
46 modification, excluding any annuity derived from voluntary contributions
47 made by members, except those made pursuant to elections under subdivi-
48 sion one of section five hundred eleven-a or paragraph c of subdivision
49 three of section five hundred sixteen of this article, but including any
50 benefit derived from subdivision f of this section [and], any prior
51 year's cost-of-living adjustment derived from this section and the
52 amount of any supplemental military retirement allowance derived from
53 subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of the retirement and social
54 security law. Said percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this
55 section.
A. 7479--A 3
1 § 5. Subdivision b of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
2 city of New York, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
5 fixed retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
6 modification, but including any benefit derived from subdivision f of
7 this section [and], any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived
8 from this section and the amount of any supplemental military allowance
9 derived from subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of the retire-
10 ment and social security law. Said percentage is set forth in subdivi-
11 sion d of this section.
12 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend section 1000 of the Retirement and Social Secu-
rity law by adding a new subdivision 8-a to allow eligible retired
members of public retirement systems of New York State to receive a
supplemental military retirement allowance based upon the retirement
allowance of such member and up to three years of military service cred-
it. The annual supplemental military retirement allowance shall be equal
to the retirement allowance of such person, computed without optional
modification and not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars, multiplied by
twenty-five one hundredths of one percent per month of military service
claimed. The surviving spouse of a deceased member who retired under an
option which provides them with a continuing lifetime benefit would be
entitled to receive fifty percent of the supplemental military retire-
ment allowance that the retired member would have received. A member
must have retired prior to December 21, 1998 and make application prior
to December 31, 2014. This benefit is prospective only and shall
commence at least 30 days after the receipt of said application.
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
number of retired members who would be eligible for the supplemental
military retirement allowance under this bill cannot be determined.
However, the cost is estimated to be, on average, approximately $9,500
for each retired member eligible for the supplemental military retire-
ment allowance provided under this bill if enacted.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2013-43 dated June 6, 2013
prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
system and is intended for use only during the 2013 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.
