NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7389A
SPONSOR: Pheffer Amato TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the eligibility of New York city transit authority employees for
performance of duty disability retirement
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Relates to extending the benefits of the variable supplements fund for
transit police members of the New York City employees' retirement
system.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 13-191 of the administra-
tive code of the city of New York to provide for the payment of Transit
Police Officers' and Transit Police Superior Officers' Variable Supple-
ments Funds (VSF) benefits to former New York City Employees' Retirement
System (NYCERS) members who are retired for service from the New York
City Transit Police (TP) between October 1, 1968 and June 30, 1987
(Prior Retirees) with 20 or more years of service.
These benefits would be paid from the following VSFs: Transit Police
Officers' Variable Supplements Fund (TPOVSF), and Transit Police Superi-
or Officers' Variable Supplements Fund (TPSOVSF).
The amount of VSF benefits paid is currently $12,000 per Calendar Year.
These VSF benefits are payable on an annual basis around December 15th
to eligible former NYCERS members for their lifetimes. There are no
optional forms of payment. Upon the death of the NYCERS retiree, VSF
payments cease.
JUSTIFICATION:
Former members of the NYC Transit Police that retired for service after
June 30, 1987 presently receive a supplemental benefit from the Variable
Supplements Fund ("VSF"). The VSF was enacted into law because of a fact
finders award in 1970 and was granted to members of the NYC Police and
Fire pension funds who retired for service after October 1, 1968.
In the mid-1960s, members of the Transit Police• were granted and given
pay and retirement benefit parity. However, the VSF was not bestowed
upon similarly situated members of the department until legislation was
enacted effective after July 1, 1987. As a result, members were in pari-
ty until unjustly removed on July 24, 1992, as beneficiaries. As a
matter of equity and fairness, the VSF should be granted to all members
of the Transit Police who retired from service subsequent to October 1,
1968.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022 Session - Amended and Recommit to Civil Service and Pensions
2020 Session - S8306 - referred to Civil Service and Pensions S.6823
2017-18 Session - referred to Civil Service and Pensions Committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Please see fiscal note
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7389--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 19, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO, CUNNINGHAM, WEPRIN, ZACCARO,
EACHUS, SILLITTI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Governmental
Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the eligibility of New York city transit authority employees for
performance of duty disability retirement
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 607-b of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision a-1 to read as follows:
3 a-1. Any member of the New York city employees' retirement system who
4 is employed by the New York city transit authority and who participated
5 in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined
6 in section two of this chapter, who, on or after September eleventh, two
7 thousand one, becomes physically or mentally incapacitated for the
8 performance of duties as the natural and proximate result of an injury
9 sustained in the performance or discharge of his or her duties as a
10 result of such participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or
11 cleanup operations shall be paid a performance of duty disability
12 retirement allowance equal to three-quarters of final average salary,
13 subject to section 13-176 of the administrative code of the city of New
14 York. Any member who has made application or who, after the effective
15 date of this subdivision, makes application for such performance of duty
16 pension shall be entitled to invoke the medical review procedure
17 provided for in subdivision e of section six hundred five of this arti-
18 cle, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in such subdivision.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08375-04-4
A. 7389--A 2
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would grant New York City Transit
Authority (NYCTA) active and retired members of NYCERS who have incurred
a World Trade Center (WTC) Qualifying Condition, a performance of duty
disability retirement equivalent to 75% of the member's Final Average
Salary (FAS) prospectively as of the effective date.
INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
Future Incidents (Illustration)
Year Current WTC One Incident One Incident
Retirees Per Year
2025 12,200 31 31
2026 0 31 62
2027 0 31 95
2028 0 31 128
2029 0 31 162
2030 0 31 198
2031 0 31 234
2032 0 31 272
2033 0 31 311
2034 0 31 351
2035 0 31 392
2036 0 31 434
2037 0 31 478
2038 0 31 523
2039 0 0 539
2040 0 0 555
2041 0 0 571
2042 0 0 588
2043 0 0 606
2044 0 0 624
2045 0 0 643
2046 0 0 662
2047 0 0 682
2048 0 0 703
2049 0 0 724
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown.
The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
the NYCTA.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES
as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Millions)
Present Value (PV) Current WTC Future WTC
Retirees Per Disability
PV of Benefits: 11.0 0.3
PV of Employee Contributions: 0.0 0.0
PV of Employer Contributions: 11.0 0.3
Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 11.0 0.3
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
A. 7389--A 3
Recognized as Ongoing WTC Retirees Per WTC Disability
Gain/Loss
Number of Payments: 1 14
Amortization Payment: 12.2 M 0.03 M
CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
this fiscal note is unknown. The estimates presented herein are based on
preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2023. The census data
for members who have been approved for WTC benefits and the potentially
impacted population used to develop the average costs is summarized
below.
NYCERS
Active Members (Potentially Eligible)
- Number Count: 7,919
- Average Age: 57.4
- Average Service: 24.4
- Average Salary: 103,300
Receiving Members (Current WTC)
- Number Count: 52
- Average Age: 65.4
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a NYCTA member who incurs a WTC
Qualifying Condition, is eligible for a performance of duty disability
retirement, generally a lifetime payment of 1/60th of Final Average
Salary (FAS) times service not less than 1/3 of FAS.
Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability
benefit for a NYCTA member who incur a World Trade Center (WTC) Qualify-
ing Condition would be equal to:
* 75% of FAS, where
* FAS is defined as 3-Year FAS for Tier 4 and 5-Year FAS for Tier 6,
less
* any applicable Workers' Compensation benefit.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of NYCERS.
There are currently 52 members who have been approved for WTC bene-
fits. The cost for these members is recognized in the first-year cost.
The number of additional members and eligible retirees who will benefit
in the future from this fiscal note is unknown and included as per inci-
dent WTC disability costs. The cost of this proposed legislation could
vary greatly depending on the number of future members who benefit and
on their length of service, age, and salary history.
The estimated per incident financial impact for disabled members has
been calculated assuming 50% would retire under an Accidental Disability
benefit, and 50% would continue working if the proposed legislation were
not passed.
The bill appears to grant eligible NYCTA members and retirees the
ability to utilize the presumptions for infectious diseases pursuant to
subsection b of RSSL Section 607-b. Costs associated with granting these
presumptions have not been included in this Fiscal Note.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo-
graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from
actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those
A. 7389--A 4
presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
Fiscal Note.
This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other
Postemployment Benefits).
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS but do not believe it impairs our
objectivity and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
To the best of our knowledge, the results contained herein have been
prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and
procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the
Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2024-23 dated March 11,
2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during
the 2024 Legislative Session.
