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A07389 Summary:
BILL NO | A07389A |
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SAME AS | SAME AS S07075-A |
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SPONSOR | Pheffer Amato |
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COSPNSR | Cunningham, Weprin, Zaccaro, Eachus, Sillitti |
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MLTSPNSR | |
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Amd §607-b, R & SS L | |
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Relates to the eligibility of New York city transit authority employees for performance of duty disability retirement. |
A07389 Floor Votes:
There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
Go to topA07389 Text:
Go to top 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. LBD08375-04-4A. 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 LIABILITYA. 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 thoseA. 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.