Relates to obtaining military credit for members of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system; provides that the calculation for military credit shall be equal to the product of the number of years of military service being claimed and three percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of credited service.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7827
SPONSOR: Pheffer Amato TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
obtaining military service credit for members of the New York state and
local police and fire retirement system
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would decrease the amount of payment required by Tier 6
members of the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System who are obtaining military service credit pursuant to Section
1000 of the Retirement and Social Security Law.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Under current law, a Tier 6 member must pay a sum equal to the product
of the number of years of military service being claimed and six percent
of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of credit-
ed service immediately preceding the date that the member made applica-
tion for credit. This legislation would require such members to pay only
three percent of compensation per year of service.
JUSTIFICATION:
Prior to the enaction of Tier 6, police and fire fighters who obtained
military service credit had to pay 3 percent of compensation per year of
service being claimed. Tier 6 doubled this amount, to a sum equaling 6
percent. It is fundamentally unfair to treat our veterans, who proudly
served our country, differently for the purposes of their retirement
calculations based on which Tier they are enrolled in.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023/2024: A.7343-refered to governmental employees
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Please see bill.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7827
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 11, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
obtaining military service credit for members of the New York state
and local police and fire retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 1000 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by chapter 41 of the laws of 2016, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 9. (a) Anything to the contrary in subdivision three of this section
5 notwithstanding, to obtain such credit, a member who first joins a
6 public retirement system of the state on or after April first, two thou-
7 sand twelve shall pay such retirement system, for deposit in the fund
8 used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum equal to the product of
9 the number of years of military service being claimed and six percent of
10 such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of credited
11 service immediately preceding the date that the member made application
12 for credit pursuant to this section.
13 (b) Beginning with applications received by the New York state and
14 local police and fire retirement system on and after April first, two
15 thousand twenty-six, for members who first become members of the New
16 York state and local police and fire retirement system on or after April
17 first, two thousand twelve, the sum required in paragraph (a) of this
18 subdivision shall be equal to the product of the number of years of
19 military service being claimed and three percent of such member's
20 compensation earned during the twelve months of credited service imme-
21 diately preceding the date the member made application pursuant to this
22 section.
23 § 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.
LBD08377-02-5
A. 7827 2
This bill would decrease the payment required by Tier 6 members of the
New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS)
when purchasing military service credit pursuant to Section 1000 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law. For applications received on or
after April 1, 2026, Tier 6 members would pay 3% of their last 12-months
compensation for each year of military service claimed. Currently, Tier
6 members must pay 6% of compensation.
Insofar as this bill affects NYSLPFRS, if enacted during the 2025
Legislative Session, the cost shared by the State of New York and local
participating employers would increase by approximately 3% of the
member's compensation for each year of additional service that is
purchased.
The exact number of current members as well as future members who
could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March
31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated March 27, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-99. As Chief Actu-
ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin
Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu-
arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct
and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari-
al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
