On January 1, 2020, Gov. Cuomo signed into law Chapter 751 of 2019 (S.6367 Gounardes/A.7920-C Abbate – Relates to a special retirement plan for certain members of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system). The new law amends Chapter 504 of the Laws of 2009 to allow individuals who became a member of the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) on or after July 1, 2009 and before January 9, 2010, to make an irrevocable election to become covered by the provisions of Tier II. This new law will correct the unfortunate situation of our members who were caught in the aforementioned “bubble” period and will allow their entry into the appropriate retirement plan.
Thank you to Gov. Cuomo for signing this bill into law as well as our gratitude for the work of our legislative bill sponsors, Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblyman Peter Abbate. We also greatly appreciate the work of all of our brothers and sisters that wrote letters to the Governor, as well as the support of the IAFF and the New York State AFL-CIO.
The new law takes effect immediately and the bill language can be viewed here.
For your convenience, Gov. Cuomo's approval message is posted below:
APPROVAL MEMORANDUM - No. 96 Chapter 751
MEMORANDUM filed with Senate Bill Number 6367, entitled:
"AN ACT to amend chapter 504 of the laws of 2009 amending the
retirement and social security law and other laws relating to
establishing police and fire retirement provisions, in relation
to a special retirement plan for certain members of the New York
state and local police and fire retirement system"APPROVED
This bill would allow the 231 members of the New York State and Local
Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), who became Tier III or Tier V
members between July 1, 2009 to January 8, 2010 (the "bubble"), to elect
to be covered by the provisions of Tier II.PFRS Tier II was phased-out on June 30, 2009 and Tier V became effec-
tive on January 9, 2010. Fire fighters and police officers who became
members or who worked with an expired collective bargaining agreement
between July 1, 2009 and the advent of Tier V on January 9, 2010 were
unable to elect or remain in a Tier II noncontributory twenty-year
pension plan. This bill would ultimately affect only a small number of
employees during this brief time period.New York has a long history of standing up for working men and women,
particularly embodied by the Taylor Law and the Triborough Amendment to
the Taylor Law. The Triborough Amendment requires that all terms and
provisions of an expired public employee contract remain in effect until
a new contract is approved. The failure of the bill enacting Tier V to
recognize that these workers hired in the bubble should have been
protected by the Triborough Amendment is unacceptable and is remedied by
the bill before me. This ambiguity, that only members hired by a locali-
ty with an expired collective bargaining agreement were impacted,
appears to be an unintentional error. There is no record demonstrating
that these individuals were intentionally sent into Tier V.To rectify this error for these employees, and to demonstrate the
State's ongoing commitment to public sector workers, I am signing this
bill.This bill is approved. (signed) ANDREW M. CUOMO