BILL NUMBER: S7128B
SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to allowing
certain members of the New York city fire department pension fund to
receive a membership date in the New York city fire department pension
fund attributable to service in the titles of police cadet program or
police cadet program II in the New York city police department cadet
program
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow NYC fire members to repurchase time served in the NYPD cadet
program for tier reinstatement.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends section 209-fff of the General Municipal
Law, as added by Chapter 431 of the laws of 2019, to extend the same
rights afforded NYC police pension fund members to NYC fire department
pension fund members.
Section two sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2019 the legislature passed Chapter 431 to allow Tier 3 police offi-
cers in New York City to purchase time served in the NYPD Cadet Corps
for purposes of tier reinstatement. This was done to rectify a long-
standing inequity for NYPD members who had served in the Cadet Corps
prior to 2012 and were wrongfully denied the opportunity to join NYCERS.
Many of these officers then wound up in a later tier, Tier 3, with a
reduced retirement benefit when Governor Paterson vetoed the Tier 2
extender in 2009. With the passage of Chapter 431, these officers were
able to repurchase their cadet service to reinstate to Tier 2 if they
had joined the cadets prior to this veto.
The skills and experience garnered in the cadet program also apply to
other uniformed careers such as firefighting, and so many former cadets
go on to join the FDNY instead of the NYPD. Tier 3 firefighters were
never granted the opportunity to tier reinstate, however, despite being
in the same cadet classes that were wrongfully told they could not join
a public retirement system and thus later being subject to a later tier.
This bill will create parity between the two professions so that both
have the opportunity to tier reinstate to their initial dates of public
service.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2023: S7128A - Referred to Civil Service
and Pensions
2022: S8950 - Referred to Civil Service and Pensions
2021: A8172 - Referred to Assembly Governmental Employees
2020: S8620 - Referred to Senate Rules
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See bill
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S7128: 209-fff general municipal law
S7128A: 209-fff general municipal law
S7128B: 209-fff general municipal law