BILL NUMBER: S7338
SPONSOR: WEIK
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act in relation to authorizing active members of the New York state
and local police and fire retirement system to purchase service credit
for service with the Long Island Railroad Company police department
 
PURPOSE:
To authorize former members of the LIRR police who are still on active
duty with other active police departments to receive service credit for
their time with the LIRRPD.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1-Section 1 permits certain active members of the NYS P&F
retirement system the ability to purchase up to three years of service
credit with the Long Island Railroad Company police department to the
New York state and local police and fire retirement system.
Section 2- provides that all past service costs shall be borne by the
State.
Section 3- sets forth an immediate effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Long Island Railroad Company operated its own police department (the
LIRRPD) until 1998, when the LIRRPD was consolidated into the MTA Police
Retirement Program (the "MTA Plan"). The MTA Plan is a defined benefit
pension plan that is not part of the State System. In 2015, the Legisla-
ture passed a statute that permitted LIRRPD police officers employed
after the merger to transfer their service time in the MTA Plan to the
State System (Chapter 533, Laws 2015).
Former LIRRPD officers who left to join other police departments before
the merger did not have the same opportunity to transfer their time to
the State System. This bill will correct this oversight and permit
active police officers who left the LIRRPD before 1998 to purchase up to
three years of prior service credit.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: S9538 Civil Service and Pensions
2022: S6302A Passed Senate
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See fiscal note.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.