BILL NUMBER: S7917
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
participation by public or quasi-public organizations in the retirement
system
 
PURPOSE:
To limit participation by officers and employees of certain private
organizations in the New York State public retirement system.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends subdivision a of section 31 of the Retirement and
Social Security Law in relation to participation of certain private
organizations in the New York State pension system.
Section 2: Sets effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The NYS retirement system is one of the largest in the nation, with over
a million participants and a value of almost $160 billion. The system is
a benefit to hardworking public employees, and it is a benefit to state
and local governments in terms of attracting and retaining qualified
employees. As much as the retirement system is a benefit, it is also a
financial burden, especially to local governments.
In recent years, the NYS Legislature has acted responsibly in passing
measures to help control the cost of the state pension system, partic-
ularly for local governments. Although reform measures such as new
pension tiers have been established, there are still other problems with
the pension system that must be fixed. A prime example of this is the
state's law permitting employees of specific private organizations to
participate in the state's public retirement system.
Under current law, officers and employees of private organizations such
as The NYS Association of Counties, the NYS School Boards Association,
the Association of Towns of the State of New York, and the NYS Confer-
ence of Mayors are all eligible to participate in New York's retirement
system.
Decades ago, these organizations applied for (and were granted) this
special privilege. Consequently, the state's public retirement system
includes certain private-sector employees who enjoy a special benefit
that other similarly situated private-sector employees do not have. A
particularly troubling aspect of this arrangement is that, in some
cases, the officers and employees of these private organizations are
registered lobbyists.
Ultimately, the state pensions for these individuals increase costs for
state and local government - costs that are eventually borne by New York
residents. It is outrageous and unfair to require New York residents to
pay the costs of a public pension for private sector lobbying organiza-
tions.
Another particularly irksome aspect of this situation is that these
groups regularly lobby New York state government officials to reduce the
high costs of pensions for local governments - the very costs that their
officers and employees are contributing to through the special privilege
they are taking advantage of. The NYS Association of Counties, the NYS
Conference of Mayors, and the NYS School Boards Association have all had
pension reform on their lobbying agenda. To be sure, the NYS retirement
system is large and costs a lot of money.
Many hard-working public employees deserve a public pension, and a
pension system should be maintained for these individuals. However, the
fact that the current system provides a public pension to private-sector
lobbying organizations demands a fix. This bill does just that.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2023: N/A
2024: Referred to Civil Service and Pensions Assembly
2023: No Assembly Same-as 2024: No Assembly Same-as
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See Fiscal Note.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S7917: 31 retirement and social security law, 31(a) retirement and social security law