BILL NUMBER: S9252
SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act directing the chair of the board of trustees of the city univer-
sity of New York shall conduct an audit of such university's partic-
ipation in retirement systems
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 Subdivision (a) of this bill requires the Chair of the Board
of Trustees of the City University of New York to conduct a comprehen-
sive audit of the university's participation in retirement systems
pursuant to section 6214 and Article 125-A of the Education Law, cover-
ing the period from 1998 to the present. The audit must examine retire-
ment enrollment practices, management, employer contributions, and
employee payroll deductions across all colleges, schools, and the
university's central office. The audit shall specifically review: (1)
enrollment processes and contribution and payroll deduction procedures
at each campus and the central office; (2) all instances in which
employees with appointments were not properly enrolled in a retirement
system; and (3) all instances in which required employer contributions
or employee payroll deductions were not made.
Subdivision (b) of this bill requires, as part of the audit, the estab-
lishment of a non-proprietary, publicly accessible database identifying
each lapse in retirement plan enrollment, employer contributions, or
employee payroll deductions. The database must list, for each affected
employee by unique identifier: the individual impacted, the employment
location (college, school, or central office), the beginning and end
dates of each lapse, and the total dollar amount of missed contributions
or payroll deductions during the lapse period.
Subdivision (c ) of this bill requires the Board of Trustees, following
completion of the initial audit, to conduct such audit annually there-
after and to release a public report by February 1 of each year covering
the prior calendar year.
Section 2 of this bill requires that within one year of the effective
date of the act, the Chair of the Board of Trustees submit a report to
the Governor and the Legislature detailing the audit's findings, conclu-
sions, and recommendations. The report must include recommendations to
prevent future lapses in enrollment, contributions, and payroll
deductions; describe corrective actions already undertaken; and set
forth any legislative proposals necessary to implement the recommenda-
tions. The report must also be made publicly available on the City
University of New York's website.
Section 3 of this bill provides that the act shall take effect imme-
diately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In the past five years, hundreds of employees at the city university of
New York informed their union that pension payments have not been prop-
erly deducted from their paychecks. Examples include the city university
of New York failing to enroll employees in retirement systems, failing
to deduct pension contributions on a timely and consistent basis, or
failing to deduct contributions entirely. As a result, affected employ-
ees must go through an onerous process to fix the college's mistakes and
have often been required to pay exorbitant amounts of money to make
their pensions whole. Some employees only discover that the city univer-
sity of New York CUNY failed to properly deduct and make contributions
to their pension at or after retirement. Many employees have been
deprived of investment-based growth of their retirement accounts or have
had to pay interest on the amounts CUNY failed to deduct. Since at least
2014, the issue has persisted and the union continues to receive
complaints as recently as January 2026. An audit would identify which
campuses or groups of employees are affected, employees who are
impacted, how much money employees and the university owe to make their
pensions whole, and allow the university the opportunity to upgrade its
payroll processes to ensure it resolves current failures and prevent
future ones.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
No fiscal implications.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.