A 10263: Establishes an optional twenty-five year retirement plan for employees of the New York Power Authority with the job title of mechanic, technician, electrician, equipment operator, power plant operator, utility security officer, or lineperson.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10263  IN ASSEMBLY February 12, 2026 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to establishing an optional twenty-five year retirement plan for certain employees of the New York Power Authority The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding 2 a new section 89-z to read as follows: 3 § 89-z. Retirement of certain employees employed by the New York power 4 authority. a. Any person who is employed by the New York power authority 5 and is a member of the labor organization certified or recognized to 6 represent the employees of such power authority with the job title of 7 mechanic, technician, electrician, equipment operator, power plant oper- 8 ator, utility security officer, or lineperson shall be eligible to 9 retire pursuant to the provisions of this section. Such eligibility 10 shall be an alternative to the eligibility provisions available under 11 any other plan of this article to which such member is subject. 12 b. Such member shall be entitled to retire upon the completion of 13 twenty-five years of total creditable service by filing an application 14 therefor in the manner provided for in section seventy of this article. 15 c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon 16 retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together 17 with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of such member's 18 accumulated contributions at the time of their retirement and an addi- 19 tional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-in- 20 creased-take-home-pay to which such member may then be entitled shall be 21 sufficient to provide such member with a retirement allowance equal to 22 fifty percent of such member's final average salary. 23 d. Notwithstanding section forty-one of this article, as used in this 24 section "creditable service" shall include any and all services 25 performed as an employee of the New York power authority. 26 e. A member, contributing on the basis of this section at the time of 27 retirement, shall retire after the completion of twenty-five years of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00633-10-6 
 A. 10263 2 1 total creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner 2 similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon 3 completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement, 4 each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity 5 which shall be the actuarial equivalent of such member's accumulated 6 contributions at the time of their retirement and an additional pension 7 which is the actuarial equivalent of the reserve-for-increased-take- 8 home-pay to which such member may then be entitled shall be sufficient 9 to provide such member with a retirement allowance equal to fifty 10 percent of such member's final average salary. 11 f. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member 12 pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full allowance 13 shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War 14 I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the 15 time of such member's entrance into the armed forces was in state 16 service. 17 g. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a member, who does not 18 retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utilizing 19 service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of this 20 section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other plan 21 of this article to which such member is subject. 22 h. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding 23 any other provision in this article to the contrary. 24 § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi- 25 ty law, as amended by section 2 of part TT of chapter 55 of the laws of 26 2025, is amended to read as follows: 27 a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions 28 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire- 29 ment for disability, unless they are a police officer, an investigator 30 member of the New York city employees' retirement system, firefighter, 31 correction officer, a qualifying member as defined in section eighty- 32 nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of the laws of nine- 33 teen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation worker, a special 34 officer (including persons employed by the city of New York in the title 35 urban park ranger or associate urban park ranger), school safety agent, 36 campus peace officer or a taxi and limousine commission inspector member 37 of the New York city employees' retirement system or the New York city 38 board of education retirement system, a dispatcher member of the New 39 York city employees' retirement system, a police communications member 40 of the New York city employees' retirement system, an EMT member of the 41 New York city employees' retirement system, a deputy sheriff member of 42 the New York city employees' retirement system, a correction officer of 43 the Westchester county correction department as defined in section 44 eighty-nine-e of this chapter or employed in Suffolk county as a peace 45 officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five 46 hundred eighty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of 47 this chapter, employed in Suffolk county as a correction officer, as 48 defined in section eighty-nine-f of this chapter, or employed in Nassau 49 county as a correction officer, uniformed correction division personnel, 50 sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff, as defined in section eighty- 51 nine-g of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as an ambulance 52 medical technician, an ambulance medical technician/supervisor or a 53 member who performs ambulance medical technician related services, or a 54 police medic, police medic supervisor or a member who performs police 55 medic related services, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as amended 56 by chapter five hundred seventy-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred 
 A. 10263 3 1 ninety-eight, of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a peace 2 officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five 3 hundred ninety-five of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of 4 this chapter, or employed in Albany county as a sheriff, undersheriff, 5 deputy sheriff, correction officer or identification officer, as defined 6 in section eighty-nine-h of this chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence 7 county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, 8 as defined in section eighty-nine-i of this chapter or is employed in 9 Orleans county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction 10 officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is 11 employed in Jefferson county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff 12 or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chap- 13 ter or is employed in Onondaga county as a deputy sheriff-jail division 14 competitively appointed or as a correction officer, as defined in 15 section eighty-nine-k of this chapter or is employed in a county which 16 makes an election under subdivision j of section eighty-nine-p of this 17 chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer 18 as defined in such section eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County 19 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as 20 defined in section eighty-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county 21 deputy sheriff-court security, or deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in 22 section eighty-nine-n, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven of 23 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is employed 24 in Greene county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or 25 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-o of this chapter 26 or is a traffic officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section 27 eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is employed by Suffolk county as a park 28 police officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or 29 is a peace officer employed by a county probation department as defined 30 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred three of the 31 laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter or is employed in 32 Rockland county as a deputy sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty- 33 nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the 34 laws of two thousand one, or is employed in Rockland county as a superi- 35 or correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chap- 36 ter as added by chapter five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thou- 37 sand one or is a paramedic employed by the police department in the town 38 of Tonawanda and retires under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v 39 of this chapter, as added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the 40 laws of two thousand one, or is a county fire marshal, supervising fire 41 marshal, fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire 42 marshal, chief fire marshal, division supervising fire marshal or fire 43 marshal trainee employed by the county of Nassau as defined in section 44 eighty-nine-w of this chapter or is employed in Monroe county as a depu- 45 ty sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter, 46 employed as an emergency medical technician, critical care technician, 47 advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic or supervisor of such 48 titles in a participating Suffolk county fire district as defined in 49 section eighty-nine-ss of this chapter, or is a firefighter apprentice, 50 airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, 51 or training and safety officer employed by the division of military and 52 naval affairs as defined in section eighty-nine-y of this chapter, or is 53 employed by the New York power authority with the job title of mechanic, 54 technician, electrician, equipment operator, power plant operator, util- 55 ity security officer, or lineperson and is a member of the labor organ- 56 ization certified or recognized to represent the employees of such power 
 A. 10263 4 1 authority as defined in section eighty-nine-z of this chapter, and is in 2 a plan which permits immediate retirement upon completion of a specified 3 period of service without regard to age. Except as provided in subdivi- 4 sion c of section four hundred forty-five-a of this article, subdivision 5 c of section four hundred forty-five-b of this article, subdivision c of 6 section four hundred forty-five-c of this article, subdivision c of 7 section four hundred forty-five-d of this article, subdivision c of 8 section four hundred forty-five-e of this article, subdivision c of 9 section four hundred forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of 10 section four hundred forty-five-h of this article, a member in such a 11 plan and such an occupation, other than a police officer or investigator 12 member of the New York city employees' retirement system or a firefight- 13 er, shall not be permitted to retire prior to the completion of twenty- 14 five years of credited service; provided, however, if such a member in 15 such an occupation is in a plan which permits retirement upon completion 16 of twenty years of service regardless of age, they may retire upon 17 completion of twenty years of credited service and prior to the 18 completion of twenty-five years of service, but in such event the bene- 19 fit provided from funds other than those based on such a member's own 20 contributions shall not exceed two per centum of final average salary 21 per each year of credited service. 22 § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is amended 23 by adding a new subdivision x to read as follows: 24 x. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 25 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five or 26 more years of creditable service, without regard to age, who are 27 employed by the New York power authority with the job title of mechanic, 28 technician, electrician, equipment operator, power plant operator, util- 29 ity security officer, or lineperson and are a member of the labor organ- 30 ization certified or recognized to represent the employees of such power 31 authority, as defined in section eighty-nine-z of this chapter if: (i) 32 such members have met the minimum service requirements upon retirement, 33 and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the provisions of article 34 fourteen of this chapter, such member files an election therefor which 35 provides that such member will be subject to the provisions of this 36 article and to none of the provisions of such article fourteen. Such 37 election, which shall be irrevocable, shall be in writing, duly executed 38 and shall be filed with the comptroller within one year of the effective 39 date of this subdivision or within one year of entering into service as 40 an employee of the New York power authority and becoming a member of the 41 labor organization certified or recognized to represent the employees of 42 such power authority. The term "creditable service" shall have the mean- 43 ing as so defined in section eighty-nine-z of this chapter and subdivi- 44 sion c of section six hundred one of this article. 45 § 4. Subdivision a of section 503 of the retirement and social securi- 46 ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read 47 as follows: 48 a. The normal service retirement benefit specified in section five 49 hundred four of this article shall be payable to general members, other 50 than elective members, who have met the minimum service requirements 51 upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, a 52 general member who is a peace officer employed by the unified court 53 system or a member of a teachers' retirement system may retire without 54 reduction of [his or her] such member's retirement benefit upon attain- 55 ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or 56 more years of service. For members who become members of the New York 
 A. 10263 5 1 state and local employees' retirement system on or after April first, 2 two thousand twelve, the normal service retirement benefits specified in 3 section five hundred four of this article shall be payable to general 4 members, other than elective members, who have met the minimum service 5 requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-three; provided 6 that, a member who is an employee of the New York power authority with 7 the job title of mechanic, technician, electrician, equipment operator, 8 power plant operator, utility security officer, or lineperson who is a 9 member of the labor organization certified or recognized to represent 10 the employees of such power authority may retire without reduction of 11 such member's retirement benefit upon attainment of twenty-five or more 12 years of service if they have elected the special retirement plan found 13 in section eighty-nine-z of this chapter. 14 § 5. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is amended 15 by adding a new subdivision x to read as follows: 16 x. The early service retirement for a member who is an employee of the 17 New York power authority with the job title of mechanic, technician, 18 electrician, equipment operator, power plant operator, utility security 19 officer, or lineperson and is a member of the labor organization certi- 20 fied or recognized to represent the employees of such power authority as 21 defined in section eighty-nine-z of this chapter, shall be a pension 22 equal to one-fiftieth of final average salary times years of service as 23 an employee of the New York power authority who is a member of the labor 24 organization certified or recognized to represent the employees of such 25 power authority, but not exceeding one-half of such member's final aver- 26 age salary. 27 § 6. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the 28 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement 29 of section twenty-five of the retirement and social security law. 30 § 7. All past service costs associated with implementing the 31 provisions of this act shall be borne by the New York Power Authority. 32 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would permit members of the New York State and Local Employ- ees' Retirement System employed by the New York power authority as a mechanic, technician, electrician, equipment operator, power plant oper- ator, utility security officer, or lineperson to retire upon completion of twenty-five years of creditable service with a benefit of one-half final average salary. Members covered under Article 14 would be permit- ted one year to make an irrevocable election to switch to the twenty- five-year plan. We estimate that the New York power authority's annual contributions will increase $1.4 million beginning FYE 2027. Annual costs will vary as the billing rates and salary of the affected members change. In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $12.1 million borne by the New York power authority as a one-time payment. This cost assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2027. These costs are based on 435 affected members employed by the New York power authority, with annual salary of approximately $52 million as of March 31, 2025. The affected members were identified using job title codes provided by the office of Senator Griffo. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1, 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The 
 A. 10263 6 actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit change(s). This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes- sional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated January 27, 2026, and intended for use only during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-33. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actu- aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it impairs my objectivity.