2000 Legislation

Highlights of Chapter 554 of the Laws of 2000:

• Provides that beneficiaries of deceased Tier 2, 3 and 4 members who elected the Paragraph 1 Death Benefit will receive the greater of either the Paragraph 1 Death Benefit or the Paragraph 2 Death Benefit. 
• Eliminates the Paragraph 1 Death Benefit option for members joining after January 1, 2001. 

Signed into Law: October 31, 2000.
Effective Immediately.

Highlights of Chapter 553 of the Laws of 2000: Provides that the Tier 4 age reduction formula for those retiring before age 62 with less than 30 years of service will be the same as the Tier 2 formula.

Signed into Law: October 31, 2000.
Effective Immediately

Highlights of Chapter 552 of the Laws of 2000:

• Allows members to receive credit for prior New York State public service that predated membership and would have been creditable at the time the service occurred. 
• Enables members to have prior service credited (with appropriate payment, if applicable) after earning two years of service credit under their present membership.  

Signed into Law: October 31, 2000.
Effective Immediately

Highlights of Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000: 

• Allows qualified members to purchase a maximum of three years of credit for designated military service. Active members or those who retired on or after December 21, 1998 may be eligible.
• For those members who already have military credit, their combined total military credit cannot exceed three years. 
• The cost for each year purchased is 3% of salary earned during the 12 months of credited service immediately preceding the date the application is made.

Signed into Law: October 19, 2000
Effective Date: December 21, 1998

Highlights of Chapter 256 of the Laws of 2000: Increases the earnings limit for New York State public employment  under Section 212 of the Retirement and Social Security Law to $18,500 a year for the calendar year 2001.

Signed into Law: August 16, 2000
Effective Date: January 1, 2001

Highlights of Chapter 126 of the Laws of 2000:

• Provides up to two years of additional service credit for qualified Tier 1 and 2 members. To be eligible, members must have been in active service from April 1, 1999 through the end of the 1999-2000 school year. (Note: This eligibility criteria was amended by Chapter 353 of the Laws of 2002.) Any additional credit received from Article 19 or a state retirement incentive can be used in the pension calculation formula. As a result, pension factors may exceed 75%.
• Effective October 1, 2000, mandatory 3% contributions to the retirement system for Tier 3 and 4 members will cease after they have 10 years of membership or 10 years of total service credit. 

Signed into Law: July 11, 2000
Effective Date: June 1, 2000 for additional service; October 1, 2000 for cessation of contributions

Highlights of Chapter 125 of the Laws of 2000:

• Provides permanent and automatic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to eligible members, based on 50% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase from one March to the next. The COLA percentage can never be less than 1% nor greater than 3%, and is applied to the first $18,000 of a retiree's maximum retirement benefit.
• To be eligible, a retiree must be age 62 and be retired for at least five years, or age 55 and be retired for at least 10 years. All NYSTRS disability retirees, regardless of age, are eligible when they have been retired for five years. 
• Phase One applies to those who retired prior to January 1, 1997 who meet the above eligibility requirements. They will receive the "catch-up" adjustment September 30, 2000, or when first eligible. 
• Phase Two begins with the September 30, 2001 payroll and will include all dates of retirement for those who meet the above eligibility requirements.

Signed into Law: July 11, 2000
Effective Date: September 2000 payroll

Highlights of Chapter 86 of the Laws of 2000:

• Provides one-twelfth of a year of additional service credit to an eligible member for each year of service credited at retirement, to a maximum of three years of additional credit. 
• To be eligible, members must be age 50 with at least 10 years of service OR age 55 with five years of service. In addition, their local district must adopt the incentive.
• Members younger than age 55 at retirement will have their benefit reduced for each year their age precedes 55, except for Tier 1 members with 35 or more years of service.

Signed into Law: June 23, 2000.
Effective Immediately