Statewide 55/25 Retirement Incentive Law is Alive.... Again!

 

The legislation, A7449, would allow districts to provide members of our New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS) the option to retire at age 55 and with 25 years of service with the maximum pension benefit allowed for their respective retirement tier.

 

Currently, 30 years of service are required in order to retirewithoutreductionforTiers 2, 3, 4 and 5 members.Tier 6 members are required to attain age 63 in order to retire withoutreduction regardless of the number of years of service they have.

 

The current version of this bill was introduced last May by New York State Assemblymen, Phil Ramos. Similar legislations have been proposed and considered in recent years in both the State Assembly and State Senate but did not make it out of their committees for floor votes. There is considerable momentum in Albany to suggest that this time around things may be different.

 

Over the years, districts have seen the financial benefits of offering retirement incentives. The cost of the incentive to retirees is greatly outbalanced by the savings to the district who often hire employees to replace retirees at a lower level on the salary scale. In the end, incentives serve as a "win-win" for both sides of the deal. Some state lawmakers believe that offering a temporary incentive across the state will relieve the burden on local districts that might be reluctant to work out details on their own.

 

You can read the full text on the bill and give your support for it here.

 

You can also go to the New York State Assembly website to find the contact information for your local Assemblymen and let them know that you are in favor of this legislation moving out of committee and on to the Assembly floor for a vote.