April 2021
The State Legislature passed the Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) in early April and Governor Cuomo signed it into law on April 19. The ERI would allow certain employees covered by NYCERS, TRS, and BERS to retire by increasing their pension benefits either by crediting them with extra years worked or eliminating the pension reduction usually taken when an employee retires before age 55 with 25 years of service. Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2021 provides the City of New York and the NYC Department of Education (DOE), the option to elect an ERI. Eligible members may not file for the ERI until the two entities have elected to participate, established an Open Enrollment Period, and the Open Enrollment begins.
The ERI law contains two retirement options, Part A and Part B. The Mayor, however, can deny the ERI to any individual or title deemed “critical” for revenue or public safety reasons. According to NYCERS, if Part A is elected, the Mayor and/or Chancellor will define what titles are eligible to apply.
With Part A, eligible members are given additional qualifying service credit for up to three years. With Part B, eligible members may retire without early retirement reduction factors and are not given additional service credit. Members can apply for only one, and must be in continuous active service (being on the payroll, on leave with pay, or on leave without pay for less than 12 weeks) preceding the Open Enrollment Period.
Eligible members choosing Part A must be eligible for service retirement, 50+ years old with 10+ years of service if not otherwise eligible to retire, or in a plan that allows for retirement at 25 years of service, regardless of age. In this case, the additional service credit provided by Part A of the ERI may be used to reach the required 25 years.
Eligible members choosing Part B must be at least 55 years old and have 25+ years of creditable service.
The NYCERS website defines the ERI benefit for Part A as one month of additional service credit per year of pension service with a maximum additional service credit of three years. Early retirement age reduction factors will apply differently based on a member’s tier, with age reductions prorated for partial years.
Tier 1: 5% per year prior to age 55
Tier 2:
Members 55 or older with 30 or more years of service: no reduction
55/25: 5% per year prior to age 55. Members with more than 25 years of service in a physically taxing title: no reduction
Basic Tier 2 62/5: 6% reduction for each year of the two years prior to age 62; additional 3% each year prior to age 60. Members with 30 or more years of service: 5% reduction for each year prior to age 55
Tier 4:
62/5: 6% reduction for each year of the two years prior to age 62; additional 3% each year prior to age 60. Members with 30 or more years of service: 5% reduction for each year prior to age 55
57/5: 1/30 for first two years prior to age 57; additional 1/20 per year prior to age 55. Members with more than 25 years of service in a physically taxing title: no reduction
55/25: 5% per year prior to age 55. Members with more than 25 years of service in a physically taxing title: no reduction
With the Part B option, eligible members can retire with an unreduced benefit. Part B does not provide additional service credit.
If approved by the Mayor, the ERI in NYCERS cannot start before June 30, 2021, and cannot end later than Oct. 31, 2021. The ERI in TRS cannot start before April 1, 2021, and end no later than Aug. 3, 2021. The open application period for both is expected to be 90 days, with a mandatory 14 day notification from members. All pension members would retire under the rules of their current tier and plan.
New York Legalizes Recreational Marijuana, Tying Move to Racial Equity
After years of stalled attempts, New York State has legalized the use of recreational marijuana, enacting a robust program that will reinvest millions of dollars of tax revenues from cannabis in minority communities ravaged by the decades-long war on drugs. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the cannabis legislation on Wednesday, a day after the State Legislature passed the bill following hours of debate among lawmakers in Albany. READ MORE>
The SEIU Local 300 Scholarship Fund offers two $1,000 scholarships to either college-bound students or students already in their first year of college to help them pursue their academic goals. A $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to one female and one male applicant.
Download> information and application.
Local 300 threw its support behind a New York State bill that would fully repeal the 100% rebate for the Stock Transfer Tax and keep the funds for the state, thereby raising up to $16 billion annually if actually collected. Local 300 joins dozens of other labor Locals backing the legislation at a time when the state is in a significant financial crisis caused by the pandemic that has devastated the economy.
President James Golden said that, from 1905 to 1981, New York State imposed a tax on the sale of stocks. However, the State began rebating the tax in 1979, and since 1981, the tax is now 100% rebated back to Wall Street. In the past 10 years alone, the total given back to stockbrokers is more than $100 billion. That’s why Local 300 signed on to a letter sent to the Governor and Legislative leaders letting them know that austerity measures like laying off 22,000 City workers are unacceptable when the state has alternative measures of securing an economic future.
State Senator James Sanders Jr. is sponsoring the bill in the Senate. He said revenues from the Stock Transfer Tax are generated by the volume and frequency of trades, with the tax ranging from 1.25 cents to 5 cents per transaction. For example, the tax raised on a $1,000 trade would be $2.50.
“This is a tax that would not impact the pockets of the average everyday investor because very few people have investments that trade with high enough frequency for this to make a difference,” Golden said. “Most of the general population who invests in the stock market does so for long-term gain, and does not play the stock market for daily gains.”
Sanders said it is Wall Street speculators who will be the most impacted and pay the vast bulk of the tax. When Wall Street was suffering years ago during the market collapse, New Yorkers bailed it out. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, and it’s the average New Yorker who is suffering during the pandemic while Wall Street is reaping in the rewards, the wealthiest 1% are crying poverty. The top 10% of American households, as defined by total wealth, owned 84% of all stocks in 2016, with 94% of the very rich reporting significant stock holdings of $10,000 or more in shares. That compares to only 27% of the middle class.
Rumors that Wall Street will leave New York State if the tax rebate is repealed are a myth. The New York Stock Exchange never relocated while the Stock Transfer Tax was collected in the state from 1905-1981. Additionally, the NYSE already has lower transaction fees than other markets.
DC 37 negotiated to have the NYS Paid Family Leave (PFL) Law include all members covered by the 2017-2021 economic agreement. The provisions of the law also cover members in the non-profit and private sector Locals. The PFL benefit provides a way for union members to care for their families without jeopardizing their job security or health insurance.
In 2021, the PFL benefit increases from 10 weeks to 12 weeks. The maximum weekly paid benefit increases to $971.61 or $1,943 bi-weekly. PFL pays 67% of the employee’s average weekly wage up to the cap at 67% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage of $1,450.
The benefit also can be used while bonding with an adopted or fostered child, caring for a spouse, domestic partner, child/stepchild, parent/step-parent, in-law, grandparent, or grandchild(ren), or helping when a spouse, partner, child, or parent is deployed abroad for active military service. While on Paid Family Leave, the member can receive a partial salary, based on a statewide formula, outlined above, and continued health insurance. They are guaranteed the same, or a comparable, job after their leave ends.
The 2021 maximum annual employee contribution is $385.34 per employee. It is based on gross bi-weekly wages including overtime and may fluctuate from paycheck to paycheck. Employees earning less than $75,408 a year will not reach the maximum contribution, which is scaled to income. The rate is based on members’ utilization of PFL along with the scheduled benefit increase. This is an insurance based plan. All employees are in the plan in case they may, at some time in the future, need to use the benefit. Only employees who know they will work for less than 175 days, such as summer seasonal employees, will not have a deduction as long as they fill out a waiver form.
The benefit can be used at once, or by incremental full days, over a 12-month period. Full-time employees, who work a regular schedule of 20 or more hours per week, are eligible for PFL after 26 consecutive weeks of employment. Part-time employees, who work a regular schedule of less than 20 hours per week, are eligible for PFL after working 175 days, which do not need to be consecutive.
