New York A 7794: Relates to the participation by free association libraries in the New York state and local employees' retirement system

Bill Text

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A07794 Summary:

BILL NOA07794A

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS S05634-A

&nbsp

SPONSORSchiavoni

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §31-g, R & SS L

&nbsp

Authorizes the participation by free association libraries in the New York state and local employees' retirement system.

Go to top A07794 Actions:

BILL NOA07794A

&nbsp

04/11/2025referred to governmental employees

01/07/2026referred to governmental employees

02/19/2026amend and recommit to governmental employees

02/19/2026print number 7794a

Go to topA07794 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA07794 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA07794 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 7794--A

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 April 11, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. SCHIAVONI -- read once and referred to the
 Committee on Governmental Employees -- committee discharged, bill
 amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
 tee

 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
 participation by free association libraries in the New York state and
 local employees' retirement system

 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 31-g to read as follows:
 3 § 31-g. Participation by free association libraries. A free associ-
 4 ation library as defined in section two hundred fifty-three of the
 5 education law and which meets the criteria set forth in this section,
 6 may by resolution adopted as provided in section seven hundred eight of
 7 the not-for-profit corporation law by its board of trustees and subject
 8 to the approval of the comptroller, elect to participate in the retire-
 9 ment system. Acceptance of its employees for membership in the retire-
 10 ment system shall be mandatory with the comptroller, who shall determine
 11 the amounts of contribution payable by such library and its employees,
 12 shall resolve questions of credit for prior service, and shall in all
 13 other respects assure that such employees share the same rights, obli-
 14 gations and benefits as other members of the retirement system. A free
 15 association library shall be eligible to join the retirement system
 16 under the following conditions:
 17 (a) such library shall be chartered by the state board of regents;
 18 (b) such library shall serve the entire population of its chartered
 19 service area;
 20 (c) the board of trustees of such library shall be elected by the
 21 voters of its chartered service area;

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07542-04-6

 A. 7794--A 2

 1 (d) such library's budget shall be approved by the voters of its char-
 2 tered service area;
 3 (e) at least fifty-one percent of such library's budget shall derive
 4 from public sources; and
 5 (f) such library shall file the annual report with the comptroller as
 6 required of public libraries by section thirty of the general municipal
 7 law.
 8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
 This bill would permit any free association library which meets
 certain specific criteria to elect participation in the New York State
 and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS).
 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plan qualification risk: permitting
 participation of non-governmental employees in NYSLERS jeopardizes the
 Retirement System's governmental plan status and its exemption from the
 Employees Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). This would result in
 the loss of critical tax benefits and would substantially impair the
 System's value to over 1.25 million participants.
 Prior to the enactment of this legislation, we recommend that a favor-
 able ruling be obtained from the IRS stating that these provisions would
 not harm the qualification status of the Retirement System. It is esti-
 mated that the costs to obtain such a ruling would be $50,000 for the
 services of the IRS, and $1,000 per hour for legal consultants.
 An electing corporation's annual contributions will depend on the
 retirem