Bill > S06835

This bill amends the Retirement and Social Security Law and the Education Law to increase the base benefit amount used to compute pension cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Specifically, effective September 1, 2023, the COLA will be computed on a base benefit amount of up to $21,000, up from the current $18,000 limit. Additionally, the bill provides that COLA payments made between September 1, 2001 and September 1, 2021 will be recomputed to equal 100% of the annual inflation, rather than the current 50%. This change is expected to increase costs for the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System and the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System, with estimated first-year costs of $103 million for the state and $146 million for participating employers, as well as $5.51 million for the state and $21.2 million for participating employers, respectively.