UUP Binghamton

According to Albany sources, Gov. Paterson is slated to sign the Tier V Bill recently passed by the Legislature. No doubt, this will raise questions and concerns, as well as speculation about retirement incentives.

Here are some details that will amplify the message I sent out last week.

First and foremost, the new retirement tier DOES NOT and WILL NOT affect current employees!

For new employees who elect ERS (those employed after Jan. 1, 2010), there will be a 10-year vesting period (up from the current 5-years). Retirement without penalty will be at age 62 and after 30 years of service. Employees in this plan will pay 3% out-of-pocket throughout their career (vs. for only the first 10 years currently).

For new employees who elect TRS (again, those hired after Jan. 1, 2010) there will be a similar 10-year vesting period. Retirement without penalty will be at age 57 after 30 years of service. Employees in this plan will pay 3.5% out-of-pocket throughout their career.

For now! The ORP is NOT subject to Tier V. Employees hired in the near future will go into Tier IVa, if they elect the ORP retirement system. (As a reminder, ORP is the TIAA-CREF, Valic, etc. system. Current employees who have not made an election could take advantage of this program to preclude any untoward changes that may occur to ORP in the future.)

It is VERY likely that in the next Legislative session there will be increased pressure from the Gov's Office to include the ORP in Tier V!

You must know that NYSUT was extremely helpful in helping us protect our future members under extreme pressure from the Governor's Office, and subsequently the Legislature, in pushing them into the Tier V. Although our future ERS members will get the same "deal" as ERSers in CSEA & PEF (based on negations by those bargaining agents), the fate of future members in TRS was significantly protected by NYSUT's refusal to accept some really bad deals offered by the Governor's Office.

I think we can claim a victory in that most of our new hires (ORPers) will be exempted--for the near term.

Now...on to the retirement incentives. I cannot give you any real solid information at this point. There is a statement of "Legislative Intent" to enact an early retirement program next year. The details, including dates of availability, remain to be worked out and are really "squishy" at this time.

In a separate email, I will give you information that NYSUT is sending to its K-12 leaders. So of this may be applicable to our members. Please see this link for more information on the retirement tiers: http://www.suny.edu/BENEFITS/benefits_information/retirement/Retirement.cfm