Relates to supplemental military retirement allowances for members of public retirement systems of the state

Latest action Jan 7, 2026

Relates to supplemental military retirement allowances for members of public retirement systems of the state.

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Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Amends the Retirement and Social Security Law.

Committee

Civil Service And Pensions · New York State Senate

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

This bill intends to provide veterans who have retired from public service in the state with a veteran's pension benefit like that which active veteran public employees are entitled to receive. SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:c Section 1. Provided that a member of the public retirement system of the State of New York who retired prior to May thirty-first, two thousand seventeen may make application to the retirement system for a supple- mental military allowance. Section 2. Applies to persons who meet the eligibility requirements of the veteran's service credit buyback law. Section 3. Provides a supplemental military allowance equal to .25% for each month of military service of such person, to a maximum of 36 months. Section 4. Provides that the supplemental military allowance shall apply to the first $15,000, prior to optional modification, of the retired person. Section 5. Requires the application for the supplemental military allow- ance be made no later than December 31, 2019.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Committee vote · Civil Service And Pensions
Senate Civil Service And PensionsApr 29, 2025Result: passed
(7) (0) (0) (0)

The sponsor's argument

Why Jessica Scarcella-Spanton says this is needed

The Veterans Service Credit Act of 2000 permitted active military public employees who served in the military during specific military conflicts to purchase up to three years retirement credit for that military service. This was the first opportunity veterans had to include their military service in their public retirement plan since 1976. Many Korean veterans were not eligible for that 1976 buyback law. Viet- nam veterans were just entering public service at that time. In the ensuing years, many of these veterans provided years of dedicated public service and retired without the ability to add military credit to their retirement. Current employees now have that ability. It is unfair to ignore the service provided by veterans to our state and country now that active employees can receive this benefit. This bill overcomes that injustice by providing retired veterans with a comparable supplemental military allowance.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS
NY Senate
Apr 29, 2025
Reported out of committee
REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
NY Senate
Apr 1, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 3, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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