On Wednesday, August 15, Gov. Spitzer signed the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) pension equity bill into law. Under the new law, ORP participants with 10 years of NYS service or more will no longer be required to contribute 3 percent of their salary to the cost of their pension. By enacting this bill, the governor and Legislature demonstrated their commitment to fair and equitable treatment of all public employees. Thousands of UUP members will receive the same contribution levels their co-workers in other NYS retirement systems ERS and TRS received in 2000.

Here are the provisions:

All employees with 10 or more years of service who are currently paying three percent of salary to their optional retirement pension program (e.g. TIAA/CREF, Valic) will benefit. Specifically, beginning April 1, 2008, NYS will pick up 1 percent of your 3 percent pension payment, and do so each year on April 1, until the entire three percent is eliminated.

If you do not have 10 years of service on April 1, 2008, but are paying the three percent into the optional retirement pension, the state will begin phasing in their payment of your three percent contribution upon completion of your 10 years of service. The phase-in period begins with the state picking up with 1 percent in 2008, and adding 1 percent each year until April 2010, when the entire 3 percent will be paid by the state.

Members who reach the 10-year mark after April 1, 2010 will have the three percent picked up by the state.