New York Assembly Bill A08941

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 7/16/25
• Refer: 7/16/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Provides for retirement credit to fire protection inspector members for a child care leave of absence.

Summary

This bill amends the Retirement and Social Security Law to allow certain New York City fire protection inspector members of NYCERS to purchase retirement service credit for periods of authorized unpaid child care leave. The bill applies notwithstanding existing rules that generally bar credit for leave without pay, and it specifically covers members employed by the City of New York or the New York City Fire Department in fire protection inspector, associate fire protection inspector, or supervisory titles over those employees. To receive the credit, an eligible member must file a claim with the pension fund by December 31, 2025, or within 90 days after the leave ends, whichever is later, and must pay the employee contributions that would have been made during the leave plus interest. The amount of credit is capped at one year for each period of authorized child care leave. The act would take effect immediately.

Impact

The bill creates a new exception in section 609 of the Retirement and Social Security Law for a narrow group of NYCERS members, allowing retirement credit for unpaid child care leave where such credit is otherwise prohibited. It would affect pension administration for the New York City Employees' Retirement System and the New York City Fire Department, and it would likely increase employer pension contributions for New York City over time, as reflected in the fiscal note. The bill does not change benefits for other retirement system members outside this defined fire protection inspector category.

Sentiment

The available materials suggest generally favorable treatment of the bill, with the fiscal note describing a targeted benefit enhancement for a specific employee group and no recorded committee opposition or votes in the provided context. The measure appears framed as a family-supportive pension adjustment for workers who take unpaid child care leave, and the bill text indicates immediate effectiveness. Because no transcripts or vote records are included, there is no evidence here of formal debate or divided sentiment.

Contention

The main policy issue is the cost and scope of the pension benefit. The fiscal note highlights that the bill would increase employer contributions for New York City and that the number of future beneficiaries is unknown, making the long-term fiscal impact uncertain. Another point of potential contention is the narrow eligibility class: the bill benefits only fire protection inspector members of NYCERS, which may raise questions about equity relative to other public employees who also take unpaid child care leave but are not covered. The filing deadline and requirement to repay missed contributions with interest may also be viewed as limiting the practical use of the benefit.