Veterans Buy Back

October 21, 2000

Veterans Buy Back Bill

PEF President Roger Benson issued the following statement yesterday, October 20^th, regarding the signing of the Veterans' Buy Back Bill:

Yesterday the Governor signed the Veterans Buy Back legislation in New City.

This is legislation that PEF has been actively promoting for over 11 years in a variety of different forms. It was the organizational tenacity and leadership of many PEF administrations and Veterans' Chairs, including Richard Ferriolo, Dick Collins and David Krobe, combined with the involvement of other unions and veterans' groups, that pushed this to succeed.

For our veterans, this is a huge, new benefit that will permit them to buy back as much as three years of military service for retirement purposes at 3% of their salary. On top of COLA, the two year service credit addition for Tiers 1 and 2 and elimination of the 3% after 10 years for Tiers 3 & 4, this has been an extraordinary year for retirement enhancements. It is a testament to our focus on this important issue.

On behalf of the Officers, I extend our appreciation to the many PEF members and staff who helped achieve this important victory.

You can obtain both information and forms at Comptroller McCall's website:
www.osc.state.ny.us At the homepage, click on retirement systems and click the item "military service."