Establishes a retirement service credit for volunteer fire or emergency service

Bill S 7021 establishes a new retirement service credit for members of New York State public retirement systems who serve as volunteer firefighters or emergency service providers. Eligible members can receive one year of service credit for every five years of volunteer service, up to a maximum of three years of credit for fifteen years of service. To qualify, members must have at least five years of existing credited service and will pay a portion of the cost, calculated as three percent of their compensation for the twelve months preceding the application. The bill requires volunteer service to be certified by the agency and applications to be submitted before retirement.