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S1345.......................................by COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES PERSI RETIREES - REEMPLOYMENT - Amends existing law to provide that Public Employee Retirement System retirees who retire without early retirement reductions and who are reemployed after being retired for at least six months, may elect to continue receiving retirement benefits and not accrue additional service if they are subsequently elected to a public office other than an office held prior to retirement. 02/03 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 02/06 Rpt prt - to Com/HuRes 02/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 02/13 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 02/22 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-1-2 AYES -- Andreason, Brandt(Harper), Broadsword, Bunderson, Burkett, Burtenshaw, Cameron, Coiner, Compton, Corder, Darrington, Davis, Fulcher, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Jorgenson, Langhorst, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams NAYS -- Little Absent and excused -- Kelly, Keough Floor Sponsor - Corder Title apvd - to House 02/23 House intro - 1st rdg - to Com/HuRes 03/02 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 03/03 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 03/16 3rd rdg - PASSED - 64-0-6 AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bayer, Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Brackett, Bradford, Cannon, Clark, Collins, Deal, Denney, Edmunson, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Garrett, Hart, Harwood, Henbest, Henderson, Kemp, Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Martinez, Mathews, McGeachin, McKague, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Pence, Raybould, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Rusche, Rydalch, Sali, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8), Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie, Stevenson, Trail, Wills, Mr. Speaker NAYS -- None Absent and excused -- Bastian, Chadderdon, Crow, Jaquet, Snodgrass, Wood Floor Sponsor - McKague Title apvd - to Senate 03/17 To enrol 03/20 Rpt enrol - Pres signed - Sp signed 03/21 To Governor 03/24 Governor signed Session Law Chapter 185 Effective: 07/01/06
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1345 BY COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AMENDING SECTION 59-1356, 3 IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT PERSI RETIREES WHO RETIRE WITHOUT EARLY 4 RETIREMENT REDUCTIONS AND ARE REEMPLOYED AFTER BEING RETIRED FOR AT LEAST 5 SIX MONTHS MAY ELECT TO CONTINUE RECEIVING RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND NOT 6 ACCRUE ADDITIONAL SERVICE IF THEY ARE SUBSEQUENTLY ELECTED TO A PUBLIC 7 OFFICE OTHER THAN AN OFFICE HELD PRIOR TO RETIREMENT. 8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 9 SECTION 1. That Section 59-1356, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 10 amended to read as follows: 11 59-1356. REEMPLOYMENT OF RETIRED MEMBERS. (1) If an early retired member 12 is reemployed with the same employer within ninety (90) days from retiring, or 13 the early retired member is guaranteed reemployment with the same employer the 14 member shall be considered to have continued in the status of an employee and 15 not to have separated from service. Any retirement allowance payments received 16 by the retired member shall be repaid to the system and the retirement shall 17 be negated. The month of last contribution prior to the negated retirement and 18 the month of initial contribution upon return to reemployment shall be consid- 19 ered consecutive months of contributions in the determination of an appropri- 20 ate salary base period upon subsequent retirement. 21 (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, wWhen a retired 22 member meets the definition of an employee as defined in section 23 59-1302(14)(A)(a), Idaho Code, any benefit payable on behalf of such member 24 shall terminate and any contributions payable by such member under sections 25 59-1331 through 59-1334, Idaho Code, shall again commence, except as provided26in subsection (3) of this section. The terminated benefit, as adjusted pursu- 27 ant to section 59-1355, Idaho Code, shall resume upon subsequent retirement, 28 along with a separate allowance computed with respect to only that salary and 29 service credited during the period of reemployment. 30 (3) If a retired member, who is receiving a benefit that is not reduced 31 under section 59-1346, Idaho Code, and who has been retired for more than six 32 (6) months, again becomes employedand an employer certifies to the board that33the member does not qualify as an employeeas defined in this section and sec- 34 tion 59-1302(14)(A)(ab), Idaho Code, as a result of being elected to a public 35 office other than an office held prior to retirement, the retired member may 36 elect to continue receiving benefits and not accrue additional service, in 37 which event no contributions shall be made by the member or employer during 38 such reemployment and any benefit payable on behalf of such member shall con- 39 tinue. 40 (4) For purposes of this section, "same employer" means the employer for 41 which the retired member last worked prior to retirement.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS 15830 It is difficult to encourage highly qualified citizens to perform public service and run for elected offices, particularly in the more rural areas of Idaho. Currently a PERSI retiree may be elected to a part-time office and it will not affect their retirement benefit. However, a PERSI retiree who is elected to a full-time office must stop receiving their retirement benefit, make contributions to PERSI from their salary and will accrue an additional PERSI benefit. Depending upon the salary of the full-time office and the PERSI benefit the retiree is receiving, this willingness to perform public service in a full- time elected office could work a fmancial hardship on the retiree. The intent of this amendment is to offer the same existing re-employment right to retirees who are elected to a part-time office (less than 20 hours per week), to retirees who are elected to full-time office. Under current PERSI statutes and rules a retired PERSI member who is elected to a public office and who is not normally required to perform services of 20 hours per week or more, or for not more than five consecutive months can continue to receive their PERSI benefits and receive the salary for the elected office. The amendment will allow retired PERSI members who are elected to a public office that requires them to perform services of 20 hours per week or more, or for more than five consecutive months to continue to received their PERSI benefit and receive the salary for the full time elected office, under certain circumstances. The retiree must have retired with an unreduced retirement allowance, must have been retired for six months and cannot be returning to the same office from which they retired. This amendment is narrowly drafted to make re-employment arrangements for PERSI retiree s equivalent between part-time and full-time elected offices. It is not the intent of the legislature to expand re-employment right of retirees other than this specific amendment. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact on the general fund. The actuary determined most of the costs are eliminated because 1) the retiree must be retired at least 6 months, 2) the retiree must be elected to a different position than one that may have been held prior to retirement and 3) no benefit is accrued during the reemployment. The only actual cost impact is the loss of UAAL contributions which is determined to be very small (2.79% of salary). Contact Senator Dean Cameron Senator Joe Stegner Senator Dick Compton Senator Tim Corder STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1345