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H0044........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
Requested by Public Employees Retirement System
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM - Amends existing law to provide
definitions; to provide that documents maintained on computer imagery shall
be admissible in evidence; and to specify the amounts to be placed in a
segregated account pursuant to a domestic retirement order.
01/11 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/11 Rpt prt - to Comm/HuRes
02/02 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/03 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/04 3rd rdg - PASSED - 67-2-0
AYES -- Alltus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bell, Black, Boe, Bruneel,
Callister, Campbell, Chase, Clark, Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Denney,
Ellsworth, Field(13), Field(20), Gagner, Geddes, Gould, Hadley,
Hammond, Hansen(23), Hansen(29), Henbest, Hornbeck, Jaquet, Jones,
Judd, Kellogg, Kempton, Kendell, Kjellander, Kunz, Lake, Limbaugh,
Linford, Loertscher, Mader, Marley, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery,
Mortensen, Moyle, Pischner, Pomeroy, Reynolds, Ridinger, Ringo,
Robison, Schaefer, Sellman, Smith, Stevenson, Stoicheff, Stone,
Taylor, Tilman, Tippets, Trail, Watson, Wheeler, Williams,
Zimmermann, Mr Speaker
NAYS -- Sali, Wood
Absent and excused -- None
Dist. 19, Seat A, Vacant
Floor Sponsor - Ridinger
Title apvd - to Senate
02/05 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Com/HuRes
03/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/11 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/16 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-0-3
AYES--Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron,
Crow, Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes,
Hawkins, Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King, Lee, McLaughlin, Richardson,
Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Thorne, Twiggs,
Wheeler, Whitworth
NAYS--None
Absent and excused--Noh, Parry, Riggs
Floor Sponsor - Lee
Title apvd - to House
03/17 To enrol
03/18 Rpt enrol - Sp signed - Pres signed
03/19 To Governor
03/23 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 198
Effective: 07/01/99
H0044|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session - 1999IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 44 BY MR. SPEAKER Requested by: Public Employees Retirement System 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AMENDING SECTION 59-1302, 3 IDAHO CODE, TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION, TO DEFINE "CONTINGENT ANNU- 4 ITANT" AND TO CLARIFY THE DEFINITION OF "SERVICE"; AMENDING SECTION 5 59-1310, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT DOCUMENTS MAINTAINED ON COMPUTER 6 IMAGERY SHALL BE ADMISSIBLE IN EVIDENCE; AMENDING SECTION 59-1319, IDAHO 7 CODE, TO PROVIDE THE MEANING OF EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE ORDER WITH RESPECT 8 TO DOMESTIC RETIREMENT ORDERS; AMENDING SECTION 59-1320, IDAHO CODE, TO 9 CLARIFY THAT ACCUMULATED CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TRANSFERRED TO THE SEGREGATED 10 ACCOUNT TOGETHER WITH ACCRUED INTEREST FROM THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE 11 ORDER; AND AMENDING SECTION 59-1356, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A CORRECT CODE 12 REFERENCE. 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 14 SECTION 1. That Section 59-1302, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 15 amended to read as follows: 16 59-1302. DEFINITIONS. (1) As used in this chapter, each of the terms 17 defined in this section shall have the meaning given in this section unless a 18 different meaning is clearly required by the context. 19 (2) "Active member" means any employee who is not establishing the right 20 to receive benefits through his or her employer's participation in any other 21 retirement system established for Idaho public employees, if such participa- 22 tion is mandated by applicable Idaho statutes other than this chapter. In no 23 case will an employee be entitled to any benefit under this chapter for public 24 service if such employee is establishing retirement benefit entitlements by 25 other Idaho statutes or federal statutes other than military service or social 26 security for that same service. 27 (3) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of amounts contributed by a 28 member of the system, together with regular interest credit thereon. 29 (4) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit equal in value to another ben- 30 efit, when computed upon the basis of the actuarial tables in use by the sys- 31 tem. 32 (5) "Actuarial tables" means such tables as shall have been adopted by 33 the board in accordance with recommendations of the actuary. 34 (5A) "Alternate payee" means a spouse or former spouse of a member who is 35 recognized by an approved domestic retirement order as having a right to all 36 or a portion of the accrued benefits in the retirement system with respect to 37 such member. 38 (5B) "Approved domestic retirement order" means a domestic retirement 39 order which creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee's right 40 or assigns to an alternate payee the right to all or a portion of the accrued 41 benefits of a member under the retirement system, which directs the system to 42 establish a segregated account or disburse benefits to an alternate payee, and 43 which the executive director of the retirement system has determined meets the 2 1 requirements of sections 59-1319 and 59-1320, Idaho Code. 2 (5C) "Average monthly salary" means the member's average salary during 3 the base period as calculated pursuant to rules adopted by the retirement 4 board. 5 (5D) (a) "Base period" means the period of fifty-four (54) consecutive 6 calendar months during which the member earned: 7 (i) The highest average salary; and 8 (ii) Membership service of at least one-half (1/2) the number of 9 months in the period, excluding months of service attributable to: 10 A. Military service; 11 B. Service qualifying as minimum benefit pursuant to section 12 59-1342(5), Idaho Code; and 13 C. Worker's compensation income benefits. 14 (b) Effective October 1, 1993, the consecutive calendar months shall be 15 forty-eight (48). Effective October 1, 1994, the consecutive calendar 16 months shall be forty-two (42). 17 (c) Entitlement to a base period shall not vest until the effective date 18 of that base period. The retirement benefits shall be calculated on the 19 amounts, terms and conditions in effect at the date of the final contribu- 20 tion by the member. 21 (d) If no base period exists for a member, the member's average monthly 22 salary shall be determined by the board, using standards not inconsistent 23 with those established in this subsection. 24 (e) To assure equitable treatment for all members, salary increments 25 inconsistent with usual compensation patterns may be disallowed by the 26 board in determining average monthly salary and base period. 27 (6) "Beneficiary" means the person who is nominated by the written desig- 28 nation of a member, duly executed and filed with the board, to receive the 29 death benefit. 30 (7) "Calendar year" means twelve (12) calendar months commencing on the 31 first day of January. 32 (7A) "Contingent annuitant" means the person designated by a member 33 under certain retirement options to receive benefit payments upon the death of 34 the member. The person so designated must be born and living on the effective 35 date of retirement. 36 (8) "Credited service" means the aggregate of membership service, prior 37 service and disabled service. 38 (9) "Date of establishment" means July 1, 1965, or a later date estab- 39 lished by the board or statute. 40 (10) "Death benefit" means the amount, if any, payable upon the death of a 41 member. 42 (11) "Disability retirement allowance" means the periodic payment becoming 43 payable upon an active member's ceasing to be an employee while eligible for 44 disability retirement. 45 (12) "Disabled" means: 46 (a) That the member is prevented from engaging in any occupation or 47 employment for remuneration or profit as a result of bodily injury or dis- 48 ease, either occupational or nonoccupational in cause, but excluding dis- 49 abilities resulting from service in the armed forces of any country, or 50 from an intentionally self-inflicted injury; and 51 (b) That the member will likely remain so disabled permanently and con- 52 tinuously during the remainder of the member's life. 53 It is not necessary that a person be absolutely helpless or entirely unable to 54 do anything worthy of compensation to be considered disabled. If the person is 55 so disabled that substantially all the avenues of employment are reasonably 3 1 closed to the person, that condition is within the meaning of "disabled." In 2 evaluating whether a person is disabled, medical factors and nonmedical fac- 3 tors including, but not limited to, education, economic and social environ- 4 ment, training and usable skills may be considered. 5 Refusal to submit to a medical examination ordered by the board before the 6 commencement of a disability retirement allowance or at any reasonable time 7 thereafter shall constitute proof that the member is not disabled. The board 8 shall be empowered to select for such medical examination one (1) or more phy- 9 sicians or surgeons who are licensed to practice medicine and perform surgery. 10 The fees and expenses of such examination shall be paid from the administra- 11 tion account of the fund. No member shall be required to undergo such examina- 12 tion more often than once each year after he has received a disability retire- 13 ment allowance continuously for two (2) years. 14 (12A) "Disabled service" means the total number of months elapsing from 15 the first day of the month next succeeding the final contribution of a member 16 prior to receiving a disability retirement allowance to the first day of the 17 month following the date of termination of such disability retirement allow- 18 ance. During such period, the member shall remain classified in the membership 19 category held during the month of final contribution. The total number of 20 months of disabled service credited for a person first becoming disabled after 21 the effective date of this chapter shall not exceed the excess, if any, of 22 three hundred sixty (360) over the total number of months of prior service and 23 membership service. 24 (12B) "Domestic retirement order" means any judgment, decree, or order, 25 including approval of a property settlement agreement which relates to the 26 provision of marital property rights to a spouse or former spouse of a member, 27 and is made pursuant to a domestic relations law, including the community 28 property law of the state of Idaho or of another state. 29 (13) "Early retirement allowance" means the periodic payment becoming pay- 30 able upon an active member's ceasing to be an employee while eligible for 31 early retirement. 32 (14) (A) "Employee" means: 33 (a) Any person who normally works twenty (20) hours or more per week for 34 an employer or a school teacher who works half-time or more for an 35 employer and who receives salary for services rendered for such employer; 36 or 37 (b) Elected officials or appointed officials of an employer who receive a 38 salary; or 39 (c) A person who is separated from service with less than five (5) con- 40 secutive months of employment and who is reemployed or reinstated by the 41 same employer within thirty (30) days. 42 (B) "Employee" does not include employment as: 43 (a) A person rendering service to an employer in the capacity of an inde- 44 pendent business, trade or profession; or 45 (b) A person whose employment with any employer does not total five (5) 46 consecutive months; or 47 (c) A person provided sheltered employment or made-work by a public 48 employer in an employment or industries program maintained for the benefit 49 of such person; or 50 (d) An inmate of a state institution, whether or not receiving compensa- 51 tion for services performed for the institution; or 52 (e) A student enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or vocational- 53 technical program at and employed by a state college, university, commu- 54 nity college or vocational-technical center when such employment is predi- 55 cated on student status; or 4 1 (f) A person making contributions to the United States civil service com- 2 mission under the United States Civil Service System Retirement Act except 3 that a person who receives separate remuneration for work currently per- 4 formed for an employer and the United States government may elect to be a 5 member of the retirement system in accordance with rules of the board; or 6 (g) A person occupying a position that does not exceed eight (8) consecu- 7 tive months in a calendar year with a city or county when the city or 8 county has certified, in writing to the system, the position is (i) sea- 9 sonal or casual; and (ii) affected by weather and the growing season, 10 including parks and golf course positions. 11 (15) "Employer" means the state of Idaho, or any political subdivision or 12 governmental entity, provided such subdivision or entity has elected to come 13 into the system. Governmental entity means any organization composed of units 14 of government of Idaho or organizations funded only by government or employee 15 contributions or organizations who discharge governmental responsibilities or 16 proprietary responsibilities that would otherwise be performed by government. 17 All governmental entities are deemed to be political subdivisions for the pur- 18 pose of this chapter. 19 (15A) "Final contribution" means the final contribution made by a member 20 pursuant to sections 59-1331 through 59-1334, Idaho Code. 21 (16) "Firefighter" means an employee, including paid firefighters hired on 22 or after October 1, 1980, whose primary occupation is that of preventing and 23 extinguishing fires as determined by the rules of the board. 24 (17) "Fiscal year" means the period beginning on July 1 in any year and 25 ending on June 30 of the next succeeding year. 26 (18) "Fund" means the public employee retirement fund established by this 27 chapter. 28 (19) "Funding agent" means any bank or banks, trust company or trust com- 29 panies, legal reserve life insurance company or legal reserve life insurance 30 companies, or combinations thereof, any thrift institution or credit union or 31 any investment management firm or individual investment manager selected by 32 the board to hold and/or invest the employers' and members' contributions and 33 pay certain benefits granted under this chapter. 34 (20) "Inactive member" means a former active member who is not an employee 35 and is not receiving any form of retirement allowance, but for whom a separa- 36 tion benefit has not become payable. 37 (20A) "Lifetime annuity" means periodic monthly payments of income by the 38 retirement system to an alternate payee. 39 (20B) "Lump sum distribution" means a payment by the retirement system of 40 the entire balance in the alternate payee's segregated account, together with 41 regular interest credited thereon. 42 (21) "Member" means an active member, inactive member or a retired member. 43 (22) "Membership service" means military service which occurs after the 44 commencement of contributions payable under sections 59-1331 through 59-1334, 45 Idaho Code, and service with respect to which contributions are payable under 46 sections 59-1331 through 59-1334, Idaho Code, which, except for benefit calcu- 47 lations described in sections 59-1342 and 59-1353, Idaho Code, includes ser- 48 vice transferred to a segregated account under an approved domestic retirement 49 order. 50 (23) "Military service" means active duty service in the armed forces of 51 the United States including the national guard and reserves, under the provi- 52 sions of title 10, title 32, and title 37, United States code. Provided, how- 53 ever, for the purposes of this chapter, military service SHALL NOT include: 54 (a) Any period ended by dishonorable discharge or during which termina- 55 tion of such service is available but not accepted; 5 1 (b) Any period which commences more than ninety (90) days after the per- 2 son ceases to be an employee or ends more than ninety (90) days before the 3 person again becomes an employee unless such ninety (90) day requirements 4 are waived by the board due to circumstances beyond the employee's con- 5 trol; or 6 (c) Any active duty service in excess of five (5) years if at the conve- 7 nience of the United States government, or in excess of four (4) years if 8 not at the convenience of the United States government. 9 (24) (a) "Police officer" for retirement purposes shall be as defined in 10 section 59-1303, Idaho Code. 11 (b) "POST" means the Idaho peace officer standards and training council 12 established in chapter 51, title 19, Idaho Code. 13 (25) "Prior service" means any period prior to July 1, 1965, of military 14 service or of employment for the state of Idaho or any political subdivision 15 or other employer of each employee who is an active member or in military ser- 16 vice or on leave of absence on the date of establishment, provided, however, 17 an employee who was not an active member or in military service or on leave of 18 absence on the date of establishment shall receive credit for the member's 19 service prior to July 1, 1965, on the basis of recognizing two (2) months of 20 such service for each month of membership service. For the purpose of comput- 21 ing such service, no deduction shall be made for any continuous period of 22 absence from service or military service of six (6) months or less. 23 (26) "Regular interest" means interest at the rate set from time to time 24 by the board. 25 (27) "Retired member" means a former active member receiving a retirement 26 allowance. 27 (28) "Retirement" means the acceptance of a retirement allowance under 28 this chapter upon termination of employment. 29 (29) "Retirement board" or "board" means the board provided for in sec- 30 tions 59-1304 and 59-1305, Idaho Code, to administer the retirement system. 31 (30) "Retirement system" or "system" means the public employee retirement 32 system of Idaho. 33 (31) (A) "Salary" means: 34 (a) The total salary or wages paid to a person who meets the definition 35 of employee by an employer for personal services performed and reported 36 by the employer for income tax purposes, including the cash value of all 37 remuneration in any medium other than cash. 38 (b) The total amount of any voluntary reduction in salary agreed to by 39 the member and employer where the reduction is used as an alternative form 40 of remuneration to the member. 41 (B) Salary in excess of the compensation limitations set forth in section 42 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code shall be disregarded for any person 43 who becomes a member of the system on or after July 1, 1996. The system had no 44 limitations on compensation in effect on July 1, 1993. The compensation limi- 45 tations set forth in section 401(1)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code shall not 46 apply for an "eligible employee." For purposes of this subsection, "eligible 47 employee" is an individual who was a member of the system before July 1, 1996. 48 (C) "Salary" does not include: 49 (a) Contributions by employers to employee held medical savings accounts, 50 as those accounts are defined in section 63-3022K, Idaho Code. 51 (b) Lump sum payments inconsistent with usual compensation patterns made 52 by the employer to the employee only upon termination from service includ- 53 ing, but not limited to, vacation payoffs, sick leave payoffs, early 54 retirement incentive payments and bonuses. 55 (31A) "Segregated account" means the account established by the retirement 6 1 system for the alternate payee of a member who is not a retired member. It 2 shall include the months of credited service and accumulated contributions 3 transferred from the member's account. 4 (32) "Separation benefit" means the amount, if any, payable upon or subse- 5 quent to separation from service. 6 (33) "Service" means being shown on an employer's payroll as an employee 7 receiving a salary.Service ofFor each calendar month, 8 service is credited only when a member is an employee as defined in subsection 9 (14)(A) of this section and is employed for fifteen (15) days or more 10 duringanythe calendar month .11shall be credited as one (1) month of service. ServiceEmployment 12 of fourteen (14) days or less during any calendar month shall not be 13 credited. No more than one (1) month of service shall be credited for all ser- 14 vice in any month. 15 (34) "Service retirement allowance" means the periodic payment becoming 16 payable upon an active member's ceasing to be an employee while eligible for 17 service retirement. 18 (35) "State" means the state of Idaho. 19 (36) "Vested retirement allowance" means the periodic payment becoming 20 payable upon an inactive member's becoming eligible for vested retirement. 21 (37) The masculine pronoun, wherever used, shall include the feminine pro- 22 noun. 23 SECTION 2. That Section 59-1310, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 24 amended to read as follows: 25 59-1310. ADMISSIBILITY IN EVIDENCE OF PHOTOREPRODUCED COPIES OF RECORDS 26 OR DOCUMENTS MAINTAINED BY THE SYSTEM -- DESTROYING THE ORIGINAL. Copies of 27 records or documents maintained on microfilm, microfiche , computer 28 imagery or other photoreproductive material of archival quality by the 29 retirement system shall be as admissible in evidence as the original itself in 30 any legal, judicial or administrative proceeding, or action, provided the cus- 31 todian of records of the retirement system certifies on such copies offered 32 into evidence that the retirement system is not in possession of the original 33 and that the copy is a true and correct representation of the original. The 34 original may be destroyed by the retirement system once the original is 35 microfilmed, microfiched , digitally imaged or copied by other 36 photoreproduction of archival quality. 37 SECTION 3. That Section 59-1319, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 38 amended to read as follows: 39 59-1319. APPROVED DOMESTIC RETIREMENT ORDERS -- REQUIREMENTS. (1) An 40 approved domestic retirement order must meet the following requirements: 41 (a) Clearly specify that such order applies to the retirement system; 42 (b) Clearly specify the effective date of the order, which is the 43 date of divorce or the date of an earlier property settlement agreement 44 incorporated into the initial divorce decree, the name, social 45 security number, date of birth, sex, and last known mailing address of the 46 member and the name, social security number, date of birth, sex, and last 47 known mailing address of the alternate payee covered by the order; 48 (c) Provide for a proportional reduction of the amount awarded to an 49 alternate payee in the event that benefits available to the member are 50 reduced by law; 51 (d) For benefits as defined in chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for mem- 7 1 bers who are not retired members: (i) clearly specify the amount or per- 2 centage of the member's taxed and tax deferred accumulated contributions 3 which are to be credited to the segregated account or the manner in which 4 such amount or percentage is to be determined, and (ii) clearly specify 5 the member's months of credited service, either by specific amount or per- 6 centage, to be transferred by the retirement system to the segregated 7 account or the manner in which such amount or percentage is to be deter- 8 mined. The months of credited service transferred to the alternate payee 9 shall be proportional to the accumulated contributions attributable to 10 such months of credited service. Months of credited service transferred 11 shall be whole months and not partial months; 12 (e) For benefits as defined in chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for 13 retired members, clearly specify the amount or percentage of the member's 14 benefit being paid that the retirement system is to pay to the alternate 15 payee, or the manner in which such amount or percentage is to be deter- 16 mined; and 17 (f) For benefits as defined in chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, clearly 18 specify the amount or percentage of the member's benefit paid at the time 19 of retirement which the retirement system is to pay to the alternate 20 payee, or the manner in which such percentage is to be determined. 21 (2) An approved domestic retirement order cannot: 22 (a) Require the retirement system to provide any type or form of benefit 23 or any option not otherwise provided under the retirement system; 24 (b) Require the retirement system to provide increased benefits deter- 25 mined on the basis of actuarial value; 26 (c) Require the payment of benefits to an alternate payee which are 27 required to be paid to another alternate payee under another order previ- 28 ously determined to be an approved domestic retirement order or a court 29 order entered prior to July 1, 1998; 30 (d) Require any action on the part of the retirement system contrary to 31 its governing statutes or rules other than the direct payment of the bene- 32 fit awarded to an alternate payee; 33 (e) Segregate or attempt to segregate the right to reinstate previous 34 credited service as provided in section 59-1360, Idaho Code, unless such 35 credited service has been fully reinstated by full payment of contribu- 36 tions and interest as provided in section 59-1360, Idaho Code; 37 (f) Purport to award to the alternate payee any future benefit increases 38 that are provided or required by the legislature, except as provided in 39 subsections (6) and (7) of section 59-1320, Idaho Code; or 40 (g) Require the payment of benefits to an alternate payee before the date 41 on which the alternate payee attains the earliest retirement age under the 42 retirement system. However, an alternate payee may take a lump sum distri- 43 bution any time prior to receiving a lifetime annuity payment. 44 (3) In no event shall an approved domestic retirement order cause the 45 retirement system to pay any benefit or any amount of benefit greater than 46 would have been paid had the member's account not been segregated. 47 (4) A party to any domestic retirement order issued prior to July 1, 48 1998, which distributes benefits defined in either chapter 13, title 59, Idaho 49 Code, or chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, may move the court to modify such 50 order to comply with the requirements of this section and section 59-1320, 51 Idaho Code, provided that modifications be limited to issues related to the 52 distribution of benefits defined in either chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, 53 or chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, that the value of the distribution is not 54 materially changed and that such modified order be submitted and become an 55 approved domestic retirement order before July 1, 2000. 8 1 SECTION 4. That Section 59-1320, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 2 amended to read as follows: 3 59-1320. APPROVED DOMESTIC RETIREMENT ORDERS -- APPLICATION AND EFFECT. 4 (1) The executive director of the public employee retirement system or his 5 designee upon receipt of a copy of a domestic retirement order, shall deter- 6 mine whether the order is an approved domestic retirement order and shall 7 notify the member and the alternate payee of the determination within ninety 8 (90) days. Orders shall be applied prospectively only from the first day of 9 the month following the order being determined to be an approved domestic 10 retirement order. The retirement system shall then pay benefits or establish a 11 segregated account in accordance with the order. When established, the 12 segregated account will consist of accumulated contributions identified in the 13 approved domestic retirement order together with accrued interest on that 14 amount from the effective date to the date of segregation. 15 (2) If the order is determined not to be an approved domestic retirement 16 order, or if no determination is issued within ninety (90) days, the member or 17 the alternate payee named in the order may move the court which issued the 18 order to amend the order so that it will be approved. The court that issued 19 the order or which would otherwise have jurisdiction over the matter has 20 jurisdiction to amend the order so that it will be qualified even though all 21 other matters incident to the action or proceeding have been fully and finally 22 adjudicated. 23 (3) The executive director of the retirement system to which a domestic 24 retirement order is submitted or his designee has exclusive authority to 25 determine whether a domestic retirement order is an approved domestic retire- 26 ment order. If it is determined that a domestic retirement order does not meet 27 the requirements for an approved domestic retirement order, both the issuing 28 court and the parties to the order shall be notified so action may be taken to 29 amend the order. 30 (4) Because an approved domestic retirement order cannot cause the 31 retirement system to pay any benefit or any amount of benefit greater than 32 would have been paid had the member's account not been segregated, disputes 33 related to benefits paid under an approved domestic retirement order shall be 34 resolved between the parties to the order by the court issuing that order. The 35 retirement system shall not be made a party to the action. Any cost, including 36 attorney's fees, incurred by the retirement system as a result of such actions 37 shall be distributed by the court among the parties and included in any 38 amended order issued. 39 (5) Unless the approved domestic retirement order specifies differently, 40 if the member has a right to a vested benefit as of the effective date of the 41 order, then both the member and the alternate payee shall have a right to a 42 vested benefit after the transfer of months of service even if the member or 43 the alternate payee has less than sixty (60) months of membership service. 44 (6) For benefits under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for members 45 other than retired members, if the domestic retirement order awards to the 46 alternate payee a portion of the member's accumulated contributions the alter- 47 nate payee shall be entitled to all the same benefits and rights an inactive 48 member has under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code. The alternate payee's bene- 49 fit calculation for a lifetime annuity shall use the member's average monthly 50 salary and base period as of the effective date of the order and the months of 51 credited service transferred to the alternate payee's segregated account. The 52 benefit calculation shall use the alternate payee's age with the appropriate 53 reduction factors based on the alternate payee's age at the time of payment of 54 the lifetime annuity. For the purpose of the lifetime annuity, the bridging 9 1 factor, as specified in section 59-1355, Idaho Code, shall be the bridging 2 factor between the effective date of the order or the last day of contribu- 3 tions by the member prior to the effective date of the order, whichever is 4 earliest, and the date of the first lifetime annuity payment to the alternate 5 payee. The alternate payee shall have the right to select any of the optional 6 retirement allowances provided in section 59-1351, Idaho Code. The alternate 7 payee shall have the right to name a beneficiary. 8 (7) For benefits defined under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for 9 retired members, and for benefits under chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, the 10 retirement system shall include in the alternate payee's amount or percentage 11 of the benefit, on a proportional basis, all future adjustments, including 12 postretirement increases that are granted by the retirement system, and any 13 death benefit. Furthermore, upon the death of the alternate payee, his/her 14 percentage of the benefit will revert to the person or persons, including the 15 member, who are entitled to the benefit under the system at the time of the 16 alternate payee's death. 17 (8) For benefits under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for retired mem- 18 bers, the form of payment previously elected by the member under section 19 59-1351, Idaho Code, cannot be changed by a domestic retirement order. Fur- 20 thermore, no segregated account will be established by the retirement system 21 for the alternate payee. 22 (9) For benefits defined under chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, the ben- 23 efit paid to the alternate payee shall start when the retirement system begins 24 paying benefits to the member, surviving spouse, or surviving children. Unless 25 otherwise ordered, in the event the member dies and leaves a surviving spouse, 26 during the surviving spouse's lifetime, the alternate payee shall be paid 27 his/her designated amount or percentage of the benefit. Unless otherwise 28 ordered, if there is no surviving spouse or the surviving spouse dies and 29 there is a surviving child or children of the member who are under eighteen 30 (18) years of age and unmarried, then the alternate payee shall be paid 31 his/her designated amount or percentage of the benefit until the child or 32 children reach the age of eighteen (18) years or marries, whichever occurs 33 first. 34 (10) The retirement system shall be authorized to issue any and all appro- 35 priate tax forms or reports for any payments made to the alternate payee. 36 (11) The retirement system, the retirement board, and officers and employ- 37 ees of the retirement system shall not be liable to any person for making pay- 38 ments of any benefits in accordance with an approved domestic retirement 39 order. 40 SECTION 5. That Section 59-1356, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 41 amended to read as follows: 42 59-1356. REEMPLOYMENT OF RETIRED MEMBERS. (1) If an early retired member 43 is reemployed with the same employer within ninety (90) days from retiring, or 44 the early retired member is guaranteed reemployment with the same employer the 45 member shall be considered to have continued in the status of an employee and 46 not to have separated from service. Any retirement allowance payments received 47 by the retired member shall be repaid to the system and the retirement shall 48 be negated. The month of last contribution prior to the negated retirement and 49 the month of initial contribution upon return to reemployment shall be consid- 50 ered consecutive months of contributions in the determination of an appropri- 51 ate salary base period upon subsequent retirement. 52 (2) When a retired member meets the definition of an employee as defined 53 in section 59-1302(14)(A)(a), Idaho Code, any benefit payable on behalf of 10 1 such member shall terminate and any contributions payable by such member under 2 sections 59-1331 through 59-1334, Idaho Code, shall again commence, except as 3 provided in subsection (23 ) of this section 4 . The terminated benefit, as adjusted pursuant to section 59-1355, Idaho 5 Code, shall resume upon subsequent retirement, along with a separate allowance 6 computed with respect to only that salary and service credited during the 7 period of reemployment. 8 (3) If a retired member again becomes employed and an employer certifies 9 to the board that the member does not qualify as an employee as defined in 10 this section and section 59-1302(14)(A)(a), Idaho Code, no contributions shall 11 be made by the member or employer during such reemployment and any benefit 12 payable on behalf of such member shall continue. 13 (4) For purposes of this section, "same employer" means the employer for 14 which the retired member last worked prior to retirement.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS08398C1
This bill relates to the Public Employee Retirement System and
makes technical changes and corrections to various sections of
Title 59, Chapter 13, Idaho Code. The changes are as follows:
1. The term "contingent annuitant" is defined to clarify that only
persons born and living on the effective date of retirement may be
named contingent annuitants.
2. The citation in section 59-1302(31)(B), Idaho Code, to section
401 of the Internal Revenue Code is changed to reflect the correct
subsection.
3. The definition of service is amended to clarify what constitutes
a month of service for active members.
4. Section 59-1310, Idaho Code, is amended to facilitate the
storage of records and documents using computer technology and
digital imagery.
5. The process of segregating accounts pursuant to a domestic
retirement order is amended to clarify that "the effective date of
the order" is the date of divorce or the date of an earlier
property settlement agreement incorporated into the initial divorce
decree and that accrued interest from the effective date of the
order to the date of segregation is also transferred from the
member account to the segregated account.
6. The citation in section 59-1356(2), Idaho Code, to subsection
(2) is changed to reflect the correct subsection (3). This change
was overlooked when new subsections were added in 1996.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
CONTACT
Name: Alan Winkle
Agency: Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho
Phone: 334-2455
Statement of Purpose/Fiscal Impact H 4