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H0041........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
Requested by: Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM - Amends existing law to provide that
erroneous employee contributions may be refunded upon a distributable
event; to authorize the Public Employee Retirement Board to determine by
rule the appropriate benefit level subject to commutation; and to clarify
the scope of in-service disability retirement for general members.
01/08 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
Rpt prt - to St Aff
01/11 Rpt out - to Com/HuRes
02/02 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/05 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/09 3rd rdg - PASSED - 68-1-1
AYES -- Barraclough, Barrett, Bedke, Bell, Bieter, Black, Boe, Bolz,
Bradford, Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Chase, Collins, Crow, Cuddy,
Deal, Denney, Ellis, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(13), Field(20),
Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond, Harwood, Henbest, Higgins, Hornbeck,
Jaquet, Jones, Kellogg, Kendell, Kunz, Lake, Langford, Loertscher,
Mader, Marley, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery, Mortensen, Moss, Moyle,
Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Raybould, Ridinger, Roberts, Robison,
Sali, Schaefer, Sellman, Shepherd, Smith, Smylie, Stevenson, Stone,
Swan, Tilman, Trail, Wheeler, Young, Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- Clark
Absent and excused -- Wood
Floor Sponsor -- Ridinger
Title apvd - to Senate
02/12 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Com/HuRes
03/07 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/08 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/20 3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
AYES -- Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Brandt, Bunderson, Burtenshaw,
Cameron, Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure,
Geddes, Goedde, Hawkins, Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee,
Lodge, Noh, Richardson, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sims, Sorensen,
Stegner, Stennett, Thorne, Wheeler, Whitworth, Williams,
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsors -- Bunderson & Goedde
Title apvd - to House
03/21 To enrol
03/22 Rpt enrol - Sp signed - Pres signed - to Gov
03/23 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 138
Effective: 07/01/01
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-sixth Legislature First Regular Session - 2001IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 41 BY MR. SPEAKER Requested by: Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AMENDING SECTION 59-1331, 3 IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT ERRONEOUS EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS MAY BE 4 REFUNDED UPON A DISTRIBUTABLE EVENT; AMENDING SECTION 59-1343, IDAHO CODE, 5 TO AUTHORIZE THE RETIREMENT BOARD TO DETERMINE BY RULE THE APPROPRIATE 6 BENEFIT LEVEL SUBJECT TO COMMUTATION; AMENDING SECTION 59-1352, IDAHO 7 CODE, TO REVISE PUNCTUATION TO CLARIFY THE SCOPE OF IN-SERVICE DISABILITY 8 RETIREMENT FOR GENERAL MEMBERS; AND AMENDING SECTION 59-1396, IDAHO CODE, 9 TO PROVIDE CORRECT CODE CITATIONS. 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 11 SECTION 1. That Section 59-1331, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 12 amended to read as follows: 13 59-1331. CONTRIBUTIONS. (1) Beginning on or after the later of the date 14 of establishment or employment, each active member shall contribute toward the 15 cost of the benefits provided under this chapter. This contribution shall be 16 made in the form of a deduction from salary to be transmitted to the board in 17 accordance with section 59-1325, Idaho Code. 18 (2) Any person who was prevented from being an active member during his 19 first twelve (12) months of employment due to the restriction contained in 20 subsection (2) of section 59-1302, Idaho Code, may, prior to December 31, 21 1975, pay the board the contributions he would have made absent said restric- 22 tion and be credited with membership service for such period of time. The time 23 for payment shall be extended provided such payment includes regular interest 24 from December 31, 1975. 25 (3) Employee contributions received by the board in error may be refunded 26 upon a distributable event with regular interest. 27 SECTION 2. That Section 59-1343, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 28 amended to read as follows: 29 59-1343. CONVERSION AND COMMUTATION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS. Unless the 30 retirement board establishes a different level by rule, benefit pPayments of 31 less than twenty dollars ($20.00) per month shall be commuted into an actuari- 32 ally equivalent single sum. 33 SECTION 3. That Section 59-1352, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 34 amended to read as follows: 35 59-1352. ELIGIBILITY FOR DISABILITY RETIREMENT. (1) An active member is 36 eligible for disability retirement if the member becomes disabled after at 37 least five (5) years of membership service. 38 (2) A police officer member, general member, or a paid firefighter hired 39 on or after July 1, 1993, who is not eligible for service retirement is eligi- 2 1 ble for disability retirement if the member becomes disabled, as provided in 2 section 59-1302(12), Idaho Code, on or after the first day of employment as a 3 result of bodily injury or disease from an occupational cause. 4 SECTION 4. That Section 59-1396, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 5 amended to read as follows: 6 59-1396. LIMIT ON SEPARATION BENEFIT. (1) When a firefighter member who 7 was employed prior to October 1, 1980, terminates employment and seeks return 8 of his or her accumulated contributions, such contributions shall be returned 9 as provided under the provisions of section 72-14454, Idaho Code. 10 (2) When a paid firefighter whose employment began on or after October 1, 11 1980, terminates employment and seeks return of his or her accumulated contri- 12 butions, such contributions shall be returned as provided by sections 59-1358 13 and 59-1359, Idaho Code.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 10518
This bill makes technical corrections to four provisions
governing the PERSI fund, and/or the Firemen's Retirement
Fund (FRF).
The first is an amendment to section 59-1331, Idaho Code,
intended to clarify that although erroneous employee
contributions will be refunded together with regular interest,
the refund will not be made until a distributable event occurs.
This is consistent with IRS requirements that generally prohibit
payment of qualified retirement trust funds except upon termination
of employment, death, or retirement.
The second is an amendment to section 59-1343, Idaho Code, giving
the retirement board more authority to determine when it is
appropriate to commute monthly benefits. Currently, the section
requires that the retirement board commute any monthly benefit of
less than twenty dollars ($20) to an actuarially equivalent one-time
lump-sum payment. Maintaining accounts that pay relatively
insignificant monthly benefits is becoming increasingly expensive.
Additionally, a lump sum commuted benefit would likely be more
meaningful to a participant than small monthly payments. This
amendment to section 59-1343, Idaho Code authorizes the board to
set thresholds for commutation of benefits by rule.
Third is an amendment to section 59-1352, Idaho Code. Since 1993,
this section has provided immediate eligibility for disability
retirement benefits to police officers, and to paid firefighters
hired on or after July 1, 1993, when the disability is the result
of occupational causes (in-service disability). In 2000, SB 1404
was passed, which amended section 59-1352, Idaho Code, to include
general members. However, a comma was inadvertently omitted
making general members subject to the same limitation as firefighters,
that is, hired on or after July 1, 1993. This limitation is
specific to firefighters and was not intended to apply to general
members. By inserting the missing comma, it will be clear that
all general members are eligible for immediate in-service disability,
not just those hired after July 1, 1993.
Fourth is an amendment to section 59-1396, Idaho Code. This section
refers to one section in title 72, chapter 14, Idaho Code, addressing
separation benefits under the Firemen's Retirement Fund (FRF) plan,
and one section in title 59, chapter 13, Idaho Code, addressing
separation benefits under the PERSI plan. However, the citations to
those sections are either incorrect or incomplete. This bill changes
those citations to the correct sections.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
Contact
Name: Alan Winkle
Agency: PERSI
Phone: 334-3365
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE Bill No. H41