SF0087 - Retirement-Wyoming air guard firefighters.
2001 |
State of Wyoming |
01LSO-0347.E1 ENGROSSED |
SENATE FILE NO. SF0087
Retirement-Wyoming air guard firefighters.
Sponsored by: Senator(s) Job, Harris, Kinnison and Vasey
and Representative(s) Cohee and McOmie
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to the
Wyoming retirement system;
2
establishing additional benefits and contributions for
3
Wyoming air national guard firefighter members as
4
specified; defining and specifying eligibility; clarifying
5
retirement system provisions accordingly; conditioning
6
additional benefit implementation and payment upon timely
7
contribution payments as specified; and providing for an
8
effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
11
12 Section 1. W.S. 9-3-431 is created to read:
13
14 9-3-431. Firefighter members;
contributions; benefit
15 eligibility; service and disability
retirement benefits;
Page 1
1 termination of benefits upon failure to
make timely
2
contribution payments.
3
4 (a) In addition
to contributions paid under W.S.
5
9-3-412 and 9-3-413, each firefighter member shall pay into
6
the account nine and sixty-five hundredths percent (9.65%)
7
of his salary to qualify for benefits under this section.
8
The employer of the firefighter member may pay any or all
9
of the employee contributions imposed under this
10 subsection. The board may increase
the contribution
11 percentage required under this
subsection by not more than
12 one percent (1%), as necessary to
maintain the actuarial
13 integrity of the account as affected
by benefits payable
14 under this section. Payments under
this subsection shall be
15 made monthly to the account in
accordance with W.S. 9-3-412
16 and 9-3-413.
17
18 (b) Normal
retirement benefits are payable under this
19 section to any firefighter member
who:
20
21 (i) Has at
least four (4) years of service
22 credit as a firefighter member and
is at least sixty (60)
23 years of age;
24
Page 2
1 (ii) Has at
least twenty-five (25) years of
2
service credit as a firefighter member and is at least
3
fifty (50) years of age; or
4
5 (iii) Is at least
fifty-five (55) years of age
6
and has a combined total years of age and years of service
7
credit as a firefighter member which equals not less than
8
seventy-five (75).
9
10 (c) Early
retirement benefits are payable under this
11 section to any firefighter member
who:
12
13 (i) Has at
least four (4) but less than twenty-
14 five (25) years of service credit as
a firefighter member
15 and is at least fifty (50) but less
than sixty (60) years
16 of age; or
17
18 (ii) Is less
than fifty (50) years of age and
19 has at least twenty-five (25) years
of service credit as a
20 firefighter member.
21
22 (d) The early
retirement benefit amount payable under
23 subsection (c) of this section is
equal to the normal
24 retirement benefit amount payable
under subsection (b) of
Page 3
1 this
section reduced to an actuarial equivalent amount as
2
prescribed by rule and regulation of the board.
3
4 (e) The normal
benefit for a firefighter member under
5
this section is equal to two and one-half percent (2 ½%) of
6
the highest average salary multiplied by the member's years
7
of service credit as a firefighter member.
8
9 (f) Upon
retirement for a partial or total disability
10 as determined and for which the
member otherwise qualifies
11 under W.S. 9-3-422, a firefighter
member shall receive a
12 monthly disability retirement
benefit for the period of
13 qualified disability equal to
sixty-five percent (65%) of
14 his salary at the time the
disability was incurred.
15 Disability benefits are payable
under this subsection for
16 the life of the firefighter member
or until the firefighter
17 member is no longer disabled. The
firefighter member is
18 subject to reporting, evaluation and
excess earnings
19 deduction requirements imposed under
W.S. 9-3-423.
20
21 (g) The
firefighter member retirement benefit program
22 established under this section shall
be discontinued by the
23 board, and retirement benefits
prescribed under this
24 section shall be discontinued, if at
any time contributions
Page 4
1 for
all firefighter members required under subsection (a)
2
of this section are not paid monthly to the retirement
3
system when due as required by subsection (a) of this
4
section. Upon termination of benefits under this
5
subsection, the retirement benefits for firefighter members
6
shall revert to and be paid under W.S. 9-3-415 and as
7
otherwise prescribed for general members under this
8
article. The firefighter member retirement program may be
9
reactivated following application to and approval by the
10 board and payment of the required
contributions to cover
11 both normal costs and any additional
liability accruing
12 during the period of program
termination as determined by
13 the system actuary. If benefits are terminated and not
14 reactivated under this subsection, a
firefighter member may
15 receive additional benefits in
proportion to the additional
16 contributions paid on his behalf
under this section, as
17 determined by the system's actuary.
18
19 Section 2. W.S. 9-3-402(a)(vii)(intro),
(xx) and by
20 creating a new paragraph (xxv), 9-3-412(a),
9-3-413,
21 9-3-415(a)(intro), 9-3-418 by
creating a new subsection
22 (e), 9-3-420(c), 9-3-422(a) and (b),
9-3-423(a) and (b) and
23 9-3-430(b) are amended to read:
24
Page 5
1 9-3-402. Definitions.
2
3 (a) As used in this article:
4
5 (vii) "Member", except as provided by W.S. 6
9-3-405(a)(ii), means and
includes any full-time or regular
7
part-time employee of an employer, including substitute
8
teachers if treated by the employer as regular, part-time
9
employees and including law enforcement
officers and
10 firefighter members, but "member" does
not mean:
11
12 (xx) "General
member" means a member who is not
13 a law enforcement officer or a firefighter member;
14
15 (xxv) "Firefighter member" means any employee of
16 the
Wyoming air national guard fire department crash and
17 rescue unit employed on a full-time basis for firefighting
18 and rescue operations within the department.
19
20 9-3-412. Members' contributions;
payroll deductions;
21 employer authorized to pay employee's
share.
22
23 (a) Except as
otherwise provided in this section and
24 W.S. 9-3-431, every member covered under this
article
Page 6
1 including law enforcement officers and firefighter members,
2
shall pay into the account five and fifty-seven hundredths
3
percent (5.57%) of his salary. Payments shall be deducted
4
each pay period from each member's salary by the chief
5
fiscal officer of each participating employer.
6
7 9-3-413. Employer's contributions;
transfer to
8 account;
recovery of delinquent contributions with
9
interest.
10
11 Except as provided by W.S. 9-2-1022(a)(xi)(F)(III)
or (IV)
12 and W.S.
9-3-431, each employer including
employers of law
13 enforcement officers and firefighter members,
shall pay
14 into the account a contribution
equal to five and sixty-
15 eight hundredths percent (5.68%) of
the salary paid to each
16 of its members covered under this
article and may pay into
17 the account any amount of the
members' share of retirement
18 contributions. These contributions,
together with the
19 members' contributions, if any,
shall be transferred and
20 credited to the account in a manner
as directed by the
21 board. If the contributions are not transferred to the
22 board when due, they may be
recovered, together with
23 interest at the rate of twelve
percent (12%) per annum, in
24 an action brought for that purpose
in the district court in
Page 7
1 and
for the county in which the employer has its principal
2
office or place of activity.
3
4 9-3-415. When retirement permitted; service credit.
5
6 (a) Except as provided under subsection (f) of this
7 section and W.S. 9-3-431, normal
retirement benefits under
8
the system are payable to a member who:
9
10 9-3-418. Amount of service retirement
benefit;
11 firefighter members excluded.
12
13 (e) This section does not apply to any firefighter
14 member
covered and vested under W.S. 9-3-431.
15
16 9-3-420. Option as to form of
benefit; beneficiary
17 designations.
18
19 (c) The
retirement benefits payable under optional
20 forms available under this section
shall be the actuarial
21 equivalent amount of the normal
benefit form under W.S.
22 9-3-415 and
9-3-431, if applicable.
23
Page 8
1 9-3-422. Disability retirement; board
determination;
2 reports
and examinations; amount; options as to form of
3
benefit.
4
5 (a) Any member
in service who has ten (10) or more
6
years of service credit during which contributions have
7
been paid because of illness or injury outside of or in the
8
scope of employment, or any law enforcement officer or
9 firefighter member in
service for whom contributions have
10 been paid because of injury in the
scope of employment, may
11 retire on account of a total or
partial disability in
12 accordance with rules and
regulations adopted by the board.
13 In determining mental or physical
incapacitation for
14 disability retirement under this
section, the board may
15 require physician reports, medical
examinations, functional
16 capacity evaluations, vocational
examinations and other
17 necessary reports and examinations
for purposes of this
18 section. The costs of any functional
capacity evaluation,
19 vocational examination or other
specialized test required
20 under this subsection shall be paid
from the retirement
21 account.
22
23 (b) Upon
retirement for a total disability and except
24 as provided under W.S. 9-3-431(f), a member shall
receive a
Page 9
1 monthly
disability retirement benefit for the period of his
2
disability equal to one hundred percent (100%) of his
3
service retirement benefit under this article as if the
4
member was eligible for normal retirement benefits. Upon
5
retirement for a partial disability, a member shall receive
6
a monthly disability retirement benefit for the period of
7
his disability equal to fifty percent (50%) of the normal
8
retirement benefit payable to the member as if the member
9
were eligible for normal retirement benefits. Disability
10 benefits are payable for the life of
the member or until
11 the member is no longer disabled.
12
13 9-3-423. Disability; medical and
other examinations,
14 tests and evaluations subsequent to
retirement; failure to
15 submit to examinations, tests and evaluations; restoration
16 to service; deduction from benefit for excess earnings.
17
18 (a) Once each
year during the first five (5) years
19 following retirement of a member for
disability under the
20 system, and once in every three (3)
year period thereafter,
21 the board may require a member who
is not eligible for
22 normal retirement benefits pursuant
to W.S. 9-3-415(a) or
23 9-3-431 to undergo a medical examination by a
physician
24 designated by the board or any other
examination, test or
Page 10
1 evaluation
determined necessary by the board. If the member
2
refuses to submit to a medical or other examination, test
3
or evaluation, his benefit payments shall be discontinued.
4
5 (b) If any
member receiving a disability benefit
6
under this article is restored to service, the payment of
7
the benefit shall be discontinued,
and he that
member shall
8
become a contributing member of the system and all previous
9
years of service credit including the period of the
10 disability retirement, shall be
credited to his service for
11 the purpose of determining
eligibility under W.S. 9-3-415
12 or 9-3-431.
13
14 9-3-430. Application for benefits;
benefit payment
15 effective dates; minimum distribution
rules.
16
17 (b) Benefits
are payable the last day of the month
18 following the month in which the
member's final
19 contributions and employer
contributions are remitted to
20 the system and the member has
submitted a complete and
21 accurate application under
subsection (a) of this section.
22 Retirement is effective the day
following the member's last
23 working day in the system or anytime
after that time when
Page 11
1 the
member qualifies under W.S. 9-3-413 or 9-3-414 9-3-415,
2 9-3-416 or 9-3-431.
3
4 Section 3. W.S. 9-3-431, as
created under section 1
5
of this act, shall not be implemented by the Wyoming
6
retirement board until contributions required under W.S.
7
9-3-431(a), as created under section 1 of this act, are
8
paid to the Wyoming retirement system for disposition into
9
the retirement account for the period of covered service
10 beginning July 1, 2001, and ending
August 31, 2001.
11
12 Section 4. This act is effective July 1, 2001.
13
14 (END)
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