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:

 

 

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;

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 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 

 

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 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

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 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

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 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 

 

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 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

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 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

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 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 

 

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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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