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