SB 5852 -
By Committee on Ways & Means
NOT CONSIDERED 04/22/2011
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 41.32.570 and 2007 c 50 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1)(a) If a retiree enters employment with an employer sooner than
one calendar month after his or her accrual date, the retiree's monthly
retirement allowance will be reduced by five and one-half percent for
every seven hours worked during that month. This reduction will be
applied each month until the retiree remains absent from employment
with an employer for one full calendar month.
(b) The benefit reduction provided in (a) of this subsection will
accrue for a maximum of one hundred forty hours per month. Any monthly
benefit reduction over one hundred percent will be applied to the
benefit the retiree is eligible to receive in subsequent months.
(2) ((Except under subsection (3) of this section,)) Any retired
teacher or retired administrator who enters service in any public
educational institution in Washington state at least one calendar month
after his or her accrual date shall cease to receive pension payments
while engaged in such service, after the retiree has rendered service
for more than eight hundred sixty-seven hours in a school year.
(3) ((Any retired teacher or retired administrator who enters
service in any public educational institution in Washington state one
and one-half calendar months or more after his or her accrual date and:)) The department shall collect and provide the state actuary
with information relevant to the use of this section for the select
committee on pension policy.
(a) Is hired pursuant to a written policy into a position for which
the school board has documented a justifiable need to hire a retiree
into the position;
(b) Is hired through the established process for the position with
the approval of the school board or other highest decision-making
authority of the prospective employer;
(c) Whose employer retains records of the procedures followed and
the decisions made in hiring the retired teacher or retired
administrator and provides those records in the event of an audit; and
(d) The employee has not already rendered a cumulative total of
more than one thousand nine hundred hours of service while in receipt
of pension payments beyond an annual threshold of eight hundred sixty-seven hours;
shall cease to receive pension payments while engaged in that service
after the retiree has rendered service for more than one thousand five
hundred hours in a school year. The one thousand nine hundred hour
cumulative total limitation under this section applies prospectively
after July 22, 2007.
(4) When a retired teacher or administrator renders service beyond
eight hundred sixty-seven hours, the department shall collect from the
employer the applicable employer retirement contributions for the
entire duration of the member's employment during that fiscal year.
(5)
(((6))) (4) The legislature reserves the right to amend or repeal
this section in the future and no member or beneficiary has a
contractual right to be employed for more than five hundred twenty-five
hours per year without a reduction of his or her pension.
Sec. 2 RCW 41.40.037 and 2007 c 50 s 5 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1)(a) If a retiree enters employment with an employer sooner than
one calendar month after his or her accrual date, the retiree's monthly
retirement allowance will be reduced by five and one-half percent for
every eight hours worked during that month. This reduction will be
applied each month until the retiree remains absent from employment
with an employer for one full calendar month.
(b) The benefit reduction provided in (a) of this subsection will
accrue for a maximum of one hundred sixty hours per month. Any benefit
reduction over one hundred percent will be applied to the benefit the
retiree is eligible to receive in subsequent months.
(2)(((a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection,)) A retiree
from plan 1 who enters employment with an employer at least one
calendar month after his or her accrual date may continue to receive
pension payments while engaged in such service for up to eight hundred
sixty-seven hours of service in a calendar year without a reduction of
pension. For purposes of this section, employment includes positions
covered by annuity and retirement income plans offered by institutions
of higher education pursuant to RCW 28B.10.400.
(((b) A retiree from plan 1 who enters employment with an employer
at least three calendar months after his or her accrual date and:))
(i) Is hired pursuant to a written policy into a position for which
the employer has documented a justifiable need to hire a retiree into
the position;
(ii) Is hired through the established process for the position with
the approval of: A school board for a school district; the chief
executive officer of a state agency employer; the secretary of the
senate for the senate; the chief clerk of the house of representatives
for the house of representatives; the secretary of the senate and the
chief clerk of the house of representatives jointly for the joint
legislative audit and review committee, the select committee on pension
policy, the legislative evaluation and accountability program, the
legislative systems committee, and the statute law committee; or
according to rules adopted for the rehiring of retired plan 1 members
for a local government employer;
(iii) The employer retains records of the procedures followed and
decisions made in hiring the retiree, and provides those records in the
event of an audit; and
(iv) The employee has not already rendered a cumulative total of
more than one thousand nine hundred hours of service while in receipt
of pension payments beyond an annual threshold of eight hundred sixty-seven hours;
shall cease to receive pension payments while engaged in that service
after the retiree has rendered service for more than one thousand five
hundred hours in a calendar year. The one thousand nine hundred hour
cumulative total under this subsection applies prospectively to those
retiring after July 27, 2003, and retroactively to those who retired
prior to July 27, 2003, and shall be calculated from the date of
retirement.
(c) When a plan 1 member renders service beyond eight hundred
sixty-seven hours, the department shall collect from the employer the
applicable employer retirement contributions for the entire duration of
the member's employment during that calendar year.
(d) A retiree from plan 2 or plan 3 who has satisfied the break in
employment requirement of subsection (1) of this section may work up to
eight hundred sixty-seven hours in a calendar year in an eligible
position, as defined in RCW 41.32.010, 41.35.010, 41.37.010, or
41.40.010, or as a firefighter or law enforcement officer, as defined
in RCW 41.26.030, without suspension of his or her benefit.
(3) If the retiree opts to reestablish membership under RCW
41.40.023(12), he or she terminates his or her retirement status and
becomes a member. Retirement benefits shall not accrue during the
period of membership and the individual shall make contributions and
receive membership credit. Such a member shall have the right to again
retire if eligible in accordance with RCW 41.40.180. However, if the
right to retire is exercised to become effective before the member has
rendered two uninterrupted years of service, the retirement formula and
survivor options the member had at the time of the member's previous
retirement shall be reinstated.
(4) The department shall collect and provide the state actuary with
information relevant to the use of this section for the select
committee on pension policy.
(5) The legislature reserves the right to amend or repeal this
section in the future and no member or beneficiary has a contractual
right to be employed for more than five months in a calendar year
without a reduction of his or her pension.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the
state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect
July 1, 2011."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: The Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) or the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) Plan 1 provisions limiting the years of 1,500-hour years of post-retirement employment without suspension of benefits to members that retire prior to September 1, 2011 are replaced with provisions that eliminate the 1,500-hour years for all members of PERS and TRS Plans 1, and specify that for purposes of the PERS and TRS Plan 1 rules, employment by retirees includes positions covered by the higher education retirement plans.