BILL REQ. #:  H-0138.1 

Read first time 02/19/13.   Referred to Committee on Appropriations.

     AN ACT Relating to postretirement employment in the public employees' retirement system and the teachers' retirement system; and amending RCW 41.32.570, 41.32.802, 41.32.862, and 41.40.037.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 41.32.570 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 47 s 10 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) 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) 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.
     (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 41.32.802 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 47 s 12 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 benefit reduction over one hundred percent will be applied to the benefit the retiree is eligible to receive in subsequent months.
     (2) A retiree who has satisfied the break in employment requirement of subsection (1) of this section((,)) may work ((up to eight hundred sixty-seven hours per 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, or in a position covered by annuity and retirement income plans offered by institutions of higher education pursuant to RCW 28B.10.400,)) without suspension of his or her benefit.
     (3) If the retiree opts to reestablish membership under RCW 41.32.044, he or she terminates his or her retirement status and immediately 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.

Sec. 3   RCW 41.32.862 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 47 s 14 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 benefit reduction over one hundred percent will be applied to the benefit the retiree is eligible to receive in subsequent months.
     (2) A retiree who has satisfied the break in employment requirement of subsection (1) of this section((,)) may work ((up to eight hundred sixty-seven hours per 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, or in a position covered by annuity and retirement income plans offered by institutions of higher education pursuant to RCW 28B.10.400,)) without suspension of his or her benefit.
     (3) If the retiree opts to reestablish membership under RCW 41.32.044, he or she terminates his or her retirement status and immediately 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.

Sec. 4   RCW 41.40.037 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 47 s 19 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 retiree from plan 1, plan 2, or plan 3 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.
     (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.