BILL REQ. #:  S-0275.4 



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SENATE BILL 5383
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State of Washington63rd Legislature2013 Regular Session

By Senators Benton, Cleveland, and Rivers

Read first time 01/28/13.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.



     AN ACT Relating to restrictions on collecting a pension in the public employees' retirement system for retirees returning to work; and amending RCW 41.40.037 and 41.40.630.

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

Sec. 1   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) A retiree who retires under the provisions of RCW 41.40.630(3) may enter employment with the elections division of a county auditor as defined in RCW 29A.04.025 at least one calendar month after his or her accrual date at a rate of compensation not exceeding their rate at retirement and continue to receive pension payments while engaged in such service for up to sixty days without a reduction of pension.
     (4) 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))) (5) 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))) (6) 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.

Sec. 2   RCW 41.40.630 and 2012 1st sp.s. c 7 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) NORMAL RETIREMENT. Any member with at least five service credit years who has attained at least age sixty-five shall be eligible to retire and to receive a retirement allowance computed according to the provisions of RCW 41.40.620.
     (2) EARLY RETIREMENT. Any member who has completed at least twenty service credit years and has attained age fifty-five shall be eligible to retire and to receive a retirement allowance computed according to the provisions of RCW 41.40.620, except that a member retiring pursuant to this subsection shall have the retirement allowance actuarially reduced to reflect the difference in the number of years between age at retirement and the attainment of age sixty-five.
     (3) ALTERNATE EARLY RETIREMENT.
     (a) Any member who has completed at least thirty service credit years and has attained age fifty-five shall be eligible to retire and to receive a retirement allowance computed according to the provisions of RCW 41.40.620, except that a member retiring pursuant to this subsection shall have the retirement allowance reduced by three percent per year to reflect the difference in the number of years between age at retirement and the attainment of age sixty-five.
     (b) On or after July 1, 2008, any member who has completed at least thirty service credit years and has attained age fifty-five shall be eligible to retire and to receive a retirement allowance computed according to the provisions of RCW 41.40.620, except that a member retiring pursuant to this subsection shall have the retirement allowance reduced as follows:

Retirement
Age		Percent
Reduction
5520%
5617%
5714%
5811%
598%
605%
612%
620%
630%
640%


     Any member who retires under the provisions of this subsection is ineligible for the postretirement employment provisions of RCW 41.40.037(2)(((d))) until the retired member has reached sixty-five years of age, or when under the postretirement employment provisions of RCW 41.40.037(3), the retired member has engaged in such service for more than sixty days. For purposes of this subsection, employment with an employer also includes any personal service contract, service by an employer as a temporary or project employee, or any other similar compensated relationship with any employer included under the provisions of RCW 41.40.690(1).
     The subsidized reductions for alternate early retirement in this subsection as set forth in section 9, chapter 491, Laws of 2007 were intended by the legislature as replacement benefits for gain-sharing. Until there is legal certainty with respect to the repeal of chapter 41.31A RCW, the right to retire under this subsection is noncontractual, and the legislature reserves the right to amend or repeal this subsection. Legal certainty includes, but is not limited to, the expiration of any: Applicable limitations on actions; and periods of time for seeking appellate review, up to and including reconsideration by the Washington supreme court and the supreme court of the United States. Until that time, eligible members may still retire under this subsection, and upon receipt of the first installment of a retirement allowance computed under this subsection, the resulting benefit becomes contractual for the recipient. If the repeal of chapter 41.31A RCW is held to be invalid in a final determination of a court of law, and the court orders reinstatement of gain-sharing or other alternate benefits as a remedy, then retirement benefits for any member who has completed at least thirty service credit years and has attained age fifty-five but has not yet received the first installment of a retirement allowance under this subsection shall be computed using the reductions in (a) of this subsection.
     (c) Members who first become employed by an employer in an eligible position on or after May 1, 2013, are not eligible for the alternate early retirement provisions of (a) or (b) of this subsection. Any member who first becomes employed by an employer in an eligible position on or after May 1, 2013, and has completed at least thirty service credit years and has attained age fifty-five shall be eligible to retire and to receive a retirement allowance computed according to the provisions of RCW 41.40.620, except that a member retiring pursuant to this subsection shall have the retirement allowance reduced by five percent per year to reflect the difference in the number of years between age at retirement and the attainment of age sixty-five.

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