REPORT TITLE:
Government Pension Benefits


DESCRIPTION:
Allows a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of a police
officer, firefighter, or deputy sheriff, to remarry or enter into
a new reciprocal beneficiary relationship and to continue to
receive pension and other retirement benefits arising from their
former spouse's employment.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2620
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 88, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§88-     Reinstatement of benefits.  A surviving spouse or
 
 5 reciprocal beneficiary whose benefits under this chapter arose
 
 6 from their spouse's or reciprocal beneficiary's membership
 
 7 through employment as a police officer, firefighter, or deputy
 
 8 sheriff, and whose pension or benefit was terminated by reason of
 
 9 remarriage or entry into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship
 
10 occurring subsequent to the death of the member, may apply for
 
11 reinstatement of the terminated pension or benefit.  The level of
 
12 reinstated pension or benefit payments shall be the amount
 
13 received by the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary on the
 
14 date that the payment was terminated, adjusted to reflect ad hoc
 
15 and scheduled increases from the date of termination to the date
 
16 of reinstatement."
 
17      SECTION 2.  Section 88-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
18 amended to read as follows:
 

 
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 1      "§88-1 Restrictions.  The provisions of this section shall
 
 2 be applicable to every pension and to every recipient or
 
 3 beneficiary thereof, granted or provided for by any special act
 
 4 of the legislature (other than benefits, or the recipients
 
 5 thereof, payable to beneficiaries or retirants of the employees'
 
 6 retirement system under part II) whether the pension be payable
 
 7 by the State or by any county, or by any board, commission,
 
 8 bureau, department, or other agency thereof:
 
 9      (1)  No recipient or beneficiary shall be permitted to draw
 
10           any pension, or any portion thereof, in excess of $50
 
11           per month, while the recipient or beneficiary is
 
12           holding any salaried position or office in, under, or
 
13           by authority of the United States, the State, or any
 
14           political subdivision thereof.  This paragraph shall
 
15           not apply to any recipient or beneficiary who is
 
16           elected to the legislature or to the council of any
 
17           county[.];
 
18      (2)  If the recipient or beneficiary is a surviving spouse
 
19           or reciprocal beneficiary, the pension so granted shall
 
20           cease when the surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
21           beneficiary remarries, marries, or enters into a new
 
22           reciprocal beneficiary relationship[.]; provided that
 

 
 
 
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 1           this paragraph shall not apply to a surviving spouse or
 
 2           reciprocal beneficiary of a police officer,
 
 3           firefighter, or deputy sheriff;
 
 4      (3)  Any pension payable to any minor shall cease when the
 
 5           minor reaches the age of eighteen years[.]; and
 
 6      (4)  If any recipient or beneficiary of a pension, having a
 
 7           spouse or reciprocal beneficiary at the time the
 
 8           pension was first granted to the recipient or
 
 9           beneficiary dies, then the spouse or reciprocal
 
10           beneficiary, as long as the spouse or reciprocal
 
11           beneficiary remains unmarried or not in a reciprocal
 
12           beneficiary relationship, shall be paid sixty per cent
 
13           of the amount of the pension payable to the
 
14           beneficiary[.]; provided that payments shall not be
 
15           terminated when a recipient police officer,
 
16           firefighter, or deputy sheriff dies, and their
 
17           surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary remarries or
 
18           enters into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship."
 
19      SECTION 3.  Section 88-85, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
20 amended to read as follows:
 
21      "§88-85  Accidental death benefit.  Upon the receipt of
 
22 proper proofs of a member's death by the board of trustees, there
 
23 shall be paid to the member's designated beneficiary or to the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 member's estate the amount of the member's accumulated
 
 2 contributions and if, upon the receipt of evidence or proofs that
 
 3 the death was the natural and proximate result of an accident
 
 4 occurring at some definite time and place while the member was in
 
 5 the actual performance of duty, or that the death was due to the
 
 6 result of some occupational hazard, the board shall decide that
 
 7 the death was the result of an accident in the performance of
 
 8 duty and not caused by wilful negligence on the part of the
 
 9 member, there shall be paid in lieu of the ordinary death
 
10 benefits provided by the contributions of the State or county, a
 
11 pension of one-half of the average final compensation of the
 
12 member:
 
13      (1)  To the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of
 
14           the member to continue until the surviving spouse or
 
15           reciprocal beneficiary remarries, marries, or enters
 
16           into a new reciprocal beneficiary relationship;
 
17           provided that payments under this paragraph shall not
 
18           terminate when a surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
19           beneficiary of a police officer, firefighter, or deputy
 
20           sheriff, remarries or enters into a reciprocal
 
21           beneficiary relationship; or
 
22      (2)  If there be no surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
23           beneficiary, or if the surviving spouse or reciprocal
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           beneficiary dies or remarries, marries, or enters into
 
 2           a new reciprocal beneficiary relationship before any
 
 3           child of the deceased member shall have attained the
 
 4           age of eighteen years, then to the deceased member's
 
 5           child or children under such age, divided in such
 
 6           manner as the board in its discretion shall determine,
 
 7           to continue as a joint and survivor pension of one-half
 
 8           of the deceased member's final compensation until every
 
 9           child dies, or attains such age; provided that payments
 
10           shall be made to a surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
11           beneficiary of a police officer, firefighter, or deputy
 
12           sheriff, regardless of whether the surviving spouse or
 
13           reciprocal beneficiary remarries, marries, or enters
 
14           into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship before any
 
15           child of the deceased member attains the age of
 
16           eighteen years; or
 
17      (3)  If there is no surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
18           beneficiary or child under the age of eighteen years
 
19           surviving the deceased member, then to the deceased
 
20           member's dependent father or dependent mother, as the
 
21           deceased member shall have nominated by written
 
22           designation duly acknowledged and filed with the board,
 
23           or if there is no such nomination, then to the deceased
 

 
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 1           member's dependent father or to the deceased member's
 
 2           dependent mother as the board, in its discretion, shall
 
 3           direct to continue for life.
 
 4      Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any condition
 
 5 of impairment of health caused by any disease of the heart,
 
 6 lungs, or respiratory system, resulting in death to a
 
 7 firefighter, police officer, or sewer worker, shall be presumed
 
 8 to have been suffered in the actual performance of duty at some
 
 9 definite time and place through no wilful negligence on the
 
10 firefighter's, police officer's, or sewer worker's part, and as a
 
11 result of the inherent occupational hazard of exposure to and
 
12 inhalation of smoke, toxic gases, chemical fumes, and other toxic
 
13 vapors, unless the contrary be shown by competent evidence;
 
14 provided that such firefighter, police officer, or sewer worker
 
15 shall have passed a physical examination on entry into such
 
16 service or subsequent to such entry, which examination failed to
 
17 reveal any evidence of such condition."
 
18      SECTION 4.  Section 88-163, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
19 amended to read as follows:
 
20      "§88-163  Death benefits:  funeral expenses; payments to
 
21 dependents.(a)  Upon the death of any member of the police
 
22 force, fire department, or band, as a result of any injury
 
23 received or disease contracted while in the performance of his
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 duty, or when entitled to a pension under this part or who has
 
 2 been pensioned under this part there shall be paid, for funeral
 
 3 expenses, a sum not to exceed $100.  Should the deceased member
 
 4 leave a dependent widow or reciprocal beneficiary and a child or
 
 5 children under the age of eighteen years, then there shall be
 
 6 paid out of the system $50 per month to the widow until her death
 
 7 or remarriage or to the reciprocal beneficiary until death, or in
 
 8 the case of the marriage, or entry into a new reciprocal
 
 9 beneficiary relationship and $7.50 per month to the widow or
 
10 reciprocal beneficiary for each child so long as the child shall
 
11 reside with the widow or reciprocal beneficiary or is supported
 
12 by the widow or reciprocal beneficiary[.]; provided that
 
13 termination under this subsection of payments upon remarriage,
 
14 marriage, or entry into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship
 
15 shall not apply where payments arise out of the deceased member's
 
16 employment with the police force or fire department.  Upon the
 
17 death of such widow or reciprocal beneficiary, or in the event
 
18 the deceased member leaves no widow or reciprocal beneficiary but
 
19 a child or children under the age of eighteen years, then there
 
20 shall be paid out of the system $50 per month to the child or
 
21 children of the deceased member under the age of eighteen years
 
22 with each child, if there be more than one, receiving an equal
 
23 share of the $50 per month payment plus $7.50 per month.  All
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 payments to a child of a deceased member provided for herein
 
 2 shall cease when he or she arrives at the age of eighteen years.
 
 3      (b)  If any member of the police force, fire department, or
 
 4 band, dies not leaving a widow or reciprocal beneficiary, but
 
 5 leaving a father or mother dependent upon him, the father or
 
 6 mother (but not both) shall, upon satisfactory proof of
 
 7 dependency being made to the board of trustees receive from the
 
 8 system a sum not exceeding $50 per month.  The board shall
 
 9 determine whether the father or mother is dependent and how much
 
10 of the amount herein provided for shall be paid to him or her.
 
11 If there be no widow or reciprocal beneficiary and no child and
 
12 no father or mother, but dependent brothers or sisters, then such
 
13 pension shall be paid to them in such sums as shall not exceed
 
14 the aggregate amount of $30 per month.  All pensions authorized
 
15 as provided in this subsection shall be subject to reduction by
 
16 the board of trustees whenever, in its judgment, circumstances
 
17 make it reasonable, fair, or necessary.  All pensions so reduced
 
18 may thereafter be restored or further reduced as the board may
 
19 deem best.
 
20      (c)  On the remarriage of any widow or reciprocal
 
21 beneficiary of a deceased member of the band, where the widow or
 
22 reciprocal beneficiary is entitled to the benefits of any sum, or
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 in the event of any father or mother, brothers or sisters ceasing
 
 2 to be dependents then the payments to them shall cease."
 
 3      SECTION 5.  Section 88-286, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 amended by amending subsections (b) and (c) to read as follows:
 
 5      "(b)  In the case of ordinary death, the death benefit shall
 
 6 be as follows:
 
 7      (1)  For the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, an
 
 8           allowance equal to one-half of the member's accrued
 
 9           normal retirement allowance unreduced for age, payable
 
10           until remarriage, marriage, or entry into a new
 
11           reciprocal beneficiary relationship[[],[]] as if the
 
12           member had retired the day prior to death; and for each
 
13           dependent child an allowance equal to ten per cent of
 
14           the member's accrued normal retirement allowance
 
15           unreduced for age, payable until the dependent child
 
16           attains age eighteen; provided that the aggregate death
 
17           benefits for all the dependent children shall not
 
18           exceed twenty per cent of the member's accrued normal
 
19           retirement allowance unreduced for age; provided
 
20           further that payments shall not be terminated when a
 
21           surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of a police
 
22           officer, firefighter, or deputy sheriff, remarries,
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           marries, or enters into a reciprocal beneficiary
 
 2           relationship; or
 
 3      (2)  For the surviving spouse [[]or reciprocal
 
 4           beneficiary[]], if the member was eligible for
 
 5           retirement at the time of death in service, and death
 
 6           occurred after June 30, 1990, an allowance that would
 
 7           have been payable as if the member had retired the day
 
 8           prior to death and had elected to receive a retirement
 
 9           allowance under option B of section 88-283; and
 
10      (3)  If there is no surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
11           beneficiary, each dependent child shall receive an
 
12           allowance equal to twenty per cent of the member's
 
13           accrued normal retirement allowance unreduced for age,
 
14           payable until the dependent child attains age eighteen;
 
15           provided that the aggregate death benefits for all the
 
16           dependent children shall not exceed forty per cent of
 
17           the member's accrued normal retirement allowance
 
18           unreduced for age.
 
19      For the purpose of determining eligibility for the ordinary
 
20 death benefit, a year round school employee shall be considered
 
21 in service during the July and August preceding a transfer to a
 
22 traditional school schedule if the employee was in service for
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 the entire prior school year and has a contract for the upcoming
 
 2 traditional school year.
 
 3      (c)  In the case of accidental death, the death benefit
 
 4 shall be as follows:
 
 5      (1)  For the surviving spouse[,] or reciprocal beneficiary,
 
 6           an allowance equal to thirty per cent of the member's
 
 7           average final compensation, payable until remarriage;
 
 8           provided that payments shall continue to a surviving
 
 9           spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of a police officer,
 
10           firefighter, or deputy sheriff, who remarries or enters
 
11           into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship;
 
12      (2)  If there is a surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
13           beneficiary, each dependent child under eighteen shall
 
14           receive an allowance equal to the greater of:
 
15           (A)  Ten per cent of the member's accrued normal
 
16                retirement allowance, unreduced for age; provided
 
17                that the aggregate death benefits for all the
 
18                dependent children shall not exceed twenty per
 
19                cent of the member's accrued normal retirement
 
20                allowance unreduced for age; or
 
21           (B)  Three per cent of the member's average final
 
22                compensation; provided that the aggregate death
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2620
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1                benefits for all the dependent children shall not
 
 2                exceed six per cent of the member's average final
 
 3                compensation.
 
 4           The death benefit under this paragraph shall be payable
 
 5           to each dependent child until the dependent child
 
 6           attains age eighteen; and
 
 7      (3)  If there is no surviving spouse or reciprocal
 
 8           beneficiary, each dependent child under eighteen shall
 
 9           receive an allowance equal to the greater of:
 
10           (A)  Twenty per cent of the member's accrued normal
 
11                retirement allowance, unreduced for age; provided
 
12                that the aggregate death benefits for all the
 
13                dependent children shall not exceed forty per cent
 
14                of the member's accrued normal retirement
 
15                allowance unreduced for age; or
 
16           (B)  Six per cent of the member's average final
 
17                compensation; provided that the aggregate death
 
18                benefits for all the dependent children shall not
 
19                exceed twelve per cent of the member's average
 
20                final compensation.
 
21           The death benefit under this paragraph shall be payable
 
22           to each dependent child until the dependent child
 
23           attains age eighteen."
 

 
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 1     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 2 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 3     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 4 
 
 5                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________