REPORT TITLE:
Retirement; 10 years/55 age


DESCRIPTION:
Requires judges, legislators, and legislative officers who are
eligible for retirement benefits after ten years' service credit
to retire only upon reaching the age of 55.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           626
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   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.  Section 88-73, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§88-73  Service retirement.  Retirement of a member on a
 
 4 service retirement allowance shall be made by the board of
 
 5 trustees or its designee as follows:
 
 6      (1)  Any member who has [at]:
 
 7           (A)  At least five years of credited service and who
 
 8                has attained age fifty-five [or any member who has
 
 9                at];
 
10           (B)  At least twenty-five years of credited service; or
 
11                [any member who has at]
 
12           (C)  At least ten years of credited service, including
 
13                service as a judge, an elective officer, or the
 
14                chief clerk, assistant clerk, sergeant at arms, or
 
15                assistant sergeant at arms of either house of the
 
16                legislature, and who has attained age fifty-five;
 
17                may retire upon written application to the board
 
18                specifying on what date, not less than thirty days
 
19                nor more than ninety days subsequent to the
 

 
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 1                execution and filing thereof, the member desires
 
 2                to be retired.  In the event of the death of a
 
 3                member after the date of the filing of the
 
 4                member's written application to retire, the
 
 5                designated beneficiary, otherwise the personal
 
 6                representative of the member's estate, shall
 
 7                receive the allowance under the option selected by
 
 8                the member which would have been payable had the
 
 9                member retired, and the benefits paid to the
 
10                beneficiary or representative shall be computed as
 
11                though the member had died on or after the
 
12                effective date of the member's retirement;
 
13      (2)  Any member of the legislature who attains age sixty-
 
14           five may retire and receive a service retirement
 
15           allowance although the member continues to fill the
 
16           elective position;
 
17      (3)  For the purpose of computing or determining benefits
 
18           for an elective officer or judge, or any beneficiary of
 
19           either, the date upon which the elective officer or
 
20           judge elected to retire, as provided by section
 
21           88-61(c), after attaining an allowance of seventy-five
 
22           per cent of average final compensation, shall be used
 
23           as the effective date of retirement; provided that the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           elective officer or judge may continue in active
 
 2           service, but shall not receive a retirement allowance
 
 3           until termination of active service; however, upon
 
 4           leaving active service the elective officer or judge
 
 5           shall receive the retirement allowance provided for in
 
 6           section 88-74, together with the post retirement
 
 7           allowances provided for in section 88-90, which post
 
 8           retirement allowances shall be computed from the date
 
 9           of the election as though the elective officer or judge
 
10           had left active service on that day; and
 
11      (4)  In the case of a class A or B member who also has prior
 
12           credited service under part VII, total credited service
 
13           as a class A, class B, and class C member shall be used
 
14           to determine the eligibility for retirement allowance."
 
15      SECTION 2.  Section 88-74, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
16 amended to read as follows:
 
17      "§88-74  Allowance on service retirement.  Upon retirement
 
18 from service, a member shall receive a retirement allowance as
 
19 follows:
 
20      (1)  If the member has attained age fifty-five, a retirement
 
21           allowance of two per cent of the member's average final
 
22           compensation multiplied by the total number of years of
 
23           the member's credited service as a class A [and] or
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           class B member, excluding any credited service as an
 
 2           elective officer or legislative officer, plus a
 
 3           retirement allowance of one and one-fourth per cent of
 
 4           the member's average final compensation multiplied by
 
 5           the total number of years of prior credited service as
 
 6           a class C member; provided that:
 
 7           (A)  After June 30, 1968, if the member has at least
 
 8                ten years of credited service of which the last
 
 9                five or more years prior to retirement is credited
 
10                service as a firefighter, police officer, or an
 
11                investigator of the department of the prosecuting
 
12                attorney;
 
13           (B)  After June 30, 1977, if the member has at least
 
14                ten years of credited service of which the last
 
15                five or more years prior to retirement is credited
 
16                service as a corrections officer;
 
17           (C)  After June 16, 1981, if the member has at least
 
18                ten years of credited service of which the last
 
19                five or more years prior to retirement is credited
 
20                service as an investigator of the department of
 
21                the attorney general;
 
22           (D)  After June 30, 1989, if the member has at least
 
23                ten years of credited service of which the last
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1                five or more years prior to retirement is credited
 
 2                service as a narcotics enforcement investigator; 
 
 3           (E)  After December 31, 1993, if the member has at
 
 4                least ten years of credited service of which the
 
 5                last five or more years prior to retirement is
 
 6                credited service as a water safety officer; and
 
 7           (F)  After June 30, 1994, if the member has at least
 
 8                ten years of credited service, of which the last
 
 9                five or more years prior to retirement are
 
10                credited service as a public safety
 
11                [investigative] investigations staff investigator;
 
12           then for each year of service as a firefighter, police
 
13           officer, corrections officer, investigator of the
 
14           department of the prosecuting attorney, investigator of
 
15           the department of the attorney general, narcotics
 
16           enforcement investigator, water safety officer, or
 
17           public safety investigations staff investigator, the
 
18           retirement allowance shall be two and one-half per cent
 
19           of the member's average final compensation.  The
 
20           maximum retirement allowance for those members shall
 
21           not exceed eighty per cent of the member's average
 
22           final compensation.  If the member has not attained age
 
23           fifty-five, the member's retirement allowance shall be
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           computed as though the member had attained age fifty-
 
 2           five, reduced in accordance with factors of actuarial
 
 3           equivalence adopted by the board upon the advice of the
 
 4           actuary; provided that no reduction shall be made if
 
 5           the member has at least twenty-five years of credited
 
 6           service as a firefighter, police officer, corrections
 
 7           officer, investigator of the department of the
 
 8           prosecuting attorney, investigator of the department of
 
 9           the attorney general, narcotics enforcement
 
10           investigator, public safety investigations staff
 
11           investigator, sewer worker, or water safety officer, of
 
12           which the last five or more years prior to retirement
 
13           is credited service in such capacities;
 
14      (2)  If the member has made voluntary additional
 
15           contributions for the purchase of an additional annuity
 
16           and has not applied for a refund as permitted by
 
17           section 88-72, the member may accept the refund at the
 
18           time of retirement or, in lieu thereof, receive in
 
19           addition to the retirement allowance provided in
 
20           paragraph (1), an annuity that is the actuarial
 
21           equivalent of the additional contributions with regular
 
22           interest;
 
23      (3)  If the member has credited service as a judge[,] and is
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           at least fifty-five years of age, the member's
 
 2           retirement allowance shall be computed on the following
 
 3           basis:
 
 4           (A)  [Irrespective of age, for] For each year of
 
 5                credited service as a judge, three and one-half
 
 6                per cent of the member's average final
 
 7                compensation in addition to an annuity that is the
 
 8                actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated
 
 9                contributions allocable to the period of such
 
10                service; and
 
11           (B)  For all other credited service, as provided in
 
12                paragraphs (1), (2) and (4).  No allowance shall
 
13                exceed seventy-five per cent of the member's
 
14                average final compensation.  If the allowance
 
15                exceeds this limit, it shall be adjusted by
 
16                reducing the annuity included in subparagraph (A),
 
17                and the portion of the accumulated contributions
 
18                specified in that subparagraph in excess of the
 
19                requirements of the reduced annuity shall be
 
20                returned to the member.
 
21           The allowance for judges under this paragraph, together
 
22           with the retirement allowance provided by the federal
 
23           government for similar service, shall in no case exceed
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           seventy-five per cent of the member's average final
 
 2           compensation; or
 
 3      (4)  If the member has credited service as an elective
 
 4           officer or as a legislative officer[,] and is at least
 
 5           fifty-five years of age, the member's retirement
 
 6           allowance shall be derived by adding the allowances
 
 7           computed separately under subparagraphs (A), (B), (C),
 
 8           and (D) as follows:
 
 9           (A)  [Irrespective of age, for] For each year of
 
10                credited service as an elective officer, three and
 
11                one-half per cent of the member's average final
 
12                compensation as computed under section
 
13                88-81(d)(1), in addition to an annuity that is the
 
14                actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated
 
15                contributions allocable to the period of service;
 
16                and
 
17           (B)  [Irrespective of age, for] For each year of
 
18                credited service as a legislative officer, three
 
19                and one-half per cent of the member's average
 
20                final compensation as computed under section
 
21                88-81(d)(2), in addition to an annuity that is the
 
22                actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated
 
23                contributions allocable to the period of service;
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           (C)  [Irrespective of age, for] For each year of
 
 2                credited service as a judge, three and one-half
 
 3                per cent of the member's average final
 
 4                compensation as computed under section 88-
 
 5                81(d)(3), in addition to an annuity that is the
 
 6                actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated
 
 7                contributions allocable to the period of service;
 
 8                and
 
 9           (D)  For each year of credited service not included in
 
10                subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), the average final
 
11                compensation as computed under section 88-81(d)(4)
 
12                shall be multiplied by two per cent, two and one-
 
13                half per cent, or one and one-quarter per cent, as
 
14                applicable to the credited service earned as a
 
15                class A, B, or C member, respectively.
 
16           The total retirement allowance shall not exceed
 
17           seventy-five per cent of the member's highest average
 
18           final compensation calculated under section
 
19           88-81(d)(1), (2), (3), or (4).  If the allowance
 
20           exceeds this limit, it shall be adjusted by reducing
 
21           any annuity accrued under subparagraphs (A), (B), and
 
22           (C) and the portion of the accumulated contributions
 
23           specified in these subparagraphs in excess of the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           626
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           requirements of the reduced annuity shall be returned
 
 2           to the member.  If a member has service credit as an
 
 3           elective officer or as a legislative officer in
 
 4           addition to service credit as a judge, then the
 
 5           retirement benefit calculation contained in this
 
 6           paragraph shall supersede the formula contained in
 
 7           paragraph (3)."
 
 8      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 9 New statutory material is underscored.
 
10      SECTION 4.  This Act shall not diminish or impair any rights
 
11 or benefits accrued by any person prior to its effective date.
 
12      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
13 
 
14                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________