Allows a faculty member or lecturer of UH with multiple part-time faculty or lecturer appointments to meet eligibility requirements for membership in the ERS; allows the same class of individuals to become ERS members (HB317 HD2).

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. It has been the University of Hawaii's (University) long-standing practice to report certain faculty members and lecturers as eligible for membership in the employees' retirement system. The purpose of this Act is to allow:

SECTION 2. Section 88-42.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§88-42.5[]] Membership of employees holding more than one position, appointment or office. (a) The membership of any employee holding more than one full-time position, appointment, office, or any combination thereof shall be limited to the position, appointment, or office of the employee's option; provided that the employment in the position, appointment, or office shall meet the minimum membership eligibility requirements as provided in this part. Any contributions made based on the compensation, pay, or salary of the employee's position, appointment, or office other than that on which the employee's membership is based shall be returned to the employee.

The foregoing shall not apply to any employee holding two part-time positions of the same class if each position meets the minimum eligibility requirements for membership and the sum total of the compensation, pay, or salary received for both positions does not exceed the higher of the full-time compensation, pay, or salary for either position.

(b) The membership of any faculty member or lecturer of the University of Hawaii system with multiple part-time faculty or lecturer appointments shall be based on an aggregate of all such part-time faculty or lecturer appointments not to exceed one full-time position. The sum total of the compensation, pay, or salary received from the faculty or lecturer positions, shall not, for the purposes of this chapter, exceed an amount equal to the highest of the full-time compensation, pay, or salary for any one of the part-time faculty or lecturer appointments. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, if any existing or former faculty member or lecturer of the University system who holds or held multiple part-time faculty or lecturer appointments prior to the effective date of this Act were reported by the University of Hawaii system to the system as as eligible for membership in the system, the system shall not adjust its records for, or reduce the benefits of, such faculty member or lecturer to meet the system membership eligibility requirements without the aggregation of multiple part-time faculty or lecturer appointments."

SECTION 3. Section 88-43, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§88-43 Persons ineligible for membership; optional membership. [The] Except with respect to faculty or lecturers employed on one or more campuses of the University of Hawaii who hold multiple part-time appointments, any of which may be less than one-half full-time equivalent but all of which when added together aggregate to at least one-half of a full-time equivalent position, the board of trustees may deny membership to any class of part-time employees or persons engaged in temporary employment of three months or less, or it may, in its discretion, make optional with persons in such classes their individual entrance into membership; provided that no officer or employee entering service after January 1, 1928, who is entitled to become a member of any pension system under [Part] part III shall be entitled to become a member of the system.

Elective officers shall be eligible for membership and their individual entrance into membership shall be at their option."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.