STAND. COM. REP. 322
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 553
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 553 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to restore the method used to calculate an Employees' Retirement System (ERS) member's average final compensation (AFC) to the formula used prior to the enactment of Act 128, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 2002.
ERS Board of Trustees, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and Hawaii Government Employees Association testified in support of this measure.
In an attempt to streamline the processing of retirement benefits for public employees, the Legislature enacted Act 128, SLH 2002, which, among other things, created a new formula for the calculation of a member's AFC. However, concerns regarding the effects this new method would have upon current employees' pensions were raised by various bargaining units. Your Committee feels that it was not the intent of the Legislature to negatively impact the retirement benefits of public employees and that this bill is necessary to correct this situation.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Clarifying effective January 1, 2003, that whenever any person receiving a pension from the State or counties dies, the pensioner's prorated pension payments shall be paid to the person who may have been designated by the pensioner during the pensioner's lifetime or, if no such designation has been filed, the prorated amount shall be paid to the personal representative of the estate of the pensioner;
(2) Establishing that, effective July 1, 2003, whenever a person receiving a pension from the system dies, the full monthly pension for the month in which the pensioner died shall be payable to the pensioner;
(3) Repealing the provision that requires the salary of the administrator to be set within the range established for deputy directors;
(4) Establishing that upon leaving active service, elective officers and judges shall receive their retirement and post-retirement allowances effective on the first day of a month, except the month of December when retirement benefits shall be effective on the first or last day of the month;
(5) Amending section 88-74, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to conform statutory language to changes made by this measure; and
(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, conformity, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 553, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 553, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Public Employment,
_________________________ MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair |
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