STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2187

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2244

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2244 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RETIREMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Establish that a member of the Employees' Retirement System who first earned credited service as a judge after June 30, 2016, and has at least twelve years of credited service and attained the normal retirement age, or has at least twenty-five years of credited service and has attained age fifty-five is eligible to receive a pension after retirement;

     (2)  Reduce the retirement allowance for a member who first earned credited service as a judge after June 30, 2016, to two percent of the member's average final compensation, reduced for each month the member's age at the date of retirement is below the normal retirement age; and

     (3)  Define "normal retirement age" as age sixty-five.

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Judiciary.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Employees' Retirement System and Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

     Your Committee finds that there have been various revisions to the Employees' Retirement System, and implementation of this measure is necessary to maintain reasonable and fair benefits under the Employees' Retirement System.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Replacing any reference to "normal retirement age" in the amendments proposed by this measure with "age sixty" and deleting the definition for the term "normal retirement age";

     (2)  Making conforming amendments; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2244, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2244, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair