Bill Text: OR HB3313 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to public employee retirement; declaring an emergency.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-07-08 - In committee upon adjournment. [HB3313 Detail]
Download: Oregon-2013-HB3313-Introduced.html
77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1483
House Bill 3313
Sponsored by Representative SPRENGER (at the request of Oregon
School Boards Association)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Changes definition of 'qualifying position' for purposes of
public employee retirement benefits to require employee to work
at least 1040 hours in calendar year.
Requires public employee to work at least 1040 hours in
calendar year to qualify for certain benefits.
Declares emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to public employee retirement; creating new provisions;
amending ORS 238.005, 238.015, 238A.005, 238A.115, 238A.145 and
238A.320; repealing ORS 238.074 and 238A.142; and declaring an
emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 238.005, as amended by section 30, chapter 54,
Oregon Laws 2012, is amended to read:
238.005. For purposes of this chapter:
(1) 'Active member' means a member who is presently employed by
a participating public employer in a qualifying position and who
has completed the six-month period of service required by ORS
238.015.
(2) 'Annuity' means payments for life derived from
contributions made by a member as provided in this chapter.
(3) 'Board' means the Public Employees Retirement Board.
(4) 'Calendar year' means 12 calendar months commencing on
January 1 and ending on December 31 following.
(5) 'Continuous service' means service not interrupted for more
than five years, except that such continuous service shall be
computed without regard to interruptions in the case of:
(a) An employee who had returned to the service of the employer
as of January 1, 1945, and who remained in that employment until
having established membership in the Public Employees Retirement
System.
(b) An employee who was in the armed services on January 1,
1945, and returned to the service of the employer within one year
of the date of being otherwise than dishonorably discharged and
remained in that employment until having established membership
in the Public Employees Retirement System.
(6) 'Creditable service' means any period of time during which
an active member is being paid a salary by a participating public
employer and for which benefits under this chapter are funded by
employer contributions and earnings on the fund. For purposes of
computing years of 'creditable service,' full months and major
fractions of a month shall be considered to be one-twelfth of a
year and shall be added to all full years. ' Creditable service'
includes all retirement credit received by a member.
(7) 'Earliest service retirement age' means the age attained by
a member when the member could first make application for
retirement under the provisions of ORS 238.280.
(8) 'Employee' includes, in addition to employees, public
officers, but does not include:
(a) Persons engaged as independent contractors.
(b) Seasonal, emergency or casual workers whose periods of
employment with any public employer or public employers do not
total { - 600 - } { + 1040 + } hours in any calendar year.
(c) Persons, other than workers in the Oregon Industries for
the Blind under ORS 346.190, provided sheltered employment or
made-work by a public employer in an employment or industries
program maintained for the benefit of such persons.
(d) Persons employed and paid from federal funds received under
a federal program intended primarily to alleviate unemployment.
However, any such person shall be considered an ' employee' if
not otherwise excluded by paragraphs (a) to (c) of this
subsection and the public employer elects to have the person so
considered by an irrevocable written notice to the board.
(e) Persons who are employees of a railroad, as defined in ORS
824.020, and who, as such employees, are included in a retirement
plan under federal railroad retirement statutes. This paragraph
shall be deemed to have been in effect since the inception of the
system.
(9) 'Final average salary' means whichever of the following is
greater:
(a) The average salary per calendar year paid by one or more
participating public employers to an employee who is an active
member of the system in three of the calendar years of membership
before the effective date of retirement of the employee, in which
three years the employee was paid the highest salary. The three
calendar years in which the employee was paid the largest total
salary may include calendar years in which the employee was
employed for less than a full calendar year. If the number of
calendar years of active membership before the effective date of
retirement of the employee is three or fewer, the final average
salary for the employee is the average salary per calendar year
paid by one or more participating public employers to the
employee in all of those years, without regard to whether the
employee was employed for the full calendar year.
(b) One-third of the total salary paid by a participating
public employer to an employee who is an active member of the
system in the last 36 calendar months of active membership before
the effective date of retirement of the employee.
(10) 'Firefighter' does not include a volunteer firefighter,
but does include:
(a) The State Fire Marshal, the chief deputy fire marshal and
deputy state fire marshals; and
(b) An employee of the State Forestry Department who is
certified by the State Forester as a professional wildland
firefighter and whose primary duties include the abatement of
uncontrolled fires as described in ORS 477.064.
(11) 'Fiscal year' means 12 calendar months commencing on July
1 and ending on June 30 following.
(12) 'Fund' means the Public Employees Retirement Fund.
(13) 'Inactive member' means a member who is not employed in a
qualifying position, whose membership has not been terminated in
the manner described by ORS 238.095 and who is not retired for
service or disability.
(14) 'Institution of higher education' means a public
university listed in ORS 352.002, the Oregon Health and Science
University and a community college, as defined in ORS 341.005.
(15) 'Member' means a person who has established membership in
the system and whose membership has not been terminated as
described in ORS 238.095. 'Member' includes active, inactive and
retired members.
(16) 'Member account' means the regular account and the
variable account.
(17) 'Normal retirement age' means:
(a) For a person who establishes membership in the system
before January 1, 1996, as described in ORS 238.430, 55 years of
age if the employee retires at that age as a police officer or
firefighter or 58 years of age if the employee retires at that
age as other than a police officer or firefighter.
(b) For a person who establishes membership in the system on or
after January 1, 1996, as described in ORS 238.430, 55 years of
age if the employee retires at that age as a police officer or
firefighter or 60 years of age if the employee retires at that
age as other than a police officer or firefighter.
(18) 'Pension' means annual payments for life derived from
contributions by one or more public employers.
(19) 'Police officer' includes:
(a) Employees of institutions defined in ORS 421.005 as
Department of Corrections institutions whose duties, as assigned
by the Director of the Department of Corrections, include the
custody of persons committed to the custody of or transferred to
the Department of Corrections and employees of the Department of
Corrections who were classified as police officers on or before
July 27, 1989, whether or not such classification was authorized
by law.
(b) Employees of the Department of State Police who are
classified as police officers by the Superintendent of State
Police.
(c) Employees of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission who are
classified as liquor enforcement inspectors by the administrator
of the commission.
(d) Sheriffs and those deputy sheriffs or other employees of a
sheriff whose duties, as classified by the sheriff, are the
regular duties of police officers or corrections officers.
(e) Police chiefs and police personnel of a city who are
classified as police officers by the council or other governing
body of the city.
(f) Police officers who are commissioned by a university under
ORS 352.383 and who are classified as police officers by the
university.
(g) Parole and probation officers employed by the Department of
Corrections, parole and probation officers who are transferred to
county employment under ORS 423.549 and adult parole and
probation officers, as defined in ORS 181.610, who are classified
as police officers for the purposes of this chapter by the county
governing body. If a county classifies adult parole and probation
officers as police officers for the purposes of this chapter, and
the employees so classified are represented by a labor
organization, any proposal by the county to change that
classification or to cease to classify adult parole and probation
officers as police officers for the purposes of this chapter is a
mandatory subject of bargaining.
(h) Police officers appointed under ORS 276.021 or 276.023.
(i) Employees of the Port of Portland who are classified as
airport police by the Board of Commissioners of the Port of
Portland.
(j) Employees of the State Department of Agriculture who are
classified as livestock police officers by the Director of
Agriculture.
(k) Employees of the Department of Public Safety Standards and
Training who are classified by the department as other than
secretarial or clerical personnel.
(L) Investigators of the Criminal Justice Division of the
Department of Justice.
(m) Corrections officers as defined in ORS 181.610.
(n) Employees of the Oregon State Lottery Commission who are
classified by the Director of the Oregon State Lottery as
enforcement agents pursuant to ORS 461.110.
(o) The Director of the Department of Corrections.
(p) An employee who for seven consecutive years has been
classified as a police officer as defined by this section, and
who is employed or transferred by the Department of Corrections
to fill a position designated by the Director of the Department
of Corrections as being eligible for police officer status.
(q) An employee of the Department of Corrections classified as
a police officer on or prior to July 27, 1989, whether or not
that classification was authorized by law, as long as the
employee remains in the position held on July 27, 1989. The
initial classification of an employee under a system implemented
pursuant to ORS 240.190 does not affect police officer status.
(r) Employees of a school district who are appointed and duly
sworn members of a law enforcement agency of the district as
provided in ORS 332.531 or otherwise employed full-time as police
officers commissioned by the district.
(s) Employees at youth correction facilities and juvenile
detention facilities under ORS 419A.050, 419A.052 and 420.005 to
420.915 who are required to hold valid Oregon teaching licenses
and who have supervisory, control or teaching responsibilities
over juveniles committed to the custody of the Department of
Corrections or the Oregon Youth Authority.
(t) Employees at youth correction facilities as defined in ORS
420.005 whose primary job description involves the custody,
control, treatment, investigation or supervision of juveniles
placed in such facilities.
(u) Employees of the Oregon Youth Authority who are classified
as juvenile parole and probation officers.
(20) 'Prior service credit' means credit provided under ORS
238.442 or under ORS 238.225 (2) to (6) (1999 Edition).
(21) 'Public employer' means the state, one of its agencies,
any city, county, or municipal or public corporation, any
political subdivision of the state or any instrumentality
thereof, or an agency created by one or more such governmental
organizations to provide governmental services. For purposes of
this chapter, such agency created by one or more governmental
organizations is a governmental instrumentality and a legal
entity with power to enter into contracts, hold property and sue
and be sued.
(22) 'Qualifying position' means one or more jobs with one or
more participating public employers in which an employee performs
{ - 600 - } { + 1040 + } or more hours of service in a
calendar year, excluding any service in a job for which a
participating public employer does not provide benefits under
this chapter pursuant to an application made under ORS 238.035.
(23) 'Regular account' means the account established for each
active and inactive member under ORS 238.250.
(24) 'Retired member' means a member who is retired for service
or disability.
(25) 'Retirement credit' means a period of time that is treated
as creditable service for the purposes of this chapter.
(26)(a) 'Salary' means the remuneration paid an employee in
cash out of the funds of a public employer in return for services
to the employer, plus the monetary value, as determined by the
Public Employees Retirement Board, of whatever living quarters,
board, lodging, fuel, laundry and other advantages the employer
furnishes the employee in return for services.
(b) 'Salary' includes but is not limited to:
(A) Payments of employee and employer money into a deferred
compensation plan, which are deemed salary paid in each month of
deferral;
(B) The amount of participation in a tax-sheltered or deferred
annuity, which is deemed salary paid in each month of
participation;
(C) Retroactive payments described in ORS 238.008; and
(D) Wages of a deceased member paid to a surviving spouse or
dependent children under ORS 652.190.
(c) 'Salary' or 'other advantages' does not include:
(A) Travel or any other expenses incidental to employer's
business which is reimbursed by the employer;
(B) Payments for insurance coverage by an employer on behalf of
employee or employee and dependents, for which the employee has
no cash option;
(C) Payments made on account of an employee's death;
(D) Any lump sum payment for accumulated unused sick leave;
(E) Any accelerated payment of an employment contract for a
future period or an advance against future wages;
(F) Any retirement incentive, retirement severance pay,
retirement bonus or retirement gratuitous payment;
(G) Payments for periods of leave of absence after the date the
employer and employee have agreed that no future services
qualifying pursuant to ORS 238.015 (3) will be performed, except
for sick leave and vacation;
(H) Payments for instructional services rendered to public
universities of the Oregon University System or the Oregon Health
and Science University when such services are in excess of
full-time employment subject to this chapter. A person employed
under a contract for less than 12 months is subject to this
subparagraph only for the months to which the contract pertains;
or
(I) Payments made by an employer for insurance coverage
provided to a domestic partner of an employee.
(27) 'School year' means the period beginning July 1 and ending
June 30 next following.
(28) 'System' means the Public Employees Retirement System.
(29) 'Variable account' means the account established for a
member who participates in the Variable Annuity Account under ORS
238.260.
(30) 'Vested' means being an active member of the system in
each of five calendar years.
(31) 'Volunteer firefighter' means a firefighter whose position
normally requires less than { - 600 - } { + 1040 + } hours of
service per year.
SECTION 2. ORS 238A.005, as amended by section 1, chapter 31,
Oregon Laws 2012, is amended to read:
238A.005. For the purposes of this chapter:
(1) 'Active member' means a member of the pension program or
the individual account program of the Oregon Public Service
Retirement Plan who is actively employed in a qualifying
position.
(2) 'Actuarial equivalent' means a payment or series of
payments having the same value as the payment or series of
payments replaced, computed on the basis of interest rate and
mortality assumptions adopted by the board.
(3) 'Board' means the Public Employees Retirement Board.
(4) 'Eligible employee' means a person who performs services
for a participating public employer, including elected officials
other than judges. 'Eligible employee' does not include:
(a) Persons engaged as independent contractors;
(b) Aliens working under a training or educational visa;
(c) Persons, other than workers in the Industries for the Blind
Program under ORS 346.190, provided sheltered employment or
make-work by a public employer;
(d) Persons categorized by a participating public employer as
student employees;
(e) Any person who is an inmate of a state institution;
(f) Employees of foreign trade offices of the Oregon Business
Development Department who live and perform services in foreign
countries under the provisions of ORS 285A.075 (1)(g);
(g) An employee actively participating in an alternative
retirement program established under ORS 353.250 or an optional
retirement plan established under ORS 341.551;
(h) Employees of the Oregon University System who are actively
participating in an optional retirement plan offered under ORS
243.800;
(i) Any employee who belongs to a class of employees that was
not eligible on August 28, 2003, for membership in the system
under the provisions of ORS chapter 238 or other law;
(j) Any person who belongs to a class of employees who are not
eligible to become members of the Oregon Public Service
Retirement Plan under the provisions of ORS 238A.070 (2);
(k) Any person who is retired under ORS 238A.100 to 238A.245 or
ORS chapter 238 and who continues to receive retirement benefits
while employed; and
(L) Judges.
(5) 'Firefighter' means:
(a) A person employed by a local government, as defined in ORS
174.116, whose primary job duties include the fighting of fires;
(b) The State Fire Marshal, the chief deputy state fire marshal
and deputy state fire marshals; and
(c) An employee of the State Forestry Department who is
certified by the State Forester as a professional wildland
firefighter and whose primary duties include the abatement of
uncontrolled fires as described in ORS 477.064.
(6) 'Fund' means the Public Employees Retirement Fund.
(7)(a) 'Hour of service' means:
(A) An hour for which an eligible employee is directly or
indirectly paid or entitled to payment by a participating public
employer for performance of duties in a qualifying position; and
(B) An hour of vacation, holiday, illness, incapacity, jury
duty, military duty or authorized leave during which an employee
does not perform duties but for which the employee is directly or
indirectly paid or entitled to payment by a participating public
employer for services in a qualifying position, as long as the
hour is within the number of hours regularly scheduled for the
performance of duties during the period of vacation, holiday,
illness, incapacity, jury duty, military duty or authorized
leave.
(b) 'Hour of service' does not include any hour for which
payment is made or due under a plan maintained solely for the
purpose of complying with applicable workers' compensation laws
or unemployment compensation laws.
(8) 'Inactive member' means a member of the pension program or
the individual account program of the Oregon Public Service
Retirement Plan whose membership has not been terminated, who is
not a retired member and who is not employed in a qualifying
position.
(9) 'Individual account program' means the defined contribution
individual account program of the Oregon Public Service
Retirement Plan established under ORS 238A.025.
(10) 'Institution of higher education' means a public
university listed in ORS 352.002, the Oregon Health and Science
University or a community college, as defined in ORS 341.005.
(11) 'Member' means an eligible employee who has established
membership in the pension program or the individual account
program of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan and whose
membership has not been terminated under ORS 238A.110 or
238A.310.
(12) 'Participating public employer' means a public employer as
defined in ORS 238.005 that provides retirement benefits for
employees of the public employer under the system.
(13) 'Pension program' means the defined benefit pension
program of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan established
under ORS 238A.025.
(14) 'Police officer' means a police officer as described in
ORS 238.005.
(15) 'Qualifying position' means one or more jobs with one or
more participating public employers in which an eligible employee
performs { - 600 - } { + 1040 + } or more hours of service in
a calendar year, excluding any service in a job for which
benefits are not provided under the Oregon Public Service
Retirement Plan pursuant to ORS 238A.070 (2).
(16) 'Retired member' means a pension program member who is
receiving a pension as provided in ORS 238A.180 to 238A.195.
(17)(a) 'Salary' means the remuneration paid to an active
member in return for services to the participating public
employer, including remuneration in the form of living quarters,
board or other items of value, to the extent the remuneration is
includable in the employee's taxable income under Oregon law.
Salary includes the additional amounts specified in paragraph (b)
of this subsection, but does not include the amounts specified in
paragraph (c) of this subsection, regardless of whether those
amounts are includable in taxable income.
(b) 'Salary' includes the following amounts:
(A) Payments of employee and employer money into a deferred
compensation plan that are made at the election of the employee.
(B) Contributions to a tax-sheltered or deferred annuity that
are made at the election of the employee.
(C) Any amount that is contributed to a cafeteria plan or
qualified transportation fringe benefit plan by the employer at
the election of the employee and that is not includable in the
taxable income of the employee by reason of 26 U.S.C. 125 or
132(f)(4), as in effect on December 31, 2011.
(D) Any amount that is contributed to a cash or deferred
arrangement by the employer at the election of the employee and
that is not included in the taxable income of the employee by
reason of 26 U.S.C. 402(e)(3), as in effect on December 31, 2011.
(E) Retroactive payments described in ORS 238.008.
(F) The amount of an employee contribution to the individual
account program that is paid by the employer and deducted from
the compensation of the employee, as provided under ORS 238A.335
(1) and (2)(a).
(G) The amount of an employee contribution to the individual
account program that is not paid by the employer under ORS
238A.335.
(H) Wages of a deceased member paid to a surviving spouse or
dependent children under ORS 652.190.
(c) 'Salary' does not include the following amounts:
(A) Travel or any other expenses incidental to employer's
business which is reimbursed by the employer.
(B) Payments made on account of an employee's death.
(C) Any lump sum payment for accumulated unused sick leave,
vacation leave or other paid leave.
(D) Any severance payment, accelerated payment of an employment
contract for a future period or advance against future wages.
(E) Any retirement incentive, retirement bonus or retirement
gratuitous payment.
(F) Payment for a leave of absence after the date the employer
and employee have agreed that no future services in a qualifying
position will be performed.
(G) Payments for instructional services rendered to public
universities of the Oregon University System or the Oregon Health
and Science University when those services are in excess of
full-time employment subject to this chapter. A person employed
under a contract for less than 12 months is subject to this
subparagraph only for the months covered by the contract.
(H) The amount of an employee contribution to the individual
account program that is paid by the employer and is not deducted
from the compensation of the employee, as provided under ORS
238A.335 (1) and (2)(b).
(I) Any amount in excess of $200,000 for a calendar year. If
any period over which salary is determined is less than 12
months, the $200,000 limitation for that period shall be
multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of
months in the determination period and the denominator of which
is 12. The board shall adopt rules adjusting this dollar limit to
incorporate cost-of-living adjustments authorized by the Internal
Revenue Service.
(18) 'System' means the Public Employees Retirement System.
SECTION 3. ORS 238A.115 is amended to read:
238A.115. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this
section, a member of the pension program becomes vested in the
pension program on the earliest of the following dates:
(a) The date on which the member completes at least
{ - 600 - } { + 1040 + } hours of service in each of five
calendar years. The five calendar years need not be consecutive,
but are subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this
section.
(b) The date on which an active member reaches the normal
retirement age for the member under ORS 238A.160.
(c) If the pension program is terminated, the date on which
termination becomes effective, but only to the extent the pension
program is then funded.
(2) If on the date that a person becomes an active member the
person has already reached the normal retirement age for the
person under ORS 238A.160, the person is vested in the pension
program on that date.
(3) If a member of the pension program who is not vested in the
pension program performs fewer than { - 600 - } { + 1040 + }
hours of service in each of five consecutive calendar years,
hours of service performed before the first calendar year of the
period of five consecutive calendar years shall be disregarded
for purposes of determining whether the member is vested under
subsection (1)(a) of this section.
(4) Solely for purposes of determining whether a member is
vested under this section, hours of service include creditable
service, as defined in ORS 238.005, performed by the person
before the person became an eligible employee, as long as the
membership of the person under ORS chapter 238 has not been
terminated under the provisions of ORS 238.095 on the date the
person becomes an eligible employee.
SECTION 4. ORS 238A.145 is amended to read:
238A.145. (1) A pension program member who is not vested
forfeits all retirement credit if the member performs fewer than
{ - 600 - } { + 1040 + } hours of service in each of five
consecutive calendar years. A forfeiture under this section takes
effect at the end of the fifth calendar year.
(2) If a pension program member forfeits retirement credit
under this section and is subsequently reemployed by a
participating public employer:
(a) The person may acquire retirement credit under the pension
program only for the purpose of service performed after the
person is reemployed; and
(b) Any service performed before the forfeiture may not be
credited toward the period of service required by ORS 238A.100 or
238A.115, or toward the accrual of retirement credit under ORS
238A.140, 238A.150 or 238A.155.
SECTION 5. ORS 238A.320 is amended to read:
238A.320. (1) A member of the individual account program
becomes vested in the employee account established for the member
under ORS 238A.350 (2) on the date the employee account is
established.
(2) A member who makes rollover contributions becomes vested in
the rollover account established for the member under ORS
238A.350 (4) on the date the rollover account is established.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, if an
employer makes employer contributions for a member under ORS
238A.340 the member becomes vested in the employer account
established under ORS 238A.350 (3) on the earliest of the
following dates:
(a) The date on which the member completes at least
{ - 600 - } { + 1040 + } hours of service in each of five
calendar years. The five calendar years need not be consecutive,
but are subject to the provisions of subsection (5) of this
section.
(b) The date on which an active member reaches the normal
retirement age for the member under ORS 238A.160.
(c) If the individual account program is terminated, the date
on which termination becomes effective, but only to the extent
the account is then funded.
(d) The date on which an active member becomes disabled, as
described in ORS 238A.155 (5).
(e) The date on which an active member dies.
(4) If on the date that a person becomes an active member the
person has already reached the normal retirement age for the
person under ORS 238A.160, and the employer makes employer
contributions for the member under ORS 238A.340, the person is
vested in the employer account established under ORS 238A.350 (3)
on that date.
(5) If a member of the individual account program who is not
vested in the employer account performs fewer than { - 600 - }
{ + 1040 + } hours of service in each of five consecutive
calendar years, hours of service performed before the first
calendar year of the period of five consecutive calendar years
shall be disregarded for purposes of determining whether the
member is vested under subsection (3)(a) of this section.
(6) Solely for purposes of determining whether a member is
vested under subsection (3)(a) of this section, hours of service
include creditable service, as defined in ORS 238.005, performed
by the person before the person became an eligible employee, as
long as the membership of the person under ORS chapter 238 has
not been terminated under the provisions of ORS 238.095 on the
date the person becomes an eligible employee.
SECTION 6. ORS 238.015 is amended to read:
238.015. (1) No person may become a member of the system unless
that person is in the service of a public employer and has
completed six months' service uninterrupted by more than 30
consecutive working days during the six months' period. Every
employee of a participating employer shall become a member of the
system at the beginning of the first full pay period of the
employee following the six months' period. Contributions for new
members shall first be made for those wages that are attributable
to services performed by the employee during the first full pay
period following the six months' period, without regard to when
those wages are considered earned for other purposes under this
chapter. All public employers participating in the Public
Employees Retirement System established by chapter 401, Oregon
Laws 1945, as amended, at the time of repeal of that chapter, and
all school districts of the state, shall participate in, and
their employees shall be members of, the system, except as
otherwise specifically provided by law.
(2) Any active member of the Public Employees Retirement System
who, through the annexation of a political subdivision employing
the member or by change of employment, becomes the employee of
another political subdivision which is participating in the
Public Employees Retirement System and has also a separate
retirement system for its employees, shall remain an active
member of the Public Employees Retirement System unless, within
60 days after the effective date of the annexation or change of
employment or April 8, 1953, the member shall by written notice
to the Public Employees Retirement Board and to the
administrative body of the new public employer elect to
relinquish membership in the Public Employees Retirement System
and become a member of the separate retirement system of the
employer, if eligible for membership in that retirement system,
and the member shall be so carried by the new employer.
Immediately upon such annexation of any political subdivision or
such change of employment, the new public employer shall inform
such employee in writing of the right of the employee to exercise
an election as in this section provided.
(3) A political subdivision (other than a school district) not
participating in the retirement system established by chapter
401, Oregon Laws 1945, as amended, which employs one or more
employees, each of whose position requires { - 600 - }
{ + 1040 + } hours of service per year, or an agency created by
two or more political subdivisions to provide themselves
governmental services, which employs one or more employees, each
of whose position requires
{ - 600 - } { + 1040 + } hours of service per year, may,
through its governing body, notify the board in writing, that it
elects to include its employees in the system hereby established.
Such public employer may request the board to make a study and
estimate of the cost of including it and its eligible employees,
other than volunteer firefighters, in the system, which the board
thereupon shall cause to be made and the cost of which the
employer shall bear. Upon completion of the study and estimate
the employer may apply for admission to the system, whereupon it
shall begin to participate therein and its eligible employees
other than volunteer firefighters shall become members of the
system. If the employer is an agency created by two or more
political subdivisions to provide themselves governmental
services and ceases thereafter to transmit to the board
contributions for any of its eligible employees, the benefits
based upon employer contributions to which such employees would
otherwise be entitled shall be reduced accordingly.
(4) No inmate of a state institution or an alien on a training
or educational visa working for any participating employer, even
though the inmate or alien received compensation from a
participating employer, shall be eligible to become a member of
the system. No person employed by a participating employer and
defined by such employer as a student employee is eligible to
become a member of the system for such student employment.
(5) A person holding an elective office or an appointive office
with a fixed term or an office as head of a department to which
the person is appointed by the Governor may become a member of
the system by giving the board written notice of desire to do so
within 30 days after taking the office or, in the event that the
officer is not eligible to become a member of the system at the
time of taking the office, within 30 days after becoming so
eligible. Membership so established shall not be discontinued
during the appointive or elective term of the officer except upon
separation of the officer from service.
(6) A public employer employing volunteer firefighters may
apply to the board at any time for them to become members of the
system. Upon receiving the application the board shall fix a wage
at which, for purposes of this chapter only, they shall be
considered to be employed and which shall be the basis for
computing the amounts of the contributions, if any, which they
pay into, and of the benefits which they and their beneficiaries
receive from, the fund; and if the wage so fixed is satisfactory
to the employer, shall include the firefighters in the system.
(7)(a) In the event that an employee enters the service of a
public employer which is participating in or later begins to
participate in the system and in the event that at the time of
entering that service or at the time that the employer begins to
participate in the system the employee has commenced to purchase
and is continuing to purchase a retirement annuity, if the
employer deems the annuity adequate for the purposes of this
chapter, it may enter into an agreement with the employee and the
board pursuant to which the employee may be exempted from
contributing to the Public Employees Retirement Fund, and, if no
public funds are being used to purchase the annuity or a
corresponding pension, the employer, in lieu of the contributions
which it otherwise would make to the fund on account of the
employee, may make contributions toward the cost of purchasing
the annuity. Such employee otherwise shall be subject to the
provisions of this chapter, except that neither the employee nor
any person claiming under the employee shall receive any payments
from the retirement fund as service or disability allowance.
(b) An employee who enters into an agreement under paragraph
(a) of this subsection may elect at any time thereafter to start
to participate in the system by giving written notice of desire
to participate to the board and to the employer. The employee
shall receive no retirement credit for the period during which
the employee was exempted from contributing to the fund under the
agreement, but the employee shall be considered to have completed
the six months' service required for membership in the system.
When the employee starts to participate in the system the
employer shall start to contribute to the fund on account of the
employee in the same manner as the employer contributes on
account of other employees who are active members of the system
and the employer shall stop making contributions toward the cost
of purchasing the retirement annuity.
(8)(a) All new appointees in the Federal Cooperative Extension
Service or in any other service in which participation in the
Federal Civil Service retirement program is mandatory, who
receive a federal appointment on or after July 1, 1955, may
participate in the Public Employees Retirement System only by
giving written notice of their election to so participate to the
Public Employees Retirement Board within six months after the
effective date of their appointment.
(b) All persons employed by the Federal Cooperative Extension
Service or by any other service in which participation in the
Federal Civil Service retirement program is mandatory, who are
under federal appointment as of July 1, 1955, and who are members
of the state retirement system, shall continue such membership
unless, prior to February 1, 1956, they give written notice to
the Public Employees Retirement Board of their desire to cancel
their membership.
(c) Any person who is an active member of the Public Employees
Retirement System, who, on or after July 1, 1955, is employed by
the Federal Cooperative Extension Service or by any other service
in which participation in the Federal Civil Service retirement
program is mandatory, and who is given a federal appointment,
shall continue such membership in the Public Employees Retirement
System unless, within six months after the effective date of the
appointment, the person gives written notice to the Public
Employees Retirement Board of the desire to cancel membership.
(d) A cancellation of membership under paragraph (b) or (c) of
this subsection terminates membership in the Public Employees
Retirement System and cancels the right to any benefits from, or
claims against, that system. Such cancellation prevents the
withdrawing member from claiming thereafter any retirement credit
for any period of employment before the cancellation. Upon
receipt of a notice of cancellation, the Public Employees
Retirement Board shall refund the member account of the
withdrawing member, regardless of the age of the withdrawing
member.
(9) Employees, including managers, of foreign trade offices of
the Oregon Business Development Department who live and perform
services in foreign countries under the provisions of ORS
285A.075 (1)(g) shall not be members of the system. However, any
person who is an active member of the system immediately before
becoming an employee of a foreign trade office shall continue to
be a member of the system during the period of time the person
serves as an employee of the foreign trade office.
(10) An employee who is participating in an alternative
retirement program established pursuant to ORS 353.250 or an
optional retirement plan established pursuant to ORS 341.551 may
not be an active member of the Public Employees Retirement
System.
SECTION 7. { + ORS 238.074 and 238A.142 are repealed. + }
SECTION 8. { + The amendments to ORS 238.005, 238.015,
238A.005, 238A.115, 238A.145 and 238A.320 by sections 1 to 6 of
this 2013 Act and the repeal of ORS 238.074 and 238A.142 by
section 7 of this 2013 Act apply only to calendar years beginning
on and after the effective date of this 2013 Act. + }
SECTION 9. { + (1) Jurisdiction is conferred on the Supreme
Court to determine in the manner provided by this section whether
this 2013 Act breaches any contract between members of the Public
Employees Retirement System and their employers or violates any
constitutional provision, including but not limited to impairment
of contract rights of members of the Public Employees Retirement
System under Article I, section 21, of the Oregon Constitution,
or Article I, section 10, clause 1, of the United States
Constitution.
(2) A person who is or who will be adversely affected by this
2013 Act may institute a proceeding for review by filing with the
Supreme Court a petition that meets the following requirements:
(a) The petition must be filed within 60 days after the
effective date of this 2013 Act.
(b) The petition must include the following:
(A) A statement of the basis of the challenge; and
(B) A statement and supporting affidavit showing how the
petitioner is or will be adversely affected.
(3) The petitioner shall serve a copy of the petition by
registered or certified mail upon the Public Employees Retirement
Board, the Attorney General and the Governor.
(4) Proceedings for review under this section shall be given
priority over all other matters before the Supreme Court.
(5) The Supreme Court shall allow public employers
participating in the Public Employees Retirement System to
intervene in any proceeding under this section.
(6) In the event the Supreme Court determines that there are
factual issues in the petition, the Supreme Court may appoint a
special master to hear evidence and to prepare recommended
findings of fact. + }
SECTION 10. { + This 2013 Act being necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an
emergency is declared to exist, and this 2013 Act takes effect on
its passage. + }
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