General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6931
January Session, 2015 LCO No. 4355
*04355_______LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6931
January Session, 2015
LCO No. 4355
*04355_______LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING NEW MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES AND THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 7-425 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
The following words and phrases as used in this part, except as otherwise provided, shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Municipality" means any town, city, borough, school district, regional school district, taxing district, fire district, district department of health, probate district, housing authority, regional work force development board established under section 31-3k, regional emergency telecommunications center, tourism district established under section 10-397, flood commission or authority established by special act or regional council of governments;
(2) "Participating municipality" means any municipality that has accepted this part, as provided in section 7-427;
(3) "Legislative body" means, for towns having a town council, the council; for other towns, the selectmen; for cities, the common council or other similar body of officials; for boroughs, the warden and burgesses; for regional school districts, the regional board of education; for district departments of health, the board of the district; for probate districts, the judge of probate; for regional councils of governments, the council; for regional emergency telecommunications centers, a representative board; for tourism districts, the board of directors of such tourism district; and in all other cases the body authorized by the general statutes or by special act to make ordinances for the municipality;
(4) "Retirement Commission" means the State Retirement Commission created by chapter 66;
(5) "Member" means any regular employee or elective officer receiving pay from a participating municipality, and any regular employee of a free public library that receives part or all of its income from municipal appropriation, who has been included by such municipality in the pension plan as provided in section 7-427, but shall not include (A) any person who customarily works less than twenty hours a week if such person entered employment after September 30, 1969, (B) any police officer or firefighter who will attain the compulsory retirement age after less than five years of continuous service in fund B, (C) any teacher who is eligible for membership in the state teachers retirement system, (D) any person eligible for membership in any pension system established by or under the authority of any special act or of a charter adopted under the provisions of chapter 99, [or] (E) any person holding a position funded in whole or in part by the federal government as part of any public service employment program, on-the-job training program or work experience program, provided persons holding such federally funded positions on July 1, 1978, shall not be excluded from membership but may elect to receive a refund of their accumulated contributions without interest, or (F) any regular employee or elective officer receiving pay from a participating municipality, and any regular employee of a free public library that receives part or all of its income from municipal appropriation, who is hired on or after October 1, 2015;
(6) "Pay" means the salary, wages or earnings of an employee, including any payments received pursuant to chapter 568 and the money value as determined by the Retirement Commission of any board, lodging, fuel or laundry provided for such employee by the municipality but not including any fees or allowances for expenses;
(7) "Fund" and "fund B" means the Connecticut Municipal Employees' Retirement Fund B;
(8) "Continuous service" and "service" means active service as a member, or active service prior to becoming a member if such service (A) was in a department for which participation was subsequently accepted and not subsequently withdrawn, (B) was continuous to the date of becoming a member except service for which credit is granted pursuant to section 7-436a, and (C) would have been as a member if the department had then been participating, all subject to the provisions of section 7-434;
(9) "System" means the Old Age and Survivors Insurance System under Title II of the Social Security Act, as amended;
(10) "Social Security Act" means the Act of Congress, approved August 14, 1935, Chapter 531, 49 Stat. 620, officially cited as the Social Security Act, including regulations and requirements issued pursuant thereto, as such act has been and may from time to time be amended;
(11) "Regional emergency telecommunications center" means any entity authorized by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection as a public safety answering point responsible for the receipt and processing of 9-1-1 calls for at least three municipalities.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Defined contribution plan" or "plan" means an employee retirement plan described in Section 401(k) or 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, or a governmental deferred compensation plan described in Section 457 of said Internal Revenue Code, or a payroll deduction Individual Retirement Account plan described in Section 408 or 408A of said Internal Revenue Code;
(2) "Employee" means any regular employee or elective officer receiving pay from a participating municipality, and any regular employee of a free public library that receives part or all of its income from municipal appropriation;
(3) "Member" means "member" as defined in section 7-425 of the general statutes, as amended by this act; and
(4) "Retirement Commission" means the State Retirement Commission created by chapter 66 of the general statutes.
(b) Not later than October 1, 2015, the Retirement Commission shall identify a defined contribution plan or plans that may be offered by a municipality to any employee hired on or after October 1, 2015, and to any member, provided such plan has been subject to collective bargaining between such municipality and any labor organization representing such employee or member.
(c) The provisions of the defined contribution plan or plans shall be as determined by the Retirement Commission.
(d) Any municipality participating in the Municipal Employees' Retirement Fund shall have the option of adopting the defined contribution plan or plans for its members. Such adoption shall be in a manner prescribed by the Retirement Commission.
(e) Any municipality that offers a defined contribution plan or plans to its employees or members shall be relieved of liability for the investment decisions made by the municipality on behalf of any participating employee or member under an automatic contribution arrangement, provided:
(1) The plan or plans allow the employee or member at least quarterly opportunities to select investments for the employee's contributions between investment alternatives available under the plan or plans;
(2) The employee or member is given notice of the investment decisions that will be made in the absence of the employee's direction, a description of all the investment alternatives available under the plan or plans and a brief description of procedures available for the employee to change investments; and
(3) The employee or member is given at least annual notice of the actual investments made on behalf of the employee under the plan or plans.
(f) Nothing in this section shall modify any existing responsibility of a municipality or any plan officials for the selection of investment funds for employees or members.
(g) The Labor Commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section.
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish or impair the rights of any person under any collective bargaining agreement.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 from passage 7-425
Sec. 2 from passage New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
from passage
7-425
Sec. 2
from passage
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To lessen the financial burdens on municipalities by providing defined contribution retirement plans for municipal employees hired on or after October 1, 2015.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]