Maryland 2022 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB742 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3		EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4		[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5		-	Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
6		-	Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
7		-	amendment.
8	5		hb0742
9	6
10	7		HOUSE BILL 742
11	8		P6 2lr1815
12	9		CF SB 409
13	10		By: Delegate Lierman (Chair, Joint Committee on Pensions)
14	11		Introduced and read first time: February 3, 2022
15	12		Assigned to: Appropriations
16		-	Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
17		-	House action: Adopted
18		-	Read second time: February 25, 2022
19	13
20		-	~~CHAPTER ______~~
	14	+	A BILL ENTITLED
21	15
22	16		AN ACT concerning 1
23	17
24	18		State Retirement and Pension System – COVID–19–Related Death Benefits – 2
25	19		Sunset Extension 3
26	20
27	21		FOR the purpose of extending the termination dates of certain provisions clarifying the 4
28	22		eligibility of certain members of the State Retirement and Pension System for certain 5
29	23		death benefits; and generally relating to clarifying eligibility for certain death 6
30	24		benefits. 7
31	25
32	26		BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 8
33	27		Chapter 421 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2021 9
34		-	Section ~~2(b), (c), and (h)(2) and (3) and~~ 4 10
	28	+	Section 4 10
35	29
36	30		BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
37	31		Chapter 422 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2021 12
38		-	Section ~~2(b), (c), and (h)(2) and (3) and~~ 4 13
	32	+	Section 4 13
39	33
40	34		SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 14
41	35		That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 15
42	36
43	37		Chapter 421 of the Acts of 2021 16
44	38
45		-	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That: 17
	39	+	SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 17
	40	+	1, 2021. It shall remain effective for a period of [1 year] 2 YEARS and 1 month and, at the 18
	41	+	end of June 30, [2022] 2023, this Act, with no further action required by the General 19
	42	+	Assembly, shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect. 20
46	43
47		-	(b) This section applies to an individual: 18
48		-	2 HOUSE BILL 742
	44	+	Chapter 422 of the Acts of 2021 21
	45	+
	46	+	SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 22
	47	+	1, 2021. It shall remain effective for a period of [1 year] 2 YEARS and 1 month and, at the 23 2 HOUSE BILL 742
49	48
50	49
51		-	(1) who was a member; 1
	50	+	end of June 30, [2022] 2023, this Act, with no further action required by the General 1
	51	+	Assembly, shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect. 2
52	52
53		-	(2) who died while employed as a member on or after March 5, 2020, but 2
54		-	before July 1, [2022] 2023; and 3
55		-
56		-	(3) whose death was caused by COVID–19 or whose death was contributed 4
57		-	to by COVID–19. 5
58		-
59		-	(c) When determining eligibility for a special death benefit under this section, the 6
60		-	Board shall accept as proof, subject to a rebuttable presumption, that the death of a member 7
61		-	arose out of or in the course of the actual performance of duty if: 8
62		-
63		-	(1) the member reported to the member’s usual work location or to an 9
64		-	alternative work location provided by the member’s employer that is not the member’s 10
65		-	home; 11
66		-
67		-	(2) the member contracted COVID–19 within 14 days after reporting to 12
68		-	work, as documented in accordance with subsection (d)(1) of this section; 13
69		-
70		-	(3) the member died on or after March 5, 2020, but before July 1, [2022] 14
71		-	2023; and 15
72		-
73		-	(4) COVID–19 was the cause of death or contributed to the cause of death 16
74		-	of the member, as documented in accordance with subsection (d)(2) of this section. 17
75		-
76		-	(h) (2) The State Retirement Agency shall report to the Joint Committee on 18
77		-	Pensions, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on the number of 19
78		-	special death benefits that have been provided for deaths caused by or contributed to by 20
79		-	COVID–19: 21
80		-
81		-	(i) on or before September 15, 2021, for any benefits awarded on or 22
82		-	after June 1, 2021, but before September 1, 2021; 23
83		-
84		-	(ii) on or before December 15, 2021, for any benefits awarded on or 24
85		-	after September 1, 2021, but before December 1, 2021; 25
86		-
87		-	(iii) on or before March 15, 2022, for any benefits awarded on or after 26
88		-	December 1, 2021, but before March 1, 2022; [and] 27
89		-
90		-	(iv) on or before June 15, 2022, for any benefits awarded on or after 28
91		-	March 1, 2022, but before June 1, 2022; AND 29
92		-
93		-	(V) ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2022, FOR ANY BENEFITS 30
94		-	AWARDED ON OR AFTER JUNE 1, 2022, BUT BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2022. 31
95		-	HOUSE BILL 742 3
96		-
97		-
98		-	(3) On or before December 1, 2021, AND DECEMBER 1, 2022, in 1
99		-	accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the State Retirement Agency 2
100		-	shall report to the Joint Committee on Pensions on: 3
101		-
102		-	(i) the number of applications for special death benefits for deaths 4
103		-	caused by or contributed to by COVID–19 that have been denied; and 5
104		-
105		-	(ii) an aggregate summary of the reasons for which any applications 6
106		-	reported under item (i) of this paragraph were denied. 7
107		-
108		-	SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 8
109		-	1, 2021. It shall remain effective for a period of [1 year] 2 YEARS and 1 month and, at the 9
110		-	end of June 30, [2022] 2023, this Act, with no further action required by the General 10
111		-	Assembly, shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect. 11
112		-
113		-	Chapter 422 of the Acts of 2021 12
114		-
115		-	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That: 13
116		-
117		-	(b) This section applies to an individual: 14
118		-
119		-	(1) who was a member; 15
120		-
121		-	(2) who died while employed as a member on or after March 5, 2020, but 16
122		-	before July 1, [2022] 2023; and 17
123		-
124		-	(3) whose death was caused by COVID–19 or whose death was contributed 18
125		-	to by COVID–19. 19
126		-
127		-	(c) When determining eligibility for a special death benefit under this section, the 20
128		-	Board shall accept as proof, subject to a rebuttable presumption, that the death of a member 21
129		-	arose out of or in the course of the actual performance of duty if: 22
130		-
131		-	(1) the member reported to the member’s usual work location or to an 23
132		-	alternative work location provided by the member’s employer that is not the member’s 24
133		-	home; 25
134		-
135		-	(2) the member contracted COVID–19 within 14 days after reporting to 26
136		-	work, as documented in accordance with subsection (d)(1) of this section; 27
137		-
138		-	(3) the member died on or after March 5, 2020, but before July 1, [2022] 28
139		-	2023; and 29
140		-
141		-	(4) COVID–19 was the cause of death or contributed to the cause of death 30
142		-	of the member, as documented in accordance with subsection (d)(2) of this section. 31
143		-	4 HOUSE BILL 742
144		-
145		-
146		-	(h) (2) The State Retirement Agency shall report to the Joint Committee on 1
147		-	Pensions, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on the number of 2
148		-	special death benefits that have been provided for deaths caused by or contributed to by 3
149		-	COVID–19: 4
150		-
151		-	(i) on or before September 15, 2021, for any benefits awarded on or 5
152		-	after June 1, 2021, but before September 1, 2021; 6
153		-
154		-	(ii) on or before December 15, 2021, for any benefits awarded on or 7
155		-	after September 1, 2021, but before December 1, 2021; 8
156		-
157		-	(iii) on or before March 15, 2022, for any benefits awarded on or after 9
158		-	December 1, 2021, but before March 1, 2022; [and] 10
159		-
160		-	(iv) on or before June 15, 2022, for any benefits awarded on or after 11
161		-	March 1, 2022, but before June 1, 2022; AND 12
162		-
163		-	(V) ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2022, FOR ANY BENEFITS 13
164		-	AWARDED ON OR AFTER JUNE 1, 2022, BUT BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2022. 14
165		-
166		-	(3) On or before December 1, 2021, AND DECEMBER 1, 2022, in 15
167		-	accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the State Retirement Agency 16
168		-	shall report to the Joint Committee on Pensions on: 17
169		-
170		-	(i) the number of applications for special death benefits for deaths 18
171		-	caused by or contributed to by COVID–19 that have been denied; and 19
172		-
173		-	(ii) an aggregate summary of the reasons for which any applications 20
174		-	reported under item (i) of this paragraph were denied. 21
175		-
176		-	SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 22
177		-	1, 2021. It shall remain effective for a period of [1 year] 2 YEARS and 1 month and, at the 23
178		-	end of June 30, [2022] 2023, this Act, with no further action required by the General 24
179		-	Assembly, shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect. 25
180		-
181		-	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 26
182		-	1, 2022. 27
183		-
	53	+	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 3
	54	+	1, 2022. 4