Maryland 2024 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1058 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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	5	hb1058
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 1058
8	8	P6 4lr3264
9	9	CF 4lr3054
10	10	By: Delegate Young
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 7, 2024
12	12	Assigned to: Appropriations
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System – Participating Governmental Units 2
19	19	– Baltimore City School Police Force 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of authorizing membership in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension 4
22	22	System for certain employees of the Baltimore City School Police Force under certain 5
23	23	circumstances; and generally relating to membership in the Law Enforcement 6
24	24	Officers’ Pension System. 7
25	25
26	26	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 8
27	27	Article – Education 9
28	28	Section 4–303(a) and (d)(4) and 4–318(a), (b), and (c) 10
29	29	Annotated Code of Maryland 11
30	30	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 12
31	31
32	32	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 13
33	33	Article – Public Safety 14
34	34	Section 1–101(a) and (c)(1)(i) and (ii)3. 15
35	35	Annotated Code of Maryland 16
36	36	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 17
37	37
38	38	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 18
39	39	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 19
40	40	Section 26–201(a)(22) and (23) and 31–2A–02 20
41	41	Annotated Code of Maryland 21
42	42	(2015 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 22
43	43
44	44	BY adding to 23
45	45	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 24
46	46	Section 26–201(a)(24) 25
47	47	Annotated Code of Maryland 26
48	48	(2015 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 27 2 HOUSE BILL 1058
49	49
50	50
51	51
52	52	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 1
53	53	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 2
54	54	Section 31–2A–01, 31–2A–03, 31–2A–03.1, 31–2A–04, and 31–2A–05 3
55	55	Annotated Code of Maryland 4
56	56	(2015 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 5
57	57
58	58	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 6
59	59	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 7
60	60
61	61	Article – Education 8
62	62
63	63	4–303. 9
64	64
65	65	(a) In order to establish a new partnership between the City of Baltimore and the 10
66	66	State to improve the quality of public education in Baltimore City and to encourage more 11
67	67	efficient use of the resources of the State and Baltimore City, the Baltimore City Board of 12
68	68	School Commissioners is established in accordance with the provisions of this subtitle. 13
69	69
70	70	(d) (4) The board may not be deemed an agency of the State. 14
71	71
72	72	4–318. 15
73	73
74	74	(a) In this section, “Baltimore City school police officer” means any person who, 16
75	75	when acting in an official capacity, is authorized by law to make arrests and who is a 17
76	76	member of the Baltimore City School Police Force. 18
77	77
78	78	(b) There is a Baltimore City School Police Force. 19
79	79
80	80	(c) The members of the Baltimore City School Police Force shall be employees of 20
81	81	and be appointed by the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners. 21
82	82
83	83	Article – Public Safety 22
84	84
85	85	1–101. 23
86	86
87	87	(a) In this article the following words have the meanings indicated. 24
88	88
89	89	(c) (1) “Law enforcement officer” means an individual who: 25
90	90
91	91	(i) in an official capacity is authorized by law to make arrests; and 26
92	92
93	93	(ii) is a member of one of the following law enforcement agencies: 27
94	94
95	95	3. the Baltimore City School Police Force; 28
96	96
97	97	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 29 HOUSE BILL 1058 3
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101	26–201. 1
102	102
103	103	(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this subtitle applies only 2
104	104	to: 3
105	105
106	106	(22) the Executive Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis 4
107	107	Commission, only if the Executive Director is a sworn police officer with the powers granted 5
108	108	to an officer or employee of the Field Enforcement Division under § 1–313 of the Alcoholic 6
109	109	Beverages and Cannabis Article; [and] 7
110	110
111	111	(23) an emergency medical technician employed by a participating 8
112	112	governmental unit who is eligible to be a member as provided in Title 31, Subtitle 2A of 9
113	113	this article; AND 10
114	114
115	115	(24) A BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOL POLICE OF FICER OF THE BALTIMORE 11
116	116	CITY SCHOOL POLICE FORCE WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO BE A MEMBER AS PR OVIDED IN 12
117	117	TITLE 31, SUBTITLE 2A OF THIS ARTICLE . 13
118	118
119	119	31–2A–01. 14
120	120
121	121	(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 15
122	122
123	123	(b) “Effective date” means the date that an eligible governmental unit commenced 16
124	124	or commences participation in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System. 17
125	125
126	126	(c) “Eligible governmental unit” means a governmental unit that is eligible to 18
127	127	participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System under § 31–2A–02 of this 19
128	128	subtitle. 20
129	129
130	130	(d) (1) “Emergency medical technician” means a paid emergency medical 21
131	131	technician, as determined by the eligible governmental unit. 22
132	132
133	133	(2) “Emergency medical technician” does not include a volunteer 23
134	134	emergency medical technician. 24
135	135
136	136	(e) (1) “Firefighter” means: 25
137	137
138	138	(i) a paid firefighter, as determined by the eligible governmental 26
139	139	unit; or 27
140	140
141	141	(ii) a paid paramedic, as determined by the eligible governmental 28
142	142	unit. 29
143	143
144	144	(2) “Firefighter” does not include: 30
145	145	4 HOUSE BILL 1058
146	146
147	147
148	148	(i) a volunteer firefighter; or 1
149	149
150	150	(ii) a volunteer paramedic. 2
151	151
152	152	(f) “Law enforcement officer” means an individual certified by the Maryland 3
153	153	Police Training and Standards Commission as a law enforcement officer. 4
154	154
155	155	(g) (1) “Local plan” means a plan or any other arrangement of an eligible 5
156	156	governmental unit that is described in § 219(g)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code. 6
157	157
158	158	(2) “Local plan” does not include a plan established under § 457 of the 7
159	159	Internal Revenue Code. 8
160	160
161	161	(h) “State system” has the meaning stated in § 20–101(pp) of this article. 9
162	162
163	163	31–2A–02. 10
164	164
165	165	Subject to § 31–2A–03 of this subtitle, the governmental units that are eligible to 11
166	166	participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System are: 12
167	167
168	168	(1) counties; [and] 13
169	169
170	170	(2) municipal corporations; AND 14
171	171
172	172	(3) THE BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOL POLICE FORCE. 15
173	173
174	174	31–2A–03. 16
175	175
176	176	(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the legislative body of an eligible 17
177	177	governmental unit may approve participation by its law enforcement officers, firefighters, 18
178	178	or emergency medical technicians in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System if: 19
179	179
180	180	(1) the legislative body adopts a resolution in the form prescribed by the 20
181	181	Board of Trustees; and 21
182	182
183	183	(2) the eligible governmental unit participates in a State system or 22
184	184	operates a local plan, only if: 23
185	185
186	186	(i) at least 60% of the law enforcement officers, firefighters, or 24
187	187	emergency medical technicians of the eligible governmental unit petition to become 25
188	188	members of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System; 26
189	189
190	190	(ii) the eligible governmental unit satisfies the requirements in 27
191	191	subsection (b) of this section; and 28
192	192	HOUSE BILL 1058 5
193	193
194	194
195	195	(iii) the legislative body approves participation of its law enforcement 1
196	196	officers, firefighters, or emergency medical technicians in lieu of participation in the State 2
197	197	system or local plan. 3
198	198
199	199	(b) An eligible governmental unit that operates a local plan or participates in a 4
200	200	State system may approve participation of its law enforcement officers, firefighters, or 5
201	201	emergency medical technicians in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System only if: 6
202	202
203	203	(1) the State system or local plan of the eligible governmental unit requires 7
204	204	member contributions at the same rate as the member contribution rate that would be 8
205	205	applicable to the law enforcement officers, firefighters, or emergency medical technicians 9
206	206	of the eligible governmental unit in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System; or 10
207	207
208	208	(2) the eligible governmental unit: 11
209	209
210	210	(i) does not provide for the employer pickup of member 12
211	211	contributions to the State system or local plan within the meaning of § 414(h)(2) of the 13
212	212	Internal Revenue Code; and 14
213	213
214	214	(ii) certifies that it will not become an approved employer under § 15
215	215	21–313 of this article on or after the effective date of participation. 16
216	216
217	217	(c) (1) If an eligible governmental unit does not satisfy the requirements 17
218	218	under subsection (b) of this section, the eligible governmental unit may submit a request to 18
219	219	the Board of Trustees to participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System. 19
220	220
221	221	(2) The Board of Trustees shall consider a request made under paragraph 20
222	222	(1) of this subsection and determine whether any legislation is necessary to allow the 21
223	223	eligible governmental unit to participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System. 22
224	224
225	225	(3) The Board of Trustees shall make recommendations to the Joint 23
226	226	Committee on Pensions regarding any legislation that it determines is necessary to allow 24
227	227	the eligible governmental unit to participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension 25
228	228	System. 26
229	229
230	230	31–2A–03.1. 27
231	231
232	232	(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the effective date of 28
233	233	participation for an eligible governmental unit is July 1 of the year following the fiscal year 29
234	234	in which the eligible governmental unit elects to participate in the Law Enforcement 30
235	235	Officers’ Pension System. 31
236	236
237	237	(b) If an eligible governmental unit does not provide the Board of Trustees with 32
238	238	the necessary documentation to join the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System on or 33
239	239	before the effective date for the eligible governmental unit, the effective date shall be 34
240	240	postponed until July 1 of the second year following the fiscal year in which the eligible 35
241	241	governmental unit elects to participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System. 36 6 HOUSE BILL 1058
242	242
243	243
244	244
245	245	31–2A–04. 1
246	246
247	247	If a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic 2
248	248	joins the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System on the effective date, the member is 3
249	249	entitled to credit for employment with the participating governmental unit before the 4
250	250	effective date. 5
251	251
252	252	31–2A–05. 6
253	253
254	254	(a) This section applies only to a local plan that is a qualified plan under § 401(a) 7
255	255	of the Internal Revenue Code and provides a defined benefit to its participants. 8
256	256
257	257	(b) If an eligible governmental unit approves participation in the Law 9
258	258	Enforcement Officers’ Pension System, the operation of the local plan or State system with 10
259	259	respect to the law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or 11
260	260	paramedics terminates on the effective date. 12
261	261
262	262	(c) (1) On the effective date: 13
263	263
264	264	(i) the assets to the credit of the local plan or State system that 14
265	265	relate to the law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or 15
266	266	paramedics who elect to become members shall be transferred to the Law Enforcement 16
267	267	Officers’ Pension System; and 17
268	268
269	269	(ii) the trustee or other administrative head of the local plan or State 18
270	270	system shall certify the proportion of the funds of the local plan or State system that 19
271	271	represents the accumulated contributions of the members as of that date. 20
272	272
273	273	(2) The accumulated contributions shall be credited to the respective 21
274	274	annuity savings accounts of the members in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension 22
275	275	System. 23
276	276
277	277	(3) The balance of the funds transferred to the Law Enforcement Officers’ 24
278	278	Pension System shall be offset against the special accrued liability to be funded by the 25
279	279	participating governmental unit as provided by § 21–306.1(d) of this article. 26
280	280
281	281	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 27
282	282	1, 2024. 28
283	283