RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 1 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 SENATE FLOOR VERSION April 13, 2022 ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL NO. 2745 By: Ford and Davis of the House and Pugh of the Senate [ public retirement systems - disability benefit computations - effective dates ] BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 62 O.S. 2021, Section 3103, is amended to read as follows: Section 3103. As used in the Oklahoma Pension Legislation Actuarial Analysis Act: 1. "Amendment" means any amendment, including a substitute bill, made to a retirement bill by any commi ttee of the House or Senate, any conference committee of the House or Senate or by the House or Senate; 2. "RB number" means that number preceded by the let ters "RB" assigned to a retirement bill by the respective staffs of the Oklahoma State Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives when the respective staff office prepares a retirement bill for a member of the Legislature; RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 2 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 3. "Legislative Actuary" means the firm or entity th at enters into a contract with the Legislative Service Bureau pursuant to Section 452.15 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes to provide the actuarial services and other duties provided for in the Oklahoma Pension Legislation Actu arial Analysis Act; 4. "Nonfiscal amendment" means an amendment to a retirement bill having a fiscal impact, which amendment does not change any factor of an actuarial investigation specified in subsection A of Section 3109 of this title; 5. "Nonfiscal retirement bill" means a retirement bill: a. which does not affect the cost or funding factors of a retirement system, b. which affects such factors only in a manner which does not: (1) grant a benefit increase under the retirement system affected by the bi ll, (2) create an actuarial accrued liability for or increase the actuarial accrued liability of the retirement system affected by the bill, or (3) increase the normal cost of the retirement system affected by the bill, c. which authorizes the purchase by an active member of the retirement system, at the actuarial cost for the purchase as computed pursuant to the statute in effect RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 3 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 on the effective date of the measure allowing such purchase, of years of service for purposes of reaching a normal retirement da te in the applicable retir ement system, but which cannot be used in order to compute the number of years o f service for purposes of computing the retirement benefit for the member, d. which provides for the computation of a service - connected disability ret irement benefit for member s of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System pursuant to Section 2-305 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes if the members were unable to complete twenty (20) years of service as a result of the disability, e. which requires membership in the define d benefit plan authorized by Section 901 et seq. of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes for persons whose first elected or appointed service occurs on or after November 1, 2018, if such persons had any prior service in the Oklahoma Public Employees Retiremen t System prior to November 1, 2015, f. which provides for a one-time increase in retirement benefits if the increase in retirement benefits is not a permanent increase in the gross annual retirement benefit payable to a member or beneficiary, occurs RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 4 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 only once pursuant to a single statutory authorization and does not exceed: (1) the lesser of two percent (2%) of the gross annual retirement benefit of the member or One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and requires that the benefit may only be provided if the fund ed ratio of the affected retirement system would not be less than sixty percent (60%) but not greater than eighty percent (80%) after the benefit increase is paid, (2) the lesser of two percent (2%) of the gross annual retirement benefit of the member or O ne Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00) and requires that the benefit may on ly be provided if the funded ratio of the affected retirement system would be greater than eighty percent (80%) but not greater than one hundred perce nt (100%) after the benefit increase is paid, (3) the lesser of two percent (2%) of the gross annual retirement benefit of the member or One Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($1,400.00) and requires that the benefit may only be provided if the funded ratio of the affected retirement RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 5 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 system would be greater than one hundred percent (100%) after the benefit increas e is paid, or (4) the greater of two percent (2%) of the gross annual retirement benefit of the volunteer firefighter or One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for persons who retired f rom the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System as volunteer firefighters and who did not retire from the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System as a paid firefighter. As used in this subparagraph, "funded ratio" means the figure derived by dividing the actuarial value of assets of the applicable retirement sy stem by the actuarial accrued liability of the applicable retirement system, g. which modifies the disability pension standard for police officers who are members of the Oklaho ma Police Pension and Retirement System as provi ded by Section 3 of this act 50-115 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or h. which provides a cost-of-living benefit increase pursuant to the provisions of Sections 2 through 7 of this act: RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 6 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (1) Section 49-143.7 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes, (2) Section 50-136.9 of Title 11 of the Okl ahoma Statutes, (3) Section 1104K of Title 20 of the Oklahoma Statutes, (4) Section 2-305.12 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, (5) Section 17-116.22 of Title 70 of t he Oklahoma Statutes, or (6) Section 930.11 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. A nonfiscal retirement bill shall include any retirement bill that has as its sole purpose the appropriation or distribution or redistribution of monies in some manner to a retirement system for purposes of reducing the unfunded liability of such system or the earmarking of a portion of the revenue from a tax to a retirement system or increasing the percentage of the revenue earmarked from a tax to a retirement system; 6. "Reduction-in-cost amendment" means an amendment to a retirement bill having a fiscal impact wh ich reduces the cost of the bill as such cost is determined b y the actuarial investigation for the bill prepared pursuant to Section 3109 of this title; RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 7 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 7. "Retirement bill" means any bill or joint resolution introduced or any bill or joint resolution ame nded by a member of the Oklahoma Legislature which creates or amends any law directly affecting a retirement system. A retirement bill shall not mean a bill or resolution that impacts the revenue of any state tax in which a portion of the revenue generate d from such tax is earmarked for the benefit of a retirement system; 8. "Retirement bill having a fiscal impact" means any retirement bill creating or establishing a retirement system and any other retirement bill other than a nonfiscal retirement bill; a nd 9. "Retirement system" means the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, the Uniform Retirement System for Jus tices and Judges, the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, the Oklahoma Poli ce Pension and Retirement System, the Oklahoma Law Enforcemen t Retirement System, or a retirement system established after January 1, 2006. SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2021, Section 50-115, is amended to read as follows: Section 50-115. A. The State Board is authorized to pay a disability benefit to a member of the System or a pension to the beneficiaries of such member eligible as herei nafter provided, not exceeding the accrued retir ement benefit of the member, except as otherwise provided in this article. Such disability benefit shall RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 8 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 be payable immediately upon determination of eligibility. Any preexisting condition identified at the time of any initial or subsequent membership sh all be used to offset the percentage of impairment to the whole person in determining any disability benefit. Once the initial disability benefit has been awarded by the Board on the basis of the percentage of impairment to the whole person, the member sh all have no further recourse to increase the awarded percentage of impairment. B. In order for any membe r to be eligible for any disability benefit, or the member's beneficiaries to be eligible for a pension , the member must have complied with any agreeme nt as to contributions by the member and oth er members to any funds of the System where said agreement has been made as provided by this article; and the State Board must find: 1. That the member incurred a permanent total disability or a permanent partial disability or died while in, and in conseq uence of, the performance of duty as an officer; or 2. That such member has served ten (10) years and incurred a permanent total disability or a permanent partial disability or has died from any cause. C. In the event of the death of any member who has b een awarded a disability benefit or is eligible therefor as p rovided in this article, the member's beneficiary shall be paid the benefit. RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 9 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 D. 1. As of the date of determination by the State Board that a member is physically or mentally disabled and that t he disability is permanent and partial or permanent and total as was incurred while in, and in consequence of, the performance or duty as an officer, the member sha ll be awarded a disability benefit on the basis of the percentage of impairment to the whole person, as defined by the most current standards of the impa irment as outlined in the "American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment", as provided in the following table or as prescribed by paragraph 2 of this subsection with respect to injuries sustained as a result of a violent a ct: 1% to 49% impairment to whole person = 50% of the normal disability benefit 50% to 74% impairment to whole person = 75% of the normal disability benefit 75% to 100% impairment to whole pers on = 100% of the normal disability benefit. 2. If an injury to a member results from a violent act as defined by this paragraph while in the performance of his or her duties as a police officer, the State Board shall make a determination that the member h as sustained a one-hundred-percent disability and shall make the benefit award in accordance with that standard. As used in this paragraph, "violent act" means a violent attack upon the member by means of a dang erous weapon, including, RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 10 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 but not limited to, a firearm, knife, automobile, explosive device or other dangerous weapon. In computing the disability benefit as provided by this paragraph, the System shall use the compensation paid to the highest paid nonsupervisory patrol officer in the employment of the municipality which employs the member who becomes disabled according to the standard prescribed by this paragraph or a one hundred percent (100%) disability ba sed on the member's final average salary whichev er computation results in the highest benefi t. E. If the participating municipality denies a disabled me mber the option of continuing employment instead of retiring on a disability pension, then the burden o f proof rests with the participating municipalit y to show cause to the State Board that there is no position as a sworn officer within the police departm ent of that municipality which the member can fill. F. Upon determination by the State Board that a me mber is physically or mentally disabled and that the disability is permanent and total and that the member has completed ten (10) years of credited service and is disabled by any cause, the member shall receive a disability benefit on the basis of the memb er's accrued retirement benefit. A permanent an d total impairment equates to one hundred percent (100%) of accrued retirement benefit. G. Upon determination by the State Board that a member is physically or mentally disabled and that the disability is pe rmanent and partial and that the member has comp leted ten (10) years of RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 11 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 credited service as a member and is disabled from any cause, the member shall be awarded a disability benefit on the basis of the member's years of credited service as a member and the percentage of impairment to the whole person, a s defined by the most current standards of the impairment as outlined in the "American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment", on the basis of the following table: 1% to 24% impaired = 25% of accrued retirement benefit 25% to 49% impaired = 50% of accrued retiremen t benefit 50% to 74% impaired = 75% of accrued retirement be nefit 75% to 99% impaired = 90% of accrued retirement benefit. H. Before making a finding as to the d isability of a member, the State Board shall req uire that, if the member is able, the member shall make a certificate as to the disability which shall be subscribed and sworn to by the member. It shall also require a certificate as to such disability to b e made by some physician licensed to practice in this state as selected by the State Board. The State Board may require other evidence of disability bef ore making the disability benefit. The salary of any such member shall continue while the member is so necessarily confined to such hospital bed or home and necessarily requires medical care or professional nursing on account of such sickness or disabilit y for a period of not more than six (6) months, after which said period the other provisions of this ar ticle may apply. The State Board, in RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 12 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 making disability benefits, shall act upon the written request of the member or without such request, if it deem it for the good of the police department. Any disability benefits shall cease when the member receiving same shall be restored to active service at a salary not less than three -fourths (3/4) of the member's average monthly salary. I. Any member of a police department of any municipality who, in the line of duty, has been exposed to hazardous substances, including but not limited to chemicals used in the manufacture of a controlled dangerous substa nce or chemicals resulting from the manufacture of a controll ed dangerous substance, or to blood-borne pathogens and who is later disabled from a condition that was the result of such exposure and that was not re vealed by the physical examination passed by the member upon entry into the System shall be presumed to have incurred such disability while performing the officer's duties unless the contrary is shown by comp etent evidence. The presumption created by this subsection shall have no application whatever to any workers' compensation claim or claims, and it shall not be applied or be relied upon in any way in workers' compensation proceedings. All compensation or benefits due to any member pursuant to the pres umption created by this subsection shall be paid solely by the system. J. If the requirements of Section 50-114.4 of this title are satisfied, a member who, by reason of disability, is separated from RBH No. 10791 SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2745 SFLR Page 13 (Bold face denotes Committee Amendments) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 service as a public safety officer with the member 's participating municipality, may elect to have payment made directly to the provider for qualified health in surance premiums by deduction from his or her monthly disability benefit, after December 31, 2006, in accordance with Section 402(l) of the Internal Re venue Code of 1986, as amended. SECTION 3. Section 1 of this act shall become effective October 1, 2022. SECTION 4. Section 2 of this act shall become effective November 1, 2022. COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS April 13, 2022 - DO PASS