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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
April 9, 2024
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL NO. 1824 By: May and Munson of the House
and
Stephens of the Senate
[ public retirement systems - Oklahoma Firefighters
Pension and Retirement System - Oklahoma Police
Pension and Retirement System – Oklahoma Law
Enforcement Retirement System - death benefit amounts
– Oklahoma Pension Legislation Actuarial Analysis Act
– definitions - effective dates ]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2021, Section 49 -113.2, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 49-113.2. A. Upon the death of an active or retired
member, the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System
shall pay to the surviv ing spouse of the member if the surviving
spouse has been married to the firefighter for thirty (30)
continuous months preceding the member ’s death provided a surviving
spouse of a member who d ied while in, or as a consequence of, the
performance of the me mber’s duty for a participating municipality
shall not be subject to the marriage limitation for survivor
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benefits, or if there is no surviving spouse or no surviving spouse
meeting the requirements of this section, the System shall pay to
the designated recipient or recipients of the member, or if there is
no designated recipient or if the designated recipient predeceases
the member, to the estate of the member, the sum of Four Thousand
Dollars ($4,000.00) for those active or retired members who died
prior to July 1, 1999. For those active or retired members who die
on or after July 1, 1999, but prior to the effective date of this
act, the sum shall be Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00). For those
active or retired members who die on or after the effective date of
this act, the sum shall be Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars
($7,500.00).
B. Upon the death of a member who dies leaving no living
designated recipient or having designated the memb er’s estate as
recipient, the System may pay any applicable dea th benefit which may
be subject to probate, in an amount of Five Thousand Dollars
($5,000.00), to the heir or heirs of the member without the
intervention of a probate court or probate procedures. For a death
benefit paid on or after the effective date of this act pursuant to
this subsection, the amount of such benefit shall be Seven Thousand
Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500.00).
C. Before any applicable probate procedure may be waived, the
System must be in receipt of the member ’s proof of death and the
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following documents from those persons claiming to be the legal
heirs of the deceased member:
1. The member’s last will and testament if available;
2. An affidavit or affidavits of heirship which must contain:
a. the names and signatures of all claiming heir s to the
deceased member’s estate including the claiming heirs ’
names, relationship to the deceased member, current
addresses and current telephone numbers,
b. a statement or statements by the claiming heirs that
no application or petition for the appointm ent of a
personal representative is pending or has been granted
in any jurisdiction,
c. a statement that the value of the deceased member ’s
entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances,
does not exceed the dollar limit pursuant to Section
393 of Title 58 of the Oklahoma Statutes, including
the payment of benefits from the System, and
d. a statement by each individual claiming heir
identifying the amount of personal property that the
heir is claiming from the System or the amount the
heir agrees to be paid to another person, and that the
heir has been notified of, is aware of and consents to
the identified claims of all the other claiming heirs
of the deceased member pending with the System;
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3. A written agreement or agreements signed by all claiming
heirs of the deceased member which provides that the claiming heirs
release, discharge and hold harmless the System from any and all
liability, obligations and costs which it may incur as a resu lt of
making a payment to any of the deceased member ’s heirs;
4. A corroborating affidavit from an individual other than a
claiming heir, who was familiar with the affairs of the deceased
member; and
5. Proof that funeral and burial expenses of the deceased
member have been paid or provided for.
D. The System shall retain complete discretion in determining
which requests for probate waiver may be granted or denied, for any
reason. Should the System have any questions as to the validity of
any document presented by the claiming heirs, or as to any statement
or assertion contained therein, the probate requirements provided
for in Section 1 et seq. of Title 58 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall
not be waived.
E. After paying any death benefits to any claiming heirs as
provided pursuant to this section, the System is disch arged and
released from any and all liability, obligation and costs to the
same extent as if the System had paid a personal representative
holding valid letters testamentary issued by a court o f competent
jurisdiction. The System is not required to inquir e into the truth
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of any matter specified in this section or into the payment of any
estate tax liability.
F. The provisions of this section shall not be subject to
qualified domestic orders as provided in subsection B of Section 49 -
126 of this title.
G. 1. For purposes of this section, if a person makes a
qualified disclaimer with respect to the death benefit provided for
in subsection A of this section, this section shall apply with
respect to such death benefit as if the death benefit had never been
transferred to such person.
2. For purposes of this subsection, the term “qualified
disclaimer” means an irrevocable and unqualified refusal by a
person, including but not limited to the surviving spouse of the
deceased member, to accept an interest in the death benefit provided
for in subsection A of this section, but only if:
a. such refusal is in writing,
b. such writing is received by the System not later than
the date which is nine (9) month s after the date of
death of the deceased member,
c. such person has not accepted the death benefit
provided for in subsection A of this section, and
d. as a result of such refusal, the death benefit
provided for in subsection A of this section passes
without any direction on the part of the person making
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the disclaimer and passes first, to the organization
providing funeral and burial services for the deceased
member or, if the cost of the funeral and burial
services for the deceased member has already bee n
paid, to the person or persons other than the person
making the disclaimer as further provided for in this
section.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2021, Section 50 -115.2, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 50-115.2. Upon the death of an active or retired
member, the Oklahoma Police Pens ion and Retirement System shall pay
to the beneficiary of the member under paragraph 13 of Section 50 -
101 of this title or if there is no such beneficiary or if such
beneficiary predeceases the member, to the member ’s estate or, if
properly designated by t he member, to a trust, the sum of Four
Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00) as a death benefit for those active or
retired members who died prior to July 1, 1999. For those active or
retired members who die on or after July 1, 1999, but prior to the
effective date of this act, the sum shall be Five Thousand Dollars
($5,000.00). For those active or retired members who die on or
after the effective date of this act, the sum shall be Seven
Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500.00).
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 47 O.S. 2021, Section 2 -306.3, is
amended to read as follows:
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Section 2-306.3. Upon the death of an active or retired member,
the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System shall pay to the
designated beneficiary of the member as defined in paragraph 17 of
Section 2-300 of this title or if there is no such designated
beneficiary or if such designated beneficiary predeceases the
member, to the estate of the member, the sum of Four Thousand
Dollars ($4,000.00) as a death benefit for those activ e or retired
members who died prior to July 1, 1999. For those active or retired
members who die on or after July 1, 1999, but prior to the effective
date of this act, the sum shall be Five Thousand Dollars
($5,000.00). For those active or retired member s who die on or
after the effective date of this act, the sum shall be Seven
Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500.00).
SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 62 O.S. 2021, Section 310 3, as
last amended by Section 1, Chapter 306, O.S.L. 2022 (62 O .S. Supp.
2023, 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 committee of the House of
Representatives 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 letters “RB”
assigned to a retirement bill by the respective staffs of the
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Oklahoma State Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives when
the respective staff office prepares a retirement bill for a member
of the Legislature;
3. “Legislative Actuary” means the firm or entity that 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 Actuarial 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 f actors 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 bill,
(2) create an actuarial accrued liability for or
increase the actuarial accrued lia bility of the
retirement system affected by the bill, or
(3) increase the normal cost of the retirement system
affected by the bill,
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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
on the effective date of the measure allowing such
purchase, of years of service for purposes of reaching
a normal retirement date in the applicable ret irement
system, but which cannot be used in order to compute
the number of years of service for purposes of
computing the retirement benefit for the member,
d. which provides for the computation of a service -
connected disability retirement benefit for members 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 defi ned 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 Retirement System prior to November
1, 2015,
f. which provides for a o ne-time increase in retirement
benefits if the increase in retirement benefits is not
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a permanent increase in the gross annual retirement
benefit payable to a member or beneficiary, occurs
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 funded
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 One
Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00) and
requires that the benefit may only be provided if
the funded ratio of the affected retirement
system would be greater than eighty percent (80%)
but not greater than one hundred percent (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
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the funded ratio of the affected retirement
system would be greater than one hundred percent
(100%) after the benefit increase 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 from the Oklahoma
Firefighters Pension and Retirement System a s
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 system 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 Oklahoma Police
Pension and Retirement System as provided by Section 3
of this act Section 50-115 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma
Statutes,
h. which provides a cost -of-living benefit increase
pursuant to the provisions of:
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(1) Section 49-143.7 of Title 11 of the O klahoma
Statutes,
(2) Section 50-136.9 of Title 11 of the Oklah oma
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 the Oklahoma
Statutes, and
(6) Section 930.11 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma
Statutes, or
i. which modifies the computation of the line -of-duty
disability benefit pursuant to the provisions of this
act this section and Sections 50 -101 and 50-115 of
Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or
j. which provides for an increase in the death benefit
for active or retired members of the Oklahoma
Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Oklahoma
Police Pension and Retirement System, or Oklahoma Law
Enforcement Retirement System pursuant to Sections 1
through 3 of this act .
A nonfiscal retirement bill shall include any retirement bill that
has as its sole purpose the appropriation or distribution or
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redistribution of monies in some manner to a retirement system for
purposes of reducing the unfunde d liability of such system or the
earmarking of a portion of th e 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 which reduces the cost of the
bill as such cost is determined by the actuarial investigation for
the bill prepared pursuant to Section 3109 of this title;
7. "Retirement bill" means any bill or joint resolution
introduced or any bill or joint resolution amended 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 generated from such tax is earma rked
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 ot her than a nonfiscal retirement bill; and
9. "Retirement syste m" means the Teachers' Retirement System of
Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, the
Uniform Retirement System for Justices and Judges, the Oklahoma
Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, the Oklahoma Police
Pension and Retiremen t System, the Oklahoma Law Enforcement
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Retirement System, or a retirement system established after January
1, 2006.
SECTION 5. Sections 1 through 3 of this act shall become
effective November 1, 2024.
SECTION 6. Section 4 of this act shall become effective October
1, 2024.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON RETIREMENT AND INSURANCE
April 9, 2024 - DO PASS AS AMENDED BY CS