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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
HOUSE BILL 4051 By: May
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to retirement; amending 11 O.S. 2021,
Section 49-138, which relates to the Firefig hters
Pension and Retirement System; providing for the
purchase of military service credit ; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOP LE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2021, S ection 49-138, is
amended to read as fol lows:
Section 49-138. A. Any member of a regularly constituted fire
department of any municipality who is now serving or may hereafter
serve in the Armed Forces of the United States whether such service
is voluntary or involuntary, who shall have been a member of such
fire department at the time of entering such service, shall be
entitled to have the whole of the time of such service applied under
the provisions of Section 49 -106 of this title, so far as the same
applies to a service pension; provided further, that the
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municipality shall continue its payment into said pension fund, to
the same force and effect as though the member were in the actual
service of such fire department; provided, that any person who is
eligible for such service but who shall have volunteered for
military or naval service for a period not to exceed five (5) years
shall likewise be entitled to all of the benefits of Sections 49 -138
through 49-142 of this title for the full period of such ser vice or
enlistment; provided further, that only one such period of voluntary
service shall be considered hereunder. If such p erson shall
reenlist, unless required to do so by law, such person shall not
thereafter be entitled to the provisions of this subs ection. The
provisions of this subsection shall not apply where any such person
dies during the period of said service or enl istment, and shall not
entitle the surviving spouse or children to any benefits, and shall
not apply to any member who shall have served on active duty
(including initial active duty) for training purposes only and/or
inactive duty training.
B. Effective February 1, 1997, credited service received
pursuant to this section or credited service for wartime military
service received as otherwise provided by law shall be used in
determining the member's retirement benefit but shall not be used in
determining years of service for retirement, vesting purposes or
eligibility for participation in the Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred
Option Plan. For a member of the System hired on or after July 1,
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2003, if the military service credit authorized by this section is
used to compute the retirement benefit of the member and the member
retires from the System, such military service credit shall not b e
used to compute the retirement benefit in any other retirement
system created pursuant to the Oklahoma Statutes and the memb er may
receive credit for such service only in the retirement system from
which the member first retires.
C. A member who served in the Armed Forces of the United States
or any component thereof and who was honorably discharged may
receive up to five (5) years of prior or parti cipating military
service credit, only upon payment of the actuari al cost of service
credit as determined b y the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and
Retirement Board pursuant to Section 49-117.3 of this title.
D. A member who retires or elects to participat e in the
Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred Option Plan on or after July 1, 1998,
shall be entitled to prior se rvice credit, not to exceed five (5)
years, for those periods of military service on active duty pr ior to
membership in the Oklahoma Firefighters Pen sion and Retirement
System.
For purposes of this subsection, "military service" means
service in the Armed Forces of the United States by honorably
discharged persons during the following time periods, as r eflected
on such person's Defense Department Form 214, as follows:
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1. During the following periods, including the beginning and
ending dates, and only for t he periods served, from:
a. April 6, 1917, to November 11, 1918, commonly referred
to as World War I,
b. September 16, 1940, to December 7, 1941, for members
of the 45th Division,
c. December 7, 1941, to December 31, 1946, commonly
referred to as World War II,
d. June 27, 1950, to January 31, 19 55, commonly referred
to as the Korean Conflict or the Kore an War,
e. February 28, 1961, to May 7, 1975, comm only referred
to as the Vietnam era, except that:
(1) for the period from February 28, 1961, to August
4, 1964, military service shall only include
service in the Republic of Vietnam during that
period, and
(2) for purposes of determining eligibility for
education and training benefits, such period
shall end on December 31, 1976, or
f. August 1, 1990, to Decemb er 31, 1991, commonly
referred to as the Gulf War, the Persian Gulf War, or
Operation Desert Storm, but excluding any person who
served on active dut y for training only, unless
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discharged from such active duty for a service -
connected disability;
2. During a period of war or combat military oper ation other
than a conflict, war or era listed in paragraph 1 of this
subsection, beginning on the date of Co ngressional authorization,
Congressional resolution, or Executive Order of the Pres ident of the
United States, for the use of the Armed Forces of t he United States
in a war or combat military operation, if such war or combat
military operation lasted for a period of ninety (90) days or more,
for a person who served, and only for the peri od served, in the area
of responsibility of the war or combat mi litary operation, but
excluding a person who served on acti ve duty for training only,
unless discharged from such active duty for a service -connected
disability, and provided that the burden o f proof of military
service during this period shall be with the member, who must
present appropriate documentation establi shing such service.
D. E. An eligible member pursuan t to subsection C D of this
section shall include only those persons who shall have s erved
during the times or in the areas prescribed in subsec tion C D of
this section, and only if such person provides appr opriate
documentation in such time and manner as requ ired by the System to
establish such military service prescribed in this section, o r for
service pursuant to division (1) of subparagraph e of paragraph 1 of
subsection C D of this section, those persons w ho were awarded
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service medals, as authorized by the United States Department of
Defense as reflected in the veteran 's Defense Department Form 214,
related to the Vietnam Conflict for service prior to August 5, 1964.
The provisions of subsection C D of this section shall include
military retirees, whose retir ement was based only on active
service, that have been rated as having twenty perce nt (20%) or
greater service-connected disability by t he Veterans Administration
or the Armed Forces of the United States . The provisions of
subsection C D of this section shall not apply to any person who
shall have served on active duty for training purpos es only unless
discharged from active duty for a se rvice-connected disability.
E. F. Notwithstanding any provision here in to the contrary:
1. Contributions, benefits and service credit with respect to
qualified military service shall be provided in accordan ce with
Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue C ode of 1986, as amended,
which is in accordance with the Uniformed Se rvices Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, as amended (USERRA); and
2. Effective January 1, 2007, if any member dies while
performing qualified military service (as defined i n Section 414(u)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended), t he survivors of
the member are entitled to any additiona l benefits (other than
benefits accruals relating to the period of qualified milita ry
service) provided under the System had the me mber resumed and then
terminated employment on account of death .
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F. G. Members or beneficiaries shall make application to the
System for credited service related to wartime military service.
Interest on additional benefits related to wartime military ser vice
owed by the System to a retired member or beneficiary as provide d by
law shall cease accruing one (1) year after the effect ive date the
additional benefits are payable by the System or July 1, 2000,
whichever is later, if the member has not applied to the System for
credited service related to such wartime military ser vice.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND
PENSIONS, dated 02/27/2024 - DO PASS.