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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ENGROSSED
SENATE BILL NO. 1520 By: Pemberton and Stephens of
the Senate
and
Hays and Hilbert of the
House
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to the public retirement systems;
amending 62 O.S. 2021, Section 3103, as amended by
Section 1, Chapter 306, O.S.L. 2022 (62 O.S. Supp.
2023, Section 3103), which relates to the Oklahoma
Pension Legislation Actuarial Analysis Act; modifying
term; amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 17 -116.10, which
relates to postretirement employment; modifying
earnings limitation for certain retirees returning to
work in a public school; modifying postretirement
earning limitation for certain time period; providing
effective dates; providing for conti ngent effective
dates based on outcome of approval of the emergency
clause; and declaring an emergency .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 62 O.S. 2021, Section 3103, as
amended by Section 1, Chapter 306, O.S.L. 2022 (62 O.S. Supp. 2023,
Section 3103), is amended to read as follows: RBH No. 10967
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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 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
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 Legisla tive 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 Analysi s 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 bil l" means a retirement bill:
a. which does not affect th e cost or funding factors of a
retirement system, RBH No. 10967
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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 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 mem ber 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 app licable retirement
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 benef it for members of
the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retireme nt 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, RBH No. 10967
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e. which requires membership in the defined benefit plan
authorized by Section 901 e t 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 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
only once pursuant to a single statutory authori zation
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 provide d 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 th e member or One
Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00 ) and RBH No. 10967
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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
the funded ratio of the affected retirement
system would be greater than one hundred pe rcent
(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 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 system by the RBH No. 10967
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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 50-115 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma
Statutes,
h. which provides a cost -of-living benefit increase
pursuant to the provisions of:
(1) Section 49-143.7 of Title 11 of th e Oklahoma
Statutes,
(2) Section 50-136.9 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma
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,
(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 RBH No. 10967
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act Sections 50-101 and 50-115 of Title 11 of the
Oklahoma Statutes, or
j. which provides a restriction on provisions limiting
postretirement earnings pursuant to the provisions of
this act.
A nonfiscal retirement bill shall include any retirement bill that
has as its sole purpose the appropriation or distribution or
redistribution of monies i n 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 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 thi s 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 no t 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 earmarked
for the benefit of a retirement system; RBH No. 10967
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8. "Retirement bill having a fiscal impact" means any
retirement bill crea ting or establishing a retirement system and any
other retirement bill other than a nonfiscal retirement bill; and
9. "Retirement system" 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 Retirement System, the Oklahoma Law Enforcement
Retirement System, or a retirement system established after January
1, 2006.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 202 1, Section 17-116.10,
is amended to read as follows:
Section 17-116.10. A. Subject to the requirements of Section
6-101.2 of this title and any other applicable requirements of law,
a member of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma may enter
into postretirement employment with a public school of Oklahoma and
still receive monthly retirement benefits subject to the following
limitations:
1. A retired member is not eligible to be employed by the
public schools of Oklahoma, in any capacity, for sixty (60) calendar
days between the retiree’s last day of preretirement public
education employment and any postretirement public education
employment. For purposes of this section, the term “last day of
preretirement employment” shall mean the last day the em ployee is RBH No. 10967
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required to be physically present on the job to complete the terms
of the employment contract or agreement. An employee on paid leave
is still considered to be employed for purposes of this section.
Employment under any conditions during this t ime, volunteer services
for the purpose of obtaining a paid position at a later date, or
payment at a later time for services performed during this time
period shall cause the forfeiture of all retirem ent benefits
received during the period;
2. Unless otherwise provided in this paragraph or in paragraph
3 of this subsection, earnings from the public schools may not
exceed one-half (1/2) of the member’s final average salary used in
computing retirement benefits, or the Earnings Limitation earnings
limitation for employees allowed by the Social Security
Administration, whichever is less. For Until July 1, 2027, for
retired members having attained the age of fifty -five (55) years but
less than fifty-nine and one-half (59 1/2) years, the limit on
allowed earnings from the public schools of Oklahoma for employment
for the performance of duties ordinarily performed by classified or
nonclassified personnel shall be the lesser of Thirty Thousand
Dollars ($30,000.00) or one-half (1/2) of the member’s final average
salary used in computing retirement benefits unless the earnings
limitation allowed by the Social Security Administration would be
greater than Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00). Until July 1,
2027, for retired members having attained the age of fifty -nine and RBH No. 10967
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one-half (59 1/2) years or older , there shall be no limit on allowed
earnings from the public schools of Oklahoma for the performance of
duties ordinarily performed by classified or nonclassifi ed
personnel. Effective July 1, 2027, for retired members under the
age of sixty-two (62) years, the limit on allowed earnings from the
public schools of Oklahoma for employment for the performance of
duties ordinarily performed by classified or nonclassi fied personnel
shall be the lesser of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) or one-
half (1/2) of the member’s final average salary used in computing
retirement benefits unless the earnings limitation allowed by the
Social Security Administration would be g reater than Fifteen
Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00). For Effective July 1, 2027, for
retired members sixty -two (62) years of age or older the limit on
allowed earnings from the public schools of Oklahoma for the
performance of duties ordinarily performed by classified or
nonclassified personnel shall be the les ser of Thirty Thousand
Dollars ($30,000.00) or one -half (1/2) of the member’s final average
salary used in computing retirement benefits.
For purposes of this paragraph, the following shall apply:
a. earnings shall mean “regular annual compensation” as
defined in paragraph (25) of Section 17 -101 of this
title, and shall include any payment by a public
school for services rendered by a retired member who
is employed for any purpose whatsoever. Supplemen tal RBH No. 10967
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retirement payments paid by a former public school
employer pursuant to subsection 9 of Section 17 -105 of
this title or other state law shall not be considered
as earnings,
b. the Earnings Limitation earnings limitation for
employees allowed by the Soc ial Security
Administration to workers between the age of sixty-two
(62) years and sixty -five (65) years shall apply to
retired members below the age of sixty -two (62) years,
c. the limit on allowed earnings from the public schools
shall be automatically a djusted effective the first
day of January of each year to reflect the current
Earnings Limitation earnings limitation for employees
as determined from time to time by the Social Security
Administration,
d. the earnings limit for the calendar year in which a
member retires shall be one -twelfth (1/12) of the
annual limit multiplied by the number of months the
member is eligible to work and receive payments from
the public schools of Oklahoma,
e. earnings in excess of the maximum limit on allowed
earnings from public schools of Oklahoma shall result
in a loss of future retirement benefits for the year
the postretirement employment was performed of One RBH No. 10967
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Dollar ($1.00) for each One Dollar ($1.00) earned over
the maximum allowed earnings amount, and
f. for those members age seventy (70) years and over, the
earnings in excess of the maximum limit allowed
earnings from public schools of Oklahoma shall be one -
half (1/2) the member’s final average salary used in
computing retirement benefits. However, any retired
member receiving benefits from the Retirement System
who reached age seventy (70) years prior to July 1,
1991, shall not be restricted by the earnings limits
pursuant to this subparagraph until January 1, 1994.
To qualify for the provisions of this subparagra ph,
the member must be employed less than one -half (1/2)
the time compared to other full -time employees in
similar positions;
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2 of this subsection, a retired
classified or nonclassified member who has been retired for thirty -
six (36) or more months and who is employed by a public school to
perform duties ordinarily performed by classified or nonclassified
personnel shall be able to receive annualized earnings from the
public school with no reduction in retirement benefits regar dless of
the amount of annualized earnings. For a peri od of three (3) years
beginning July 1, 2017, members who have retired as of July 1, 2017,
as active classroom teachers, who have been retired and receiving a RBH No. 10967
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benefit for at least one (1) year, and who have not been employed by
any public school during tha t one-year period, shall be eligible to
be reemployed as an active classroom teacher in common or career
tech school districts, with no limitations on earnings. For a
period of three (3) years beginni ng July 1, 2021, members who have
retired as of July 1, 2020, who have been retired and receiving a
benefit for at least one (1) year, and who have not been employed by
any public school during that one -year period, shall be eligible to
be reemployed as an active classroom teacher in common or career
tech school districts, with no limitations on earnings. The one -
year period starts with the retiree’s last day of preretirement
public education employment. Members returning under this section
shall not be subject to any earning limitations earnings limitation
following the end of the three -year periods described in this
paragraph. Members returning under this section shall only be
employed pursuant to a temporary contract; and
4. A member shall be consider ed to be employed by a school
district to perform the d uties ordinarily performed by classified or
nonclassified personnel if the member is hired by the school
district in the member’s individual capacity to perform the duties
or if the member performs the duties through employment with a
proprietorship, partn ership, corporation, limited liability company
or partnership, or any other business structure that has agreed or
contracted to provide the services to the school district. RBH No. 10967
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B. A public school district that employs a retired member shall
be required to make contributions to the System for the retired
member in an amount as required in Section 17 -108.1 and in paragraph
3 of subsection B of Section 17 -116.2 of this title.
C. For purposes of this section, postretirement employment of
less than one thousand (1 ,000) hours per year with the Governor, the
State Senate, the House of Representatives or the Legislative
Service Bureau shall not be considered as postretirement employment
with a public school of Okl ahoma.
D. The Board of Trustees of the Teachers’ Retir ement System of
Oklahoma shall promulgate such rules as are necessary to implement
the provisions of this section.
E. A member who has entered into postretirement employment with
a participating emplo yer of the Teachers’ Retirement System of
Oklahoma must fully comply with all the provisions of the rules
promulgated by the Board of Trustees pursuant to this section in
order to continue receiving his or her monthly retirement benefit.
SECTION 3. If the Emergency Clause is not approved pursu ant to
the requirements of the Oklahoma Constitution as part of this
measure, the effective date of Section 1 of this act shall be
October 1, 2024.
SECTION 4. If the Emergency Clause i s not approved pursuant to
the requirements of the Okla homa Constitution as part of this RBH No. 10967
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measure, the effective date of Section 2 of this act shall be
November 1, 2024.
SECTION 5. Except as otherwise provided by Section 3 of this
act, Section 1 of this act shall become effective immediately up on
signature by the Governor or as otherwise provided by Section 58 of
Article V of the Oklahoma Constitution.
SECTION 6. Except as otherwise provided by Section 4 of this
act, Section 2 of this act shall become effective July 1, 2024.
SECTION 7. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effec t and
be in full force from and after its passage and a pproval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON RULES, dated 04/15/2024 - DO PASS,
As Amended and Coauthored.