RBS No. 3521
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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
February 20, 2024
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 453 By: Garvin
An Act relating to the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension
and Retirement System; amending 11 O.S. 2021,
Sections 49-101 and 49-101.2, as amended by Section s
3 and 4, Chapter 232, O.S.L. 2022 (11 O.S. Supp.
2023, Sections 49-101 and 49-101.2), which relate to
volunteer firefighter pension amounts; modifying
volunteer firefighter pension amount; modifying
compensation determination ; amending 62 O.S. 2021,
Section 3103, as last amended by Section 1, Chapter
306, O.S.L. 2022 (62 O.S. Supp. 2023, Section 3103),
which relates to the Oklahoma P ension Legislation
Actuarial Analysis Act; modifying definition;
updating statutory language; updating statutory
references; providing effective dates; and declaring
an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2021, Section 49 -101, as
amended by Section 3, Chapter 232, O.S.L. 2022 (11 O.S. Supp. 20 23,
Section 49-101), is amended to read as follows:
Section 49-101. A. All retired volunteer firefighters who
qualify for retirement shall be entitled to a monthly pension. The
monthly pension of a volunteer firefighter who retires prior to the
effective date of this act shall be in the amount retired v olunteer RBS No. 3521
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firefighters are receiving at the time the volunteer firefighter
begins to receive a pension for each year of credited service not to
exceed thirty (30) years. Volunteer firefighters who retire o n and
after the effective date of this act shall rec eive a monthly pension
in the amount of Ten Dollars ($10.00) for each year of credited
service not to exceed thirty (30) years. In determining the number
of years of credited service, a fractional year o f six (6) months or
more shall be counted as one (1 ) full year and a fractional year of
less than six (6) months shall not be counted in such determination.
Retired volunteer firefighters of a municipality shall receive a
pension of not less than that whi ch retired volunteer firefighters
of such municipality were receiving on June 30, 1985.
B. A volunteer firefighter who terminates service after
completing ten (10) years of credited service, but less than twenty
(20) years of credited service, shall be en titled to receive a
vested benefit commencing on th e date the firefighter reaches fifty
(50) years of age or the date the firefighter would have had twenty
(20) years of credited service had th e firefighter’s service
continued uninterrupted, whichever is l ater. The monthly amount of
such retirement benefit shall be the amount being paid to v olunteer
firefighters at the time the member vests multiplied by the number
of years of credited service. Credited service must be established
at the time of the volun teer firefighter’s termination. If a
volunteer firefighter who terminated employment and elected, or was RBS No. 3521
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eligible to elect, a vested benefit dies prior to being eligible to
receive benefits, the volunteer firefighter ’s beneficiary, as
defined in paragraph 16 of Section 49-100.1 of this title, shall be
entitled to the volunteer firefighter ’s normal monthly retirement
benefit on the date the deceased volunteer firefighter would have
been eligible to receive the benefit.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2021, Section 49 -101.2, as
amended by Section 4, Chapter 232, O.S.L. 2022 (11 O.S. Supp. 202 3,
Section 49-101.2), is amended to read as follows:
Section 49-101.2. Any member serving as an active volunteer
firefighter who receives annual compensation from the fire
department the firefighter is enrolled in as a member of the
Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System for services
related to firefighting, other than reimbursement of expenses in
excess of five and one-half (5 1/2) times the annual pension benefit
paid by the System t o a retired volunteer firefighter with twenty
(20) years credited service Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Thirty -nine
Dollars and sixty-nine cents ($9,939.69), shall be considered a paid
firefighter and must me et the physical and agility requirements
pursuant to Section 49 -116 of this title to continue as an active
member of the System. Cr edited service earned as a paid firefighter
pursuant to this section shall not be considered actual experience
as a paid firefighter for purposes of meeting the qualifications of
a paid fire chief as provided in Section 29 -102 of this title. No RBS No. 3521
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fire department of a participating municipality shall employ a
volunteer firefighter from another fire department to perform
services relating to firefighting for any compensation of any kind.
SECTION 3. 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 Leg islation
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 precede d 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 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 RBS No. 3521
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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 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 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 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, RBS No. 3521
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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 defined 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 t he 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 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 RBS No. 3521
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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 h undred 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 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 Dolla rs ($100.00) for
persons who retired from the Oklahoma
Firefighters Pension and Retirement System as
volunteer firefighters and who did not retire RBS No. 3521
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from the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and
Retirement System as a paid firefighter.
As used in this subparagr aph, “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 provi ded 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 the 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 O klahoma
Statutes, or RBS No. 3521
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(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 section and Sections 50-101 and 50-115 of Title 11
of the Oklahoma Statutes, or
j. which provides for a benefits increase for volunteer
firefighters pursuant to Sections 49-101 and 49-101.2
of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
A nonfiscal retirement bill shall includ e 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 suc h system or the
earmarking of a portion of the revenue from a tax to a reti rement
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 havi ng 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 cre ates or amends any law directly
affecting a retirement system. A retirement bill shall not mean a RBS No. 3521
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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;
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 nonfisc al 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 Syst em, the Oklahoma Police
Pension and Retirement Syst em, the Oklahoma Law Enforcement
Retirement System, or a retirement system established after January
1, 2006.
SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall become effective
in accordance with the provisions of Section 58 of Article V of the
Oklahoma Constitution.
SECTION 5. Section 3 of this act shall become effective July 1,
2024.
SECTION 6. 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 approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON RETIREMENT AND INSURANCE
February 20, 2024 - DO PASS AS AMENDED BY CS