Bill Text: NJ A904 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Changes compensation trigger for reenrollment of PERS retiree from $15,000 in aggregate to $15,000 per public employer.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-09-21 - Reviewed by the Pension and Health Benefits Commission Recommend to not enact [A904 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A904-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman HOLLY SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Changes compensation trigger for reenrollment of PERS retiree from $15,000 in aggregate to $15,000 per public employer.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the reemployment of certain retired members of the Public Employees' Retirement System of New Jersey and amending P.L.1966, c.217.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 27 of P.L.1966, c.217 (C.43:15A-57.2) is amended to read as follows:
27. a. Except as provided in subsections b. and c. of this section, if a former member of the State Employees' Retirement System or the retirement system, who has been granted a retirement allowance for any cause other than disability, becomes employed again in a position which makes him eligible to be a member of the retirement system, his retirement allowance and the right to any death benefit as a result of his former membership, shall be canceled until he again retires.
Such person shall be re-enrolled in the retirement system and shall contribute thereto at a rate based on his age at the time of re-enrollment. Such person shall be treated as an active member for determining disability or death benefits while in service and no benefits pursuant to an optional selection with respect to his former membership shall be paid if his death shall occur during the period of such re-enrollment.
Upon subsequent retirement of such member, his former retirement allowance shall be reinstated together with any optional selection, based on his former membership. In addition, he shall receive an additional retirement allowance based on his subsequent service as a member computed in accordance with applicable provisions of chapter 84 of the laws of 1954; provided, however, that his total retirement allowance upon such subsequent retirement shall not be a greater proportion of his final compensation than the proportion to which he would have been entitled had he remained in service during the period of his prior retirement. Any death benefit to which such member shall be eligible shall be based on his latest retirement, but shall not be less than the death benefit that was applicable to his former retirement.
b. The cancellation,
re-enrollment, and additional retirement allowance provisions of subsection a.
of this section shall not apply to a former member of the retirement system
who, after having been granted a retirement allowance, becomes employed again [by]: (1) by an
employer [or employers]
in a position [or positions] for which the [aggregate] compensation does not exceed $15,000 per year; or
(2) if the compensation exceeds [$10,000] $15,000 per
year, by an employer that is a public institution of higher education as
defined in N.J.S.18A:62-1 in a teaching staff position. The Director of the
Division of Pensions and Benefits may from time to time adjust the amount in
paragraph (1) of this subsection. This adjustment shall be 3/5 of the
percentage of change in the index, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1958, c.143 (C.43:3B-1),
over a period of time as determined by the director.
c. The cancellation, reenrollment, and additional retirement allowance provisions of subsection a. and the compensation limitations of subsection b. of this section shall not apply to a former member of the retirement system who, after having been granted a retirement allowance, becomes employed by the State Department of Education in a position of critical need as determined by the State Commissioner of Education, or becomes employed by a board of education in a position of critical need as determined by the superintendent of the district on a contractual basis for a term of not more than one year; except that the cancellation, reenrollment, and additional retirement allowance provisions and the compensation limitations shall apply if the former member becomes employed within 120 days of retirement in a position with the employer from which the member retired. Nothing herein shall preclude a former member so reemployed by a board of education from renewing a contract for one additional year, provided that the total period of employment with any individual board of education does not exceed a two-year period
(cf: P.L.2001, c.355, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current law, if a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) who retires and receives a retirement allowance for any cause other than disability subsequently becomes employed again in a position which makes the retiree eligible to be a member of PERS, the retiree is required to reenroll in the retirement system and the payment of a retirement allowance ceases, unless: 1) the aggregate compensation of the subsequent employment with one or more employers does not exceed $15,000 per year; or 2) the compensation for a person in a teaching staff position exceeds $10,000 per year from an employer that is a public institution of higher education. Absent reenrollment, the retiree collects the compensation of the subsequent employment and continues to receive the retirement allowance based upon the retiree's former PERS membership.
This bill provides that $15,000 is the amount of compensation any PERS retiree can earn in a single PERS-covered position without reenrollment. The $15,000 limitation would apply to compensation from each employer as opposed to aggregate compensation. The bill also increases, from $10,000 to $15,000, the compensation allowed to a PERS retiree in a teaching staff position.
