Bill Text: NJ S2441 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits county prosecutors to enroll in Prosecutors Part of PERS.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-10-21 - Reviewed by the Pension and Health Benefits Commission Recommend to not enact [S2441 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S2441-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Permits county prosecutors to enroll in Prosecutors Part of PERS.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act to permit county prosecutors to enroll in the Prosecutors Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System and amending P.L.2001, c.366.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.2001, c.366 (C.43:15A-156) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, prosecutors shall be members of the Prosecutors Part, established pursuant to P.L.2001, c.366 (C.43:15A-155 et seq.), of the Public Employees' Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-1 et seq.), if enrolled in the part prior to the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, and shall be subject to the same membership and benefit provisions as State employees, except as provided by P.L.2001, c.366. Membership in the retirement system shall be a condition of employment for service as a prosecutor for a prosecutor enrolled in the part prior to the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1. Any service credit which has been established in the Public Employees' Retirement System by a prosecutor prior to the effective date of this act shall be established in the Prosecutors Part without further assessment of cost to the prosecutor; provided, however, any service credit which has been established in the Public Employees' Retirement System by a member of the retirement system in any position prior to service as a county prosecutor, nominated and appointed pursuant to Article VII, Section II, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, shall be established in the Prosecutors Part without further assessment of cost to the prosecutor.
[A] Except as provided in subsection c. of this section, a prosecutor who becomes a member of the retirement system on or after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1 shall not be a member of the Prosecutors Part and the provisions of P.L.2001, c.366 (C.43:15A-155 et seq.) shall not apply to such prosecutor or the prosecutor's beneficiary.
b. All outstanding obligations, such as loans, purchases and other arrearage, shall be satisfied by a prosecutor as previously scheduled for payment to the Public Employees' Retirement System.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section or any other law to the contrary, any person who serves as a county prosecutor and who is enrolled in the Defined Contribution Retirement Program, established by P.L.2007, c.92 (C.43:15C-1 et seq.), but who was previously a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System and a member of the Judicial Retirement System, for an aggregate period of not less than ten years, upon written request made to the Director of the Division of Pensions and Benefits in the State Department of the Treasury, shall be enrolled as a member of the Prosecutors Part of the Public Employees' Retirement System, credited with such time in that part, and entitled to the membership and benefit provisions thereof. The individual's contributions to any of the prior systems, that have remained with such systems or have been transferred to a subsequent system, shall be transferred to the Prosecutor's Part. Any prior service credit which has been established in any of the aforesaid retirement systems shall be established for such individual in the Prosecutors Part without any additional assessment of cost to that individual.
(cf: P.L.2010, c.1, s.36)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would allow a person who is currently serving as a county prosecutor and who is enrolled in the Defined Contribution Retirement Program, but who previously was enrolled in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and in the Judicial Retirement System, for an aggregate period of not less than ten years, to enroll in the Prosecutor Part of PERS. The Prosecutors Part was closed to new members in 2010. However, the bill would allow a prosecutor with the requisite credentials to enroll in that part. It is intended to address the situation of a prosecutor who has dedicated their professional life to public service and who, because of changes in employment, would not otherwise receive the pension that they rightfully deserve. Under the bill, the prosecutor's prior pension contributions would be transferred to the Prosecutors Part and there would be no additional assessment of cost to that individual.
