RBH No. 5114
1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
3 HOUSE BILL 1068 By: West (Josh)
4
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to retirement; amending 74 O.S. 2021,
Sections 902, 915, 916.3, 919.1, and 920A, which
8 relate to the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement
System; modifying definition; modifying eligibility
9 for certain retirement benefits; modifying
eligibility for certain death benefits; modifying
10 which employees must pay employee contribution;
updating reference; and providing an effective date.
11
12
13
14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
15 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 74 O.S. 2021, Section 902, is
16 amended to read as follows:
17 Section 902. Definitions.
18 As used in Section 901 et seq. of this title:
19 (1) "System" means the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement
20 System as established by this act and as it may hereafter be
21 amended;
22 (2) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all
23 contributions by a member to the System which shall be credited to
24 the member's account;
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1 (3) "Act" means Sections 901 to 932, inclusive, of this title;
2 (4) "Actuarial equivalent" means a deferred income benefit of
3 equal value to the accumulated deposits or benefits when computed
4 upon the basis of the actuarial tables in use by the System;
5 (5) "Actuarial tables" means the actuarial tables approved and
6 in use by the Board at any given time;
7 (6) "Actuary" means the actuary or firm of actuaries employed
8 by the Board at any given time;
9 (7) "Beneficiary" means any person named by a member to receive
10 any benefits as provided for by Section 901 et seq. of this title.
11 If there is no beneficiary living at time of member employee's
12 death, the member's estate shall be the beneficiary;
13 (8) "Board" means the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement
14 System Board of Trustees;
15 (9) "Compensation" means all salary and wages, as defined by
16 the Board of Trustees, including amounts deferred under deferred
17 compensation agreements entered into between a member and a
18 participating employer, but exclusive of payment for overtime,
19 payable to a member of the System for personal services performed
20 for a participating employer but shall not include compensation or
21 reimbursement for traveling, or moving expenses, or any compensation
22 in excess of the maximum compensation level, provided:
23
24
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1 (a) For compensation for service prior to January 1, 1988,
2 the maximum compensation level shall be Twenty-five
3 Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per annum.
4 For compensation for service on or after January 1,
5 1988, through June 30, 1994, the maximum compensation
6 level shall be Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000.00) per
7 annum.
8 For compensation for service on or after July 1, 1994,
9 through June 30, 1995, the maximum compensation level
10 shall be Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per
11 annum; for compensation for service on or after July
12 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996, the maximum
13 compensation level shall be Sixty Thousand Dollars
14 ($60,000.00) per annum; for compensation for service
15 on or after July 1, 1996, through June 30, 1997, the
16 maximum compensation level shall be Seventy Thousand
17 Dollars ($70,000.00) per annum; and for compensation
18 for service on or after July 1, 1997, through June 30,
19 1998, the maximum compensation level shall be Eighty
20 Thousand Dollars ($80,000.00) per annum. For
21 compensation for services on or after July 1, 1998,
22 there shall be no maximum compensation level for
23 retirement purposes.
24
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1 (b) Compensation for retirement purposes shall include any
2 amount of elective salary reduction under Section 457
3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any amount of
4 nonelective salary reduction under Section 414(h) of
5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
6 (c) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the
7 compensation taken into account for any employee in
8 determining the contribution or benefit accruals for
9 any plan year is limited to the annual compensation
10 limit under Section 401(a)(17) of the federal Internal
11 Revenue Code.
12 (d) Current appointed members of the Oklahoma Tax
13 Commission whose salary is constitutionally limited
14 and is less than the highest salary allowed by law for
15 his or her position shall be allowed, within ninety
16 (90) days from the effective date of this act, to make
17 an election to use the highest salary allowed by law
18 for the position to which the member was appointed for
19 the purposes of making contributions and determination
20 of retirement benefits. Such election shall be
21 irrevocable and be in writing. Reappointment to the
22 same office shall not permit a new election. Members
23 appointed to the Oklahoma Tax Commission after the
24 effective date of this act shall make such election,
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1 pursuant to this subparagraph, within ninety (90) days
2 of taking office;
3 (10) "Credited service" means the sum of participating service,
4 prior service and elected service;
5 (11) "Dependent" means a parent, child, or spouse of a member
6 who is dependent upon the member for at least one-half (1/2) of the
7 member's support;
8 (12) "Effective date" means the date upon which the System
9 becomes effective by operation of law;
10 (13) "Eligible employer" means the state and any county, county
11 hospital, city or town, conservation districts, circuit engineering
12 districts and any public or private trust in which a county, city or
13 town participates and is the primary beneficiary, is to be an
14 eligible employer for the purpose of this act only, whose employees
15 are covered by Social Security and are not covered by or eligible
16 for another retirement plan authorized under the laws of this state
17 which is in operation on the initial entry date. Emergency medical
18 service districts may join the System upon proper application to the
19 Board. Provided affiliation by a county hospital shall be in the
20 form of a resolution adopted by the board of control.
21 (a) If a class or several classes of employees of any
22 above-defined employers are covered by Social Security
23 and are not covered by or eligible for and will not
24 become eligible for another retirement plan authorized
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1 under the laws of this state, which is in operation on
2 the effective date, such employer shall be deemed an
3 eligible employer, but only with respect to that class
4 or those classes of employees as defined in this
5 section.
6 (b) A class or several classes of employees who are
7 covered by Social Security and are not covered by or
8 eligible for and will not become eligible for another
9 retirement plan authorized under the laws of this
10 state, which is in operation on the effective date,
11 and when the qualifications for employment in such
12 class or classes are set by state law; and when such
13 class or classes of employees are employed by a county
14 or municipal government pursuant to such
15 qualifications; and when the services provided by such
16 employees are of such nature that they qualify for
17 matching by or contributions from state or federal
18 funds administered by an agency of state government
19 which qualifies as a participating employer, then the
20 agency of state government administering the state or
21 federal funds shall be deemed an eligible employer,
22 but only with respect to that class or those classes
23 of employees as defined in this subsection; provided,
24 that the required contributions to the retirement plan
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1 may be withheld from the contributions of state or
2 federal funds administered by the state agency and
3 transmitted to the System on the same basis as the
4 employee and employer contributions are transmitted
5 for the direct employees of the state agency. The
6 retirement or eligibility for retirement under the
7 provisions of law providing pensions for service as a
8 volunteer firefighter shall not render any person
9 ineligible for participation in the benefits provided
10 for in Section 901 et seq. of this title. An employee
11 of any public or private trust in which a county, city
12 or town participates and is the primary beneficiary
13 shall be deemed to be an eligible employee for the
14 purpose of this act only.
15 (c) All employees of the George Nigh Rehabilitation
16 Institute who elected to retain membership in the
17 System, pursuant to Section 913.7 of this title, shall
18 continue to be eligible employees for the purposes of
19 this act. The George Nigh Rehabilitation Institute
20 shall be considered a participating employer only for
21 such employees.
22 (d) All employees of CompSource Mutual Insurance Company
23 who retain membership in the Oklahoma Public Employees
24 Retirement System pursuant to Section 913.9 of this
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1 title shall continue to be eligible employees for the
2 purposes of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement
3 System. CompSource Mutual Insurance Company shall be
4 considered a participating employer only for such
5 employees.
6 (e) All employees of a successor organization, as defined
7 by Section 5-60.12 of Title 2 of the Oklahoma
8 Statutes, who retain membership in the Oklahoma Public
9 Employees Retirement System pursuant to Section 5-
10 60.35 of Title 2 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall
11 continue to be eligible employees for the purposes of
12 the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System. A
13 successor organization shall be considered a
14 participating employer only for such employees.
15 (f) A participating employer of the Teachers' Retirement
16 System of Oklahoma, who has one or more employees who
17 have made an election pursuant to enabling legislation
18 to retain membership in the System as a result of
19 change in administration, shall be considered a
20 participating employer of the Oklahoma Public
21 Employees Retirement System only for such employees;
22 (14) "Employee" means any officer or employee of a
23 participating employer, whose employment is not seasonal or
24 temporary and whose employment requires at least one thousand
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1 (1,000) hours of work per year and whose salary or wage is equal to
2 the hourly rate of the monthly minimum wage for state employees.
3 For those eligible employers outlined in Section 910 of this title,
4 the rate shall be equal to the hourly rate of the monthly minimum
5 wage for that employer. Each employer, whose minimum wage is less
6 than the state's minimum wage, shall inform the System of the
7 minimum wage for that employer. This notification shall be by
8 resolution of the governing body.
9 (a) Any employee of the county extension agents who is not
10 currently participating in the Teachers' Retirement
11 System of Oklahoma shall be a member of this System.
12 (b) Eligibility shall not include any employee who is a
13 contributing member of the United States Civil Service
14 Retirement System.
15 (c) It shall be mandatory for an officer, appointee or
16 employee of the office of district attorney to become
17 a member of this System if he or she is not currently
18 participating in a county retirement system. Provided
19 further, that if an officer, appointee or employee of
20 the office of district attorney is currently
21 participating in such county retirement system, he or
22 she is ineligible for this System as long as he or she
23 is eligible for such county retirement system. Any
24 eligible officer, appointee or employee of the office
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1 of district attorney shall be given credit for prior
2 service as defined in this section. The provisions
3 outlined in Section 917 of this title shall apply to
4 those employees who have previously withdrawn their
5 contributions.
6 (d) Eligibility shall also not include any officer or
7 employee of the Oklahoma Employment Security
8 Commission, except for those officers and employees of
9 the Commission electing to transfer to this System
10 pursuant to the provisions of Section 910.1 of this
11 title or any other class of officers or employees
12 specifically exempted by the laws of this state,
13 unless there be a consolidation as provided by Section
14 912 of this title. Employees of the Oklahoma
15 Employment Security Commission who are ineligible for
16 enrollment in the Employment Security Commission
17 Retirement Plan, that was in effect on January 1,
18 1964, shall become members of this System.
19 (e) Any employee employed by the Legislative Service
20 Bureau, State Senate or House of Representatives for
21 the full duration of a regular legislative session
22 shall be eligible for membership in the System
23 regardless of classification as a temporary employee
24 and may participate in the System during the regular
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1 legislative session at the option of the employee.
2 For purposes of this subparagraph, the determination
3 of whether an employee is employed for the full
4 duration of a regular legislative session shall be
5 made by the Legislative Service Bureau if such
6 employee is employed by the Legislative Service
7 Bureau, the State Senate if such employee is employed
8 by the State Senate, or by