In the near future, I will introduce legislation that will give the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) more discretion and flexibility to address member appeals related to a missed deadline.

Title 24 (Education) requires that a completed application for retirement must be received by PSERS within 90 days of an individual’s retirement or termination date in order to receive retroactive retirement benefits. If an application is not filed within 90 days of termination of service, the annuity becomes effective on the date an application is filed which often causes the retiree to miss several annuity payments. In many of these situations, retirees file formal appeals through PSERS often explaining the hardships or heartbreaking circumstances that forced their application to be filed after the deadline. Under the current language of the retirement code, the PSERS Board has no ability to grant any appeal related to a late application of retirement regardless of the circumstances, or even if the late filing was through no fault of the individual. 

My legislation would amend Title 24 (Education) to indicate that, if an eligible member fails to file the application for an annuity within 90 days of termination of service, the PSERS Board may, in its discretion and for good cause shown, grant an appeal and honor the individual's date of retirement. 

Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.