SENATE DOCKET, NO. 580        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1156

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act further regulating public retirement systems..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision (7) of section 22 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following sentence:- In any system in which a housing authority is a governmental unit, the amounts to be paid for the three aforesaid funds of such system for any such fiscal year shall be allocated in the same proportion as the governmental units’ actuarially determined accrued liability pertaining to such governmental units’ employees or retirees bears to the total accrued liability of such system.

SECTION 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision (5) of section 28 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by deleting the fourth sentence in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The commission shall also notify the county commissioners, the mayor or the board of selectmen, and the appropriate retirement board as set forth in paragraph (b), of the acceptance of such sections by the authority and of the date as of which such sections will become operative for its employees.

SECTION 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision (5) of section 28 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by deleting the paragraph in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following new paragraph (b):-

(b) On and after the date when sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, become operative for the employees of any authority as set forth in paragraph (a) of this subsection, such authority must elect, by vote duly recorded, that the eligible employees of such authority shall become members of the system of the city or town within whose territory the authority lies, or of the county or regional retirement systems established under the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision (3) of this section or section nineteen of chapter thirty-four B, respectively, within whose territory the authority lies, or of the state employees’ retirement system, in the same manner as if such a system were established for such authority.  Any such authority having previously accepted sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, the employees of which are members of the system of the city or town within whose territory the authority lies, may, on or before December thirty first, two thousand ten, elect, by a vote duly recorded, that the eligible employees of such authority shall become members of the county or regional system established under the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision (3) of this section or section 19 of chapter 34B, within whose territory the authority lies, or of the state employee’s retirement sytem.  Elections hereunder shall be irrevocable.

SECTION 4. Subdivision (5) of section 28 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following new paragraph (b ½):-

(b ½) The employees of any authority who, as a result of the election set forth in paragraph (b) become members of a subsequent retirement system, shall have their accumulated deductions transferred to such retirement system, and upon receipt, such retirement system shall assume liability for such employees’ retirement benefits, subject to the provisions of paragraph (c) of subdivision (8) of section 3.