SECTION 1. Subdivision 1 of section 4 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after paragraph (s) the following paragraph: -

(t) Any member of a contributory retirement system shall, while on leave of absence for the purpose of providing home child care, be considered on leave of absence without pay for the period in which he or she is providing such care; provided, however, that such leave of absence shall not exceed thirty-six months; and, provided further, that the period of time of such leave of absence shall be deemed creditable service for retirement purposes upon said member's depositing into the retirement fund of the system of which he or she is a member the total amount of the payments said member would have paid into the system had he remained in the service during said leave of absence, in one lump sum, or in installments, upon such terms as the board of retirement may prescribe. The provisions of this paragraph shall be effective for the members of the state employees' retirement system and of the teachers' retirement system and for the members of a county retirement system by vote of the county retirement board, subject to the approval of the county retirement board advisory council, of a town retirement system by vote of the town retirement board, subject to approval of the town meeting, of a city retirement system by vote of the city retirement board subject to the approval of the council, and of a district retirement system by vote of the district retirement board, subject to the approval of the district meeting.