SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2514        FILED ON: 4/8/2010

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2363

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Ten

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An Act to promote equity in pension benefits.

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. Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 40 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, or any other general or special law to the contrary, any employee who elected to  participate in the optional retirement program provided in said section 40 because the option of marriage was unavailable to that employee prior to May 16, 2004 may elect to withdraw from the optional retirement program and become a member of the state employees’ retirement system by filing an application for this election no later than 1 year after the effective date of this  act. 

SECTION 2. Any employee who elects to become a member of the state employees’ retirement  system under section 1 shall take all necessary steps to effect the transfer of all funds held on the employee’s account in custodial accounts or payable to the employee under individual or group  annuity contracts established under section 40 of chapter 15A of the General Laws to the state employees’ retirement system.

SECTION 3. Eligibility for creditable service shall be conditioned upon the payment, in one lump sum or in installments upon such terms as the state retirement board may provide, of an amount equal to the contributions such member would have otherwise paid into the retirement system had they been a member plus actuarially assumed interest provided that a member must transfer all assets held in the optional retirement plan to the state retirement system and that such assets shall be credited toward the purchase of creditable service.

SECTION 4. The board of higher education and the state board of retirement shall promulgate regulations concerning this election and transfer of funds within 60 days after the effective date of this act.

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, upon the transfer of funds specified in section 2, any employee who makes the election provided for in section 1 shall participate in the state employees’ retirement system under chapter 32 of the General Laws as of the date that employee is considered to have entered service under section 5 of this act.

SECTION 6. For purposes of determining the percentage of regular compensation which shall be withheld under section 22 of chapter 32 of the General Laws for any employee making the  election provided for in section 1, the employee shall be considered to have entered service (a) as of the effective date of the employee’s appointment if the employee was initially appointed on or after the effective date of the optional retirement program, (b) as of the date the employee became a member in service before electing to participate in the optional retirement program if the employee transferred his accumulated total deductions and interest to the optional retirement program under paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 40 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, or (c) as of the date the employee became a member in service before electing to participate in the optional retirement program, if the employee withdrew his accumulated deductions upon electing to participate in the optional retirement program, but pays in a lump sum the amount of total accumulated contributions withdrawn, with interest, within 6 months of making the election provided for in section 1.