House Bill No. 567

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act providing permanent funding for additional years of service to be purchased under the State Employee Protection Act for a member involuntarily terminated from membership; creating a method of funding job retraining, relocation expenses, and health insurance for a state employee who is involuntarily terminated; imposing a time limit for a state employee participating in the job registry program; providing that the unexpended balance in any specific appropriation may be used in the succeeding year to fund job training, health insurance benefits, relocation, and the purchase of service years; providing an appropriation; amending sections 2-18-1203, 17-7-304, and 19-2-706, MCA; and providing an effective date."



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



Section 1.  Section 2-18-1203, MCA, is amended to read:

"2-18-1203.   General protection -- job register -- seniority preference. (1) An employee whose position is eliminated as a result of privatization, reorganization of an agency, closure of or a reduction in force at an agency, or other actions by the legislature is entitled to:

(a)  notice of announcements for jobs for which the employee may qualify that arise within the terminating agency or within state government. Notices must be provided by the state for a period of 1 year from the date of separation.

(b)  access to any job retraining and career development programs provided by the state through the Job Training Partnership Act service delivery areas dislocated worker programs, provided that the employee begins participating in a program within 1 year after the elimination of the employee's position; and

(c)  inclusion in a special job register from which all agencies, except an agency attempting to hire for a position exempt under 2-18-103 or 2-18-104, shall attempt to hire employees prior to seeking applications from the general public. The employee must be listed in the job register according to the occupational categories in which the employee is qualified for employment. An employee's eligibility to participate in the job register terminates 2 years from the effective date of the employee's layoff or 2 years from the date of the employee's completion of job training provided under subsection (1)(b), whichever is later.

(2)  (a) An agency attempting to hire from the job register shall consider the employee's qualifications and length of state service. If two or more employees listed in the job register are equally qualified for a vacant position, the agency shall select the employee with the longest continuous state service.

(b)  If there is not an employee listed on the job register who meets the job qualifications for the vacant position, the agency may hire a qualified external applicant or establish a training assignment, according to state policy.

(3) Each state agency shall pay to the department of labor and industry a set amount that is equal to the department's average cost of providing the retraining and development services in the previous fiscal year for each involuntarily terminated state employee who requests access to any job training and career development program provided by the department."



Section 2.  Section 17-7-304, MCA, is amended to read:

"17-7-304.  (Temporary) Disposal of unexpended appropriations. (1) All money appropriated for any specific purpose except that appropriated for the university system units listed in subsection (2) and except as provided in subsection (4) must, after the expiration of the time for which appropriated, revert to the several funds and accounts from which originally appropriated. However, any unexpended balance in any specific appropriation may be used for the years for which the appropriation was made or may be used to fund the provisions of 2-18-1203 through 2-18-1205 and 19-2-706 in the succeeding year.

(2)  Except as provided in 17-2-108 and subsection (3) of this section, all money appropriated for the university of Montana campuses at Missoula, Butte, Dillon, and Helena and the Montana state university campuses at Bozeman, Billings, Havre, and Great Falls, the agricultural experiment station with central offices at Bozeman, the forest and conservation experiment station with central offices at Missoula, the cooperative extension service with central offices at Bozeman, and the bureau of mines and geology with central offices in Butte must, after the expiration of the time for which appropriated, revert to an account held by the board of regents. The board of regents is authorized to maintain a fund balance. There is a statutory appropriation, as provided in 17-7-502, to use the funds held in this account in accordance with a long-term plan for major and deferred maintenance expenditures and equipment or fixed assets purchases prepared by the affected university system units and approved by the board of regents. The affected university system units may, with the approval of the board of regents, modify the long-term plan at any time to address changing needs and priorities. The board of regents shall communicate the plan to each legislature, to the finance committee when requested by the committee, and to the office of budget and program planning.

(3)  Subsection (2) does not apply to reversions that are the result of a reduction in spending directed by the governor pursuant to 17-7-140. Any amount that is a result of a reduction in spending directed by the governor must revert to the fund or account from which it was originally appropriated.

(4)  For the 2 years following the end of a fiscal year, 30% of the money appropriated to an agency for that year by the general appropriations act for personal services, operating expenses, and equipment and remaining unexpended and unencumbered at the end of the year may be spent for any purpose that is consistent with the goals and objectives of the agency. The dollar amount of the 30% amount that may be carried forward and spent must be determined by the office of budget and program planning. (Terminates July 1, 1997--sec. 13, Ch. 23, Sp. L. November 1993.)

17-7-304.  (Effective July 1, 1997) Disposal of unexpended appropriations. (1) All money appropriated for any specific purpose except that appropriated for the university system units listed in subsection (2) must, after the expiration of the time for which appropriated, revert to the several funds and accounts from which originally appropriated. However, any unexpended balance in any specific appropriation may be used for the years for which the appropriation was made or may be used to fund the provisions of 2-18-1203 through 2-18-1205 and 19-2-706 in the succeeding year.

(2)  Except as provided in 17-2-108 and subsection (3) of this section, all money appropriated for the university of Montana campuses at Missoula, Butte, Dillon, and Helena and the Montana state university campuses at Bozeman, Billings, Havre, and Great Falls, the agricultural experiment station with central offices at Bozeman, the forest and conservation experiment station with central offices at Missoula, the cooperative extension service with central offices at Bozeman, and the bureau of mines and geology with central offices in Butte must, after the expiration of the time for which appropriated, revert to an account held by the board of regents. The board of regents is authorized to maintain a fund balance. There is a statutory appropriation, as provided in 17-7-502, to use the funds held in this account in accordance with a long-term plan for major and deferred maintenance expenditures and equipment or fixed assets purchases prepared by the affected university system units and approved by the board of regents. The affected university system units may, with the approval of the board of regents, modify the long-term plan at any time to address changing needs and priorities. The board of regents shall communicate the plan to each legislature, to the finance committee when requested by the committee, and to the office of budget and program planning.

(3)  Subsection (2) does not apply to reversions that are the result of a reduction in spending directed by the governor pursuant to 17-7-140. Any amount that is a result of a reduction in spending directed by the governor must revert to the fund or account from which it was originally appropriated."



Section 3.  Section 19-2-706, MCA, is amended to read:

"19-2-706.   Additional service for member involuntarily terminated from membership service. (1) An employee of the state or university system is entitled to the involuntary termination provision provided in subsection (2) (3) if:

(a)  the employee is a member of the public employees', game wardens', sheriffs', or highway patrol officers' retirement system;

(b)   the employee's active service is involuntarily terminated because of elimination of the employee's position as a result of privatization, reorganization of an agency, closure of or a reduction in force at an agency, or other actions by the legislature on or after January 1, 1995, but before July 1, 1997 1999;

(c)  the employee is eligible for a normal service retirement or early retirement under the applicable provisions of the retirement system to which the member belongs; and

(d)  the employee waives termination benefits for which the employee would otherwise be eligible under the State Employee Protection Act.

(2) The cost of each year of service purchased under this section is the total actuarial cost of purchasing the service based on the most recent actuarial valuation of the retirement system.

(2) (3)  The employer of an eligible member under subsection (1) shall pay a portion of the total cost of purchasing up to 3 years of additional service that the member was qualified to purchase under 19-3-513, 19-6-804, 19-7-804, or 19-8-904. The employer-paid portion applied toward the service purchase must be calculated using the formula A x B x C when:

(a) A is equal to a maximum of 3 additional years of service that the member is eligible to purchase;

(b) B is equal to the sum of the employer and employee contribution rates in the member's retirement system; and

(c) C is equal to the member's gross compensation paid during the immediate preceding 12 months of membership service. The employer may not be charged more than the total actuarial cost of the service purchased by the terminated employee.

(4) The member shall pay the difference, if any, between the full actuarial cost of the service to be purchased and the amount contributed by the employer under subsection (3). A member is entitled to a refund for that portion of previously purchased additional service that would otherwise cause the member to be unqualified to receive all or part of the additional service provided in this section. A member may elect to purchase less than the full amount of service for which the member is eligible under this section, but the election may not reduce the amount of the employer's contribution as calculated under subsection (3).

(3)  A retired member who was involuntarily terminated because of a reduction in force on or after January 1, 1995, but before April 21, 1995, and whose effective date of retirement was before April 21, 1995, is eligible for the involuntary termination benefits described in this section if a properly completed application for those benefits is received by the division on or before June 1, 1995.

(4)(5)  The board may allow an employer to pay the contributions required under subsection (2) (3) in installments for up to 10 years and may charge interest at a rate set by the board pursuant to 19-2-403.

(5)(6)  A member who has received additional service under this section and who returns to employment for the same jurisdiction for 600 or more hours in a calendar year forfeits the additional service. The employer's contribution to purchase that member's additional service, minus any retirement benefits already paid, must be refunded to the employer. As used in this subsection, the same jurisdiction means all agencies of the state, including the university system."



NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Appropriation. There is appropriated $39,408 from the general fund to the department of labor and industry for each of the fiscal years 1998 and 1999 to fund the job registry established in 2-18-1203.



NEW SECTION. Section 5.  Coordination instruction. If Senate Bill No. 78 and [this act] are passed and approved, a person who elects to receive benefits under the provisions of [this act] is ineligible to receive a severance payment under the provisions of Senate Bill No. 78.



NEW SECTION. Section 6.  Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 1997.

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