SENATE BILL NO. 289
INTRODUCED BY J. TESTER, DOHERTY, EKEGREN, FRANKLIN, GALVIN-HALCRO, GOLIE, HARGROVE, LEE, MANGAN, MCKENNEY, RIPLEY, ROUSH, RYAN, SCHMIDT, TROPILA, WHITAKER, CALLAHAN
AN ACT PROVIDING THAT ALL NEW NATIONAL GUARD FIREFIGHTERS MUST BE COVERED BY THE FIREFIGHTERS' UNIFIED RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AMENDING SECTIONS 19-13-104, 19-13-210, 19-13-212, 19-13-605, 19-13-805, AND 19-13-1007, MCA; AND PROVIDING EFFECTIVE DATES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 19-13-104, MCA, is amended to read:
"19-13-104. Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply in this chapter:
(1) Any reference to "city" or "town" includes those jurisdictions that, before the effective date of a county-municipal consolidation, were incorporated municipalities, subsequent districts created for urban firefighting services, or the entire county included in the county-municipal consolidation.
(2) "Compensation" means:
(a) for a full-paid firefighter, the regular remuneration, excluding overtime, holiday payments, shift differential payments, compensatory time payments, and payments in lieu of sick leave, paid for the firefighter's service as a firefighter out of funds controlled by an employer before any pretax deductions allowed under the Internal Revenue Code have been made;
(b) for a part-paid firefighter employed by a city of the second class:
(i) 15% of the regular remuneration, excluding overtime, holiday payments, shift differential payments, compensatory time payments, and payments in lieu of sick leave, paid on July 1 of each year to a newly confirmed, full-paid firefighter of the city that employs the part-paid firefighter; or
(ii) if that city does not employ a full-paid firefighter, 15% of the average regular remuneration, excluding overtime, holiday payments, shift differential payments, compensatory time payments, and payments in lieu of sick leave, paid on July 1 of each year to all newly confirmed, full-paid firefighters employed by cities of the second class.
(3) "Dependent child" means a child of a deceased member who is:
(a) unmarried and under age 18 years of age; or
(b) unmarried, under age 24 years of age, and attending an accredited postsecondary educational institution as a
full-time student in anticipation of receiving a certificate or degree.
(4) "Employer" means any city that is of the first or second class or that elects to join this retirement system under 19-13-211 or, with respect to firefighters covered in the retirement system pursuant to 19-13-210(2), the department of military affairs established in 2-15-1201.
(5) "Final average compensation" means the monthly compensation of a member averaged over the last 36 months of the member's active service or, if the member has not been a member that long, over the period of the member's service. Lump-sum payments for annual leave paid to the member upon termination of service may be used to replace, on a month-for-month basis, the normal compensation for a month or months included in the calculation of final average compensation.
(6) "Firefighter" means a person employed as a full-paid or part-paid firefighter by an employer.
(7) "Full-paid firefighter" means a person appointed as a firefighter under 7-33-4106.
(8) "Minimum retirement date" means the first day of the month coinciding with or immediately following, if none coincides, the date on which a member becomes both age 50 or older and completes 5 or more years of membership service.
(9) "Part-paid firefighter" means a person employed under 7-33-4109 who receives compensation in excess of $300 a year for service as a firefighter.
(10) "Prior plan" means the fire department relief association plan of a city that elects to join the retirement system under 19-13-211 or the fire department relief association plan of a city of the first or second class.
(11) "Retirement date" means the date on which the first payment of benefits is payable.
(12) "Retirement system" means the firefighters' unified retirement system provided for in this chapter.
(13) "Surviving spouse" means the spouse married to a member at the time of the member's death."
Section 2. Section 19-13-210, MCA, is amended to read:
"19-13-210. Participation in retirement system by first- and second-class cities. (1) Cities of the first and second
class that employ full-paid firefighters shall participate in the retirement system. If a city of the first or second class is
reduced to a city of the third class or a town under 7-1-4118, it shall continue to participate in the retirement system as long
as it has retired firefighters or survivors eligible to receive retirement benefits.
(2) Firefighters hired by the Montana air national guard on or after October 1, 2001, or on or after [the effective date of this act], whichever is later, shall participate in the retirement system."
Section 3. Section 19-13-212, MCA, is amended to read:
"19-13-212. Termination of participation in retirement system or reduction of employer contributions. (1) If a
city an employer voluntarily terminates its contributions in the retirement system or significantly reduces the number of
full-paid firefighters it employs to a degree that, in the board's opinion, inadequately funds the accrued or accruing benefits
of retirement system members, the board shall request as part of the required actuarial valuation an actuarial investigation
of the funding status of the city employer.
(2) Based on the actuarial investigation, the board may request and the city employer shall pay annually the amount
determined to be necessary to provide adequate funding for the liabilities of the city employer. This amount must be in
addition to any other contributions required by the retirement act.
(3) Six years after the actuarial investigation is conducted, a city an employer making payments as provided in
subsection (2) may request the board to review the city's employer's funding status relative to the annual payments. As a
result of the review, the board may adjust the payments."
Section 4. Section 19-13-605, MCA, is amended to read:
"19-13-605. Employer contribution. Each employer shall make its contribution on behalf of members through the city
treasurer or other appropriate official from money available to the city for this purpose. The employer's contribution is
14.36% of the total compensation paid to members. All contributions are payable monthly to the board, which shall, as
soon as practicable after their receipt, deposit them in the pension trust fund."
Section 5. Section 19-13-805, MCA, is amended to read:
"19-13-805. Reinstatement upon termination of benefit. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(c), a member whose disability retirement benefit is canceled as provided in 19-13-804 must be reinstated to the position held by the member immediately before the member's retirement or to a position in a comparable pay and benefit category with duties within the member's capacity if an appropriate vacancy exists within the member's fire department. The board shall advise the employer that the disability retirement benefit has been canceled and that the inactive member is eligible for reinstatement to duty. The fact that the member was retired for disability may not prejudice any right to reinstatement to duty that the inactive member may have or claim to have.
(b) If an appropriate vacancy does not exist within an inactive member's fire department when the member's disability benefit is canceled under 19-13-804, the member's benefit must be reinstated until a vacancy occurs.
(c) This section does not affect any requirement that the former employee meet or be able to meet professional certification and licensing standards unrelated to the disability and necessary for reinstatement.
(2) The city employer may request a medical or psychological review as to the ability of the member to return to work
as a firefighter. If the board's findings are upheld, the city employer shall pay the costs of the review.
(3) If the inactive member again becomes an active member by returning to active work for an employer within 30 days following receipt of notice under 19-13-804, the member is considered to have been continuously employed during the term of the member's disability. If the inactive member fails to become an active member by returning to active work for an employer within 30 days following receipt of this notice, the member's termination of employment is considered to have occurred as of the member's disability retirement date and the retirement benefit, if any, to which the member becomes entitled on the member's service retirement must be determined accordingly."
Section 6. Section 19-13-1007, MCA, is amended to read:
"19-13-1007. Minimum benefit adjustment. (1) The following applies to a member with 10 or more years of service who has not elected to be covered under 19-13-1010:
(a) For the member or the member's surviving spouse or dependent children, the service retirement benefit provided in
19-13-704, the disability retirement benefit provided in 19-13-803, and the survivorship benefit provided in 19-13-902 may
not be less than one-half the monthly compensation paid to a newly confirmed, active firefighter of a city the employer that
last employed the member as a firefighter, as provided each year in the budget of that city employer.
(b) If after a member retires, the city employer that last employed the member no longer employs a full-paid firefighter,
the member's or survivor's benefit under subsection (1)(a) must be adjusted on the basis of the average monthly
compensation paid to all newly confirmed full-paid firefighters, as provided each year in the budgets of those cities
employers that participate in the retirement system and employ a full-paid firefighter.
(2) If the employment of a vested member hired before July 1, 1981, who has not elected to be covered under
19-13-1010 is involuntarily discontinued because of the termination of employment of all full-paid firefighters in of the city
employer that employed the member, the member's service retirement benefit provided in 19-13-704 and the member's
spouse's or dependent child's survivorship benefit provided in 19-13-902(1) may not be less than:
(a) if the member has earned 20 years or more of membership service, one-half the average monthly compensation paid
to all newly confirmed, full-paid firefighters, as provided each year in the budgets of those cities employers that participate
in the retirement system and employ a full-paid firefighter; or
(b) if the member has earned more than 5 but less than 20 years of membership service, 2.5% of the average monthly
compensation paid to all newly confirmed, full-paid firefighters, as provided each year in the budgets of those cities
employers that participate in the retirement system and employ a full-paid firefighter, for each year of the member's
service."
Section 7. Contingent effective date. [This act] is effective contingent on the execution of an agreement between the department of military affairs and the public employees' retirement board establishing that employer contributions for all firefighters hired by the Montana air national guard pursuant to [section 2] will be paid with federal funds passed through the department of military affairs and remitted to the firefighters' unified retirement system in a manner prescribed by the public employees' retirement board. The board shall notify the secretary of state and the code commissioner when this contingency is met.
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