SENATE BILL 384

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEES; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT TO INCLUDE CERTAIN SPECIAL HOSPITAL DISTRICTS AS PUBLIC EMPLOYERS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 10-11-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987, Chapter 253, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "10-11-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public Employees Retirement Act:

          A. "accumulated member contributions" means the amounts deducted from the salary of a member and credited to the member's individual account, together with interest, if any, credited to that account;

          B. "affiliated public employer" means the state and any public employer affiliated with the association as provided in the Public Employees Retirement Act, but does not include an employer pursuant to the Magistrate Retirement Act, the Judicial Retirement Act or the Educational Retirement Act;

          C. "association" means the public employees retirement association established under the Public Employees Retirement Act;

          D. "disability retired member" means a retired member who is receiving a pension pursuant to the disability retirement provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act;

          E. "disability retirement pension" means the pension paid pursuant to the disability retirement provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act;

          F. "educational retirement system" means that retirement system provided for in the Educational Retirement Act;

          G. "employee" means any employee of an affiliated public employer;

          H. "federal social security program" means that program or those programs created and administered pursuant to the act of congress approved August 14, 1935, Chapter 531, 49 Stat. 620, as that act may be amended;

          I. "final average salary" means the final average salary calculated in accordance with the provisions of the applicable coverage plan;

          J. "form of payment" means the applicable form of payment of a pension provided for in Section 10-11-117 NMSA 1978;

          K. "former member" means a person who was previously employed by an affiliated public employer, who has terminated that employment and who has received a refund of member contributions;

          L. "fund" means the funds included under the Public Employees Retirement Act;

          M. "member" means a currently employed, contributing employee of an affiliated public employer, or a person who has been but is not currently employed by an affiliated public employer, who has not retired and who has not received a refund of member contributions; "member" also includes the following:

                (1) "adult correctional officer member" means a member who is employed as an adult correctional officer or an adult correctional officer specialist by a state correctional facility of the corrections department or its successor agency;

                (2) "juvenile correctional officer member" means a member who is employed as a juvenile correctional officer by the children, youth and families department or its successor agency;

                (3) "municipal detention officer member" means a member who is employed by an affiliated public employer other than the state and who has inmate custodial responsibilities at a facility used for the confinement of persons charged with or convicted of a violation of a law or ordinance;

                (4) "municipal fire member" means any member who is employed as a full-time nonvolunteer firefighter by an affiliated public employer and who has taken the oath prescribed for firefighters;

                (5) "municipal police member" means any member who is employed as a police officer by an affiliated public employer, other than the state, and who has taken the oath prescribed for police officers; and

                (6) "state police member" means a member who is an officer of the New Mexico state police and who has taken the oath prescribed for such officers, except that a state police member shall not include a member who is an officer of the New Mexico state police division and who was certified and commissioned as of June 30, 2015 in the former motor transportation division or the former special investigations division of the department of public safety;

          N. "membership" means membership in the association;

          O. "pension" means a series of monthly payments to a retired member or survivor beneficiary as provided in the Public Employees Retirement Act;

          P. "public employer" means the state, any municipality, city, county, metropolitan arroyo flood control authority, economic development district, special hospital district, regional housing authority, soil and water conservation district, entity created pursuant to a joint powers agreement, council of government, conservancy district, irrigation district, water and sanitation district, water district and metropolitan water board, including the boards, departments, bureaus and agencies of a public employer, so long as these entities fall within the meaning of governmental plan as that term is used in Section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

          Q. "refund beneficiary" means a person designated by the member, in writing, in the form prescribed by the association, as the person who would be refunded the member's accumulated member contributions payable if the member dies and no survivor pension is payable or who would receive the difference between pension paid and accumulated member contributions if the retired member dies before receiving in pension payments the amount of the accumulated member contributions;

          R. "retire" means to:

                (1) terminate employment with all employers covered by any state system or the educational retirement system; and

                (2) receive a pension from a state system or the educational retirement system;

          S. "retired member" means a person who has met all requirements for retirement and who is receiving a pension from the fund;

          T. "retirement board" means the retirement board provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act;

          U. "salary" means the base salary or wages paid a member, including longevity pay, for personal services rendered an affiliated public employer. "Salary" shall not include overtime pay, allowances for housing, clothing, equipment or travel, payments for unused sick leave, unless the unused sick leave payment is made through continuation of the member on the regular payroll for the period represented by that payment, and any other form of remuneration not specifically designated by law as included in salary for Public Employees Retirement Act purposes. Salary in excess of the limitations set forth in Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall be disregarded. The limitation on compensation for eligible employees shall not be less than the amount that was allowed to be taken into account under the state retirement system acts in effect on July 1, 1993. For purposes of this subsection, "eligible employee" means an individual who was a member of a state system before the first plan year beginning after December 31, 1995;

          V. "state system" means the retirement programs provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act, the Magistrate Retirement Act and the Judicial Retirement Act;

          W. "state retirement system acts" means collectively the Public Employees Retirement Act, the Magistrate Retirement Act, the Judicial Retirement Act and the Volunteer Firefighters Retirement Act; and

          X. "survivor beneficiary" means a person who receives a pension or who has been designated to be paid a pension as a result of the death of a member or retired member."

     SECTION 2. Section 10-11-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987, Chapter 253, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "10-11-3. MEMBERSHIP--REQUIREMENTS--EXCLUSIONS--

TERMINATION.--

          A. Except as may be provided for in the Volunteer Firefighters Retirement Act, the Judicial Retirement Act, the Magistrate Retirement Act, the Educational Retirement Act and the provisions of Sections 29-4-1 through 29-4-11 NMSA 1978 governing the state police pension fund, each employee and elected official of every affiliated public employer shall be a member of the association, unless excluded from membership in accordance with Subsection B of this section.

          B. The following employees and elected officials are excluded from membership in the association:

                (1) elected officials who file with the association a written application for exemption from membership within twenty-four months of taking office;

                (2) elected officials who file with the association a written application for exemption from membership within twenty-four months of the date the elected official's public employer becomes an affiliated public employer;

                (3) employees designated by the affiliated public employer as seasonal or student employees or as trainee participants of the federally funded and state-funded senior employment trainee program, administered by the aging and long-term services department;

                (4) employees who file with the association a written application for exemption from membership within thirty days of the date the employee's public employer becomes an affiliated public employer;

                (5) employees of an affiliated public employer that is making contributions to a private retirement program on behalf of the employee as part of a compensation arrangement who file with the association a written application for exemption within thirty days of employment, unless the employee has previously retired under the provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act;

                (6) employees of an affiliated public employer who have retired under and are receiving a pension pursuant to the provisions of the Educational Retirement Act; [and]

                (7) retired members who return to work pursuant to Section 10-11-8 NMSA 1978 and are exempted from membership by the provisions of that section; and

                (8) employees of public employers that are special hospital districts, which special hospital districts opt not to affiliate with the association.

          C. Employees designated as seasonal and student employees shall be notified in writing by their affiliated public employer of the designation and the consequences of the designation with respect to membership, service credit and benefits. A copy of the notification shall be filed with the association within thirty days of the date of employment.

          D. An exemption from membership by an elected official shall expire at the end of the term of office for which filed.

          E. Employees and elected officials who have exempted themselves from membership may subsequently withdraw the exemption by filing a membership application; provided that an employee of a public employer that is a special hospital district shall not be permitted to file a membership application unless the special hospital district by which the employee is employed has opted to affiliate with the association. Membership shall commence the first day of the first pay period following the date the application is filed.

          F. The membership of an employee or elected official shall cease if the employee terminates employment with an affiliated public employer or the elected official leaves office and the employee or elected official requests and receives a refund of member contributions."

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