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| SPONSOR: | Sanchez | DATE TYPED: | 02/14/99 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Civilian Prisoners Purchase of Service | SB | 235 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Eaton | ||||||
| Subsequent
Years Impact |
Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||
| FY99 | FY2000 | |||
| $ unknown | PERA Retirement | |||
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico (PERA)
Sharon Taylor, Department of Military Affairs; JAG (Judge Advocate General) Counsel
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
This bill would allow state employees with five years of employment history with the state, who were civilian employees of, or contracted with, the federal government, and who were captured during times of war, to purchase up to five years of service credit for the time they were held in captivity. Aggregate service credit purchased will not exceed five years.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) believes the contribution rates and purchase cost as defined in this bill would have a negative impact on the PERA fund. An actuarial amount of this impact is not know at this time. Assuming that this legislation would only apply to a small number of individuals, the impact will not significantly impact the PERA retirement fund.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The Public Employees Retirement Association expresses concern about the language in this proposed legislation. The United States has not used the word war to describe military actions since 1941. However, the prisoner of war designation encompasses all persons captured during conflict including but not limited to: police actions (technical description of the Vietnam conflict), periods of heightened security, states of emergency, United Nations and NATO missions, and terrorist activities.
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