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| SPONSOR: | Maes | DATE TYPED: | 03/04/99 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Volunteer Firefighter Age Limitation | SB | 295 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Eaton | ||||||
| Subsequent
Years Impact |
Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||
| FY99 | FY2000 | |||
| $0.0* | PERA Retirement | |||
* Refer to Significant Issues below.
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill:
This bill would expand eligibility for benefits for firefighters by eliminating the age limit set for volunteer firefighters. Current law excludes membership from PERA for those firefighters whose first year of service was after they reached the age of forty-five.
Significant Issues:
Funding for member benefits is derived exclusively from the Fire Protection Fund, as volunteer firefighters are not salaried employees of the state. As this bill would increase the number of members/beneficiaries, so may the funding needs of the Fire Protection Fund.
New Mexico Constitution Article XX, Section 22 prohibits increasing retirement benefits unless they are properly funded on an actuarial sound basis (GASB 25 compliant).
The volunteer firefighter retirement fund currently needs 3.4 million in additional funding in order to become compliant with governmental accounting standard GASB 25. GASB 25 states that the minimum funding period is 40 years for fiscal years through 2006 and 30 years thereafter.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There are over ten thousand volunteer firefighters in New Mexico. PERA does not presently have information regarding the number of persons who would be added to the program if this legislation is enacted.
PERA estimates that currently $3.4 million (recurring) will be required to get the Retirement Fund into compliance. State funding in excess of this amount will be required under authority of the New Mexico Constitution if this legislation is to be compliant with the Constitution.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The administrative impact would be increased volume of service as provisional members take advantage of this opportunity.
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