Directs the Public Employees Retirement Board to study the treatment of the salary of chaplains under the Public Employees Retirement System.

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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
Senate Bill 1087
Sponsored by Senator GORSEK
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced. The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: The Act tells the PERB to study the salary of chaplains and make a report. The Act
makes some groups of workers police officers for PERS. (Flesch Readability Score: 79.7).
Directs the Public Employees Retirement Board to study the treatment of the salary of chaplains
under the Public Employees Retirement System.
Provides that certain members of the system qualify as police officers under the system.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to public employee retirement; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 238.005.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1.
The Public Employees Retirement Board shall study the treatment of the
salary of chaplains under the Public Employees Retirement System. The board shall submit
a report in the manner provided by ORS 192.245, and may include recommendations for leg-
islation, to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to general govern-
ment no later than September 15, 2026.
SECTION 2. Section 1 of this 2025 Act is repealed on January 2, 2027.
SECTION 3. ORS 238.005, as amended by section 1, chapter 101, Oregon Laws 2024, is amended
to read:
238.005. For purposes of this chapter:
(1) “Active member” means a member who is presently employed by a participating public em-
ployer in a qualifying position and who has completed the six-month period of service required by
ORS 238.015.
(2) “Annuity” means payments for life derived from contributions made by a member as provided
in this chapter.
(3) “Board” means the Public Employees Retirement Board.
(4) “Calendar year” means 12 calendar months commencing on January 1 and ending on De-
cember 31 following.
(5) “Continuous service” means service not interrupted for more than five years, except that
such continuous service shall be computed without regard to interruptions in the case of:
(a) An employee who had returned to the service of the employer as of January 1, 1945, and
who remained in that employment until having established membership in the Public Employees
Retirement System.
(b) An employee who was in the armed services on January 1, 1945, and returned to the service
of the employer within one year of the date of being otherwise than dishonorably discharged and
remained in that employment until having established membership in the Public Employees Retire-
ment System.
NOTE: Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [ italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 4213
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(6) “Creditable service” means any period of time during which an active member is being paid
a salary by a participating public employer and for which benefits under this chapter are funded by
employer contributions and earnings on the fund. For purposes of computing years of “creditable
service,” full months and major fractions of a month shall be considered to be one-twelfth of a year
and shall be added to all full years. “Creditable service” includes all retirement credit received by
a member.
(7) “Earliest service retirement age” means the age attained by a member when the member
could first make application for retirement under the provisions of ORS 238.280.
(8) “Employee” means a person who performs services for a participating public employer, in-
cluding persons considered employees of a participating public employer under 26 U.S.C. 3121(d)(2),
as in effect on December 31, 2019, and public officers. “Employee” does not include:
(a) Persons engaged as independent contractors.
(b) Seasonal, emergency or casual workers whose periods of employment with any public em-
ployer or public employers do not total 600 hours in any calendar year.
(c) Persons provided sheltered employment or made-work by a public employer in an employment
or industries program maintained for the benefit of such persons.
(d) Persons employed and paid from federal funds received under a federal program intended
primarily to alleviate unemployment. However, any such person shall be considered an “employee”
if not otherwise excluded by paragraphs (a) to (c) of this subsection and the public employer elects
to have the person so considered by an irrevocable written notice to the board.
(e) Persons who are employees of a railroad, as defined in ORS 824.020, and who, as such em-
ployees, are included in a retirement plan under federal railroad retirement statutes. This paragraph
shall be deemed to have been in effect since the inception of the system.
(f) Persons employed in positions classified as post-doctoral scholar positions by a public uni-
versity listed in ORS 352.002, or by the Oregon Health and Science University, under ORS 350.370.
(9) “Final average salary” means whichever of the following is greater:
(a) The average salary per calendar year paid by one or more participating public employers to
an employee who is an active member of the system in three of the calendar years of membership
before the effective date of retirement of the employee, in which three years the employee was paid
the highest salary. The three calendar years in which the employee was paid the largest total salary
may include calendar years in which the employee was employed for less than a full calendar year.
If the number of calendar years of active membership before the effective date of retirement of the
employee is three or fewer, the final average salary for the employee is the average salary per cal-
endar year paid by one or more participating public employers to the employee in all of those years,
without regard to whether the employee was employed for the full calendar year.
(b) One-third of the total salary paid by a participating public employer to an employee who is
an active member of the system in the last 36 calendar months of active membership before the ef-
fective date of retirement of the employee.
(10) “Firefighter” does not include a volunteer firefighter, but does include:
(a) The State Fire Marshal, the chief deputy fire marshal and deputy state fire marshals;
(b) An employee of the State Fire Marshal whose primary duties include fire investigation, fire
prevention, fire safety, fire control or fire suppression;
(c) An employee of the State Forestry Department who is certified by the State Forester as a
professional wildland firefighter and whose primary duties include the abatement of uncontrolled
fires as described in ORS 477.064; and
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(d) An employee of the Oregon Military Department whose primary duties include fighting
structural, aircraft, wildland or other fires.
(11) “Fiscal year” means 12 calendar months commencing on July 1 and ending on June 30 fol-
lowing.
(12) “Fund” means the Public Employees Retirement Fund.
(13) “Inactive member” means a member who is not employed in a qualifying position, whose
membership has not been terminated in the manner described by ORS 238.095 and who is not retired
for service or disability.
(14) “Institution of higher education” means a public university listed in ORS 352.002, the
Oregon Health and Science University and a community college, as defined in ORS 341.005.
(15) “Member” means a person who has established membership in the system and whose mem-
bership has not been terminated as described in ORS 238.095. “Member” includes active, inactive
and retired members.
(16) “Member account” means the regular account and the variable account.
(17) “Normal retirement age” means:
(a) For a person who establishes membership in the system before January 1, 1996, as described
in ORS 238.430, 55 years of age if the employee retires at that age as a police officer or firefighter
or 58 years of age if the employee retires at that age as other than a police officer or firefighter.
(b) For a person who establishes membership in the system on or after January 1, 1996, as de-
scribed in ORS 238.430, 55 years of age if the employee retires at that age as a police officer or
firefighter or 60 years of age if the employee retires at that age as other than a police officer or
firefighter.
(18) “Pension” means annual payments for life derived from contributions by one or more public
employers.
(19) “Police officer” includes:
(a) Employees of institutions defined in ORS 421.005 as Department of Corrections institutions
whose duties, as assigned by the Director of the Department of Corrections, include the custody of
persons committed to the custody of or transferred to the Department of Corrections and employees
of the Department of Corrections who were classified as police officers on or before July 27, 1989,
whether or not such classification was authorized by law.
(b) Employees of the Department of State Police who are classified as police officers, forensic
scientists or evidence technicians by the Superintendent of State Police.
(c) Employees of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission who are classified as regulatory
specialists by the administrator of the commission.
(d) Sheriffs and those deputy sheriffs or other employees of a sheriff whose duties, as classified
by the sheriff, are the regular duties of police officers or corrections officers.
(e) Police chiefs and police personnel of a city who are classified as police officers by the
council or other governing body of the city.
(f) Police officers who are commissioned by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 and who
are classified as police officers by the university.
(g) Parole and probation officers employed by the Department of Corrections, parole and pro-
bation officers who are transferred to county employment under ORS 423.549 and adult parole and
probation officers, as defined in ORS 181A.355, who are classified as police officers for the purposes
of this chapter by the county governing body. If a county classifies adult parole and probation offi-
cers as police officers for the purposes of this chapter, and the employees so classified are repres-
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ented by a labor organization, any proposal by the county to change that classification or to cease
to classify adult parole and probation officers as police officers for the purposes of this chapter is
a mandatory subject of bargaining.
(h) Police officers appointed under ORS 276.021 or 276.023.
(i) Employees of the Port of Portland who are classified as airport police by the Board of Com-
missioners of the Port of Portland.
(j) Employees of the State Department of Agriculture who are classified as livestock police of-
ficers by the Director of Agriculture.
(k) Employees of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training who are classified by
the department as other than secretarial or clerical personnel.
(L) Investigators of the Criminal Justice Division of the Department of Justice.
(m) Corrections officers as defined in ORS 181A.355.
(n) Employees of the Oregon State Lottery Commission who are classified by the Director of the
Oregon State Lottery as enforcement agents pursuant to ORS 461.110.
(o) The Director of the Department of Corrections.
(p) An employee who for seven consecutive years has been classified as a police officer as de-
fined by this section, and who is employed or transferred by the Department of Corrections to fill
a position designated by the Director of the Department of Corrections as being eligible for police
officer status.
(q) An employee of the Department of Corrections classified as a police officer on or prior to
July 27, 1989, whether or not that classification was authorized by law, as long as the employee
remains in the position held on July 27, 1989. The initial classification of an employee under a sys-
tem implemented pursuant to ORS 240.190 does not affect police officer status.
(r) Employees of a school district who are appointed and duly sworn members of a law
enforcement agency of the district as provided in ORS 332.531 or otherwise employed full-time as
police officers commissioned by the district.
(s) Employees at youth correction facilities and juvenile detention facilities under ORS 419A.050,
419A.052 and 420.005 to 420.915 who are required to hold valid Oregon teaching licenses and who
have supervisory, control or teaching responsibilities over juveniles committed to the custody of the
Department of Corrections or the Oregon Youth Authority.
(t) Employees at youth correction facilities as defined in ORS 420.005 whose primary job de-
scription involves the custody, control, treatment, investigation or supervision of juveniles placed
in such facilities.
(u) Employees of the Oregon Youth Authority who are classified as juvenile parole and pro-
bation officers.
(v) Counselors of a county juvenile department who are charged with and primarily per-
form the duties described in ORS 419A.012 and 419A.016.
[(v)] (w) Employees of the Department of Human Services who are prohibited from striking un-
der ORS 243.726 and whose duties include the care of residents of residential facilities, as defined
in ORS 443.400, that house individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
[(w)] (x) Employees appointed as judicial marshals under ORS 1.177 who are certified under ORS
181A.540.
[(x)] (y) Certified parole and probation officers employed by the State Board of Parole and
Post-Prison Supervision.
[(y)] (z) District attorneys and deputy district attorneys.
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(aa) Assistant attorneys general in the division of the Department of Justice responsible
for the prosecution of criminal matters.
(bb) Employees of a county sheriff, a municipal police department, a police department
established by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 or the Department of State Police
who are responsible for obtaining, classifying and verifying fingerprints using electronic or
manual methods.
(cc) Force protection officers employed by the Oregon Military Department whose duties
include patrolling and protecting state and federal property, personnel and essential military
operational resources on an Oregon Air National Guard installation.
(20) “Prior service credit” means credit provided under ORS 238.442 or under ORS 238.225 (2)
to (6) (1999 Edition).
(21) “Public employer” means the state, one of its agencies or any city, county, municipal or
public corporation, political subdivision of the state or instrumentality thereof, or an agency created
by one or more such governmental organizations to provide governmental services. For purposes of
this chapter, such agency created by one or more governmental organizations is a governmental
instrumentality and a legal entity with power to enter into contracts, hold property and sue and be
sued.
(22) “Qualifying position” means one or more jobs with one or more participating public em-
ployers in which an employee performs 600 or more hours of service in a full calendar year, or
would perform 600 or more hours of service if the employee were employed for the full calendar
year, excluding any service in a job for which a participating public employer does not provide
benefits under this chapter pursuant to an application made under ORS 238.035.
(23) “Regular account” means the account established for each active and inactive member un-
der ORS 238.250.
(24) “Retired member” means a member who is retired for service or disability.
(25) “Retirement credit” means a period of time that is treated as creditable service for the
purposes of this chapter.
(26)(a) “Salary” means the remuneration paid an employee in cash out of the funds of a public
employer in return for services to the employer, plus the monetary value, as determined by the
Public Employees Retirement Board, of whatever living quarters, board, lodging, fuel, laundry and
other advantages the employer furnishes the employee in return for services.
(b) “Salary” includes but is not limited to:
(A) Payments of employee and employer money into a deferred compensation plan, which are
deemed salary paid in each month of deferral;
(B) The amount of participation in a tax-sheltered or deferred annuity, which is deemed salary
paid in each month of participation;
(C) Retroactive payments described in ORS 238.008;
(D) Wages of a deceased member paid to a surviving spouse or dependent children under ORS
652.190; and
(E) The full amount of required employee contributions under ORS 238A.330 that are paid by the
employer on behalf of its employees under ORS 238A.335 (2)(b), solely for the purpose of computing
a member’s final average salary, and not for any other purpose.
(c) “Salary” or “other advantages” does not include:
(A) Travel or any other expenses incidental to employer’s business which is reimbursed by the
employer;
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(B) Payments for insurance coverage by an employer on behalf of employee or employee and
dependents, for which the employee has no cash option;
(C) Payments made on account of an employee’s death;
(D) Any lump sum payment for accumulated unused sick leave;
(E) Any accelerated payment of an employment contract for a future period or an advance
against future wages;
(F) Any retirement incentive, retirement severance pay, retirement bonus or retirement
gratuitous payment;
(G) Payments for periods of leave of absence after the date the employer and employee have
agreed that no future services qualifying pursuant to ORS 238.015 (3) will be performed, except for
sick leave and vacation;
(H) Payments for instructional services rendered to public universities listed in ORS 352.002 or
the Oregon Health and Science University when such services are in excess of full-time employment
subject to this chapter. A person employed under a contract for less than 12 months is subject to
this subparagraph only for the months to which the contract pertains;
(I) Payments made by an employer for insurance coverage provided to a domestic partner of an
employee;
(J) Compensation described and authorized under ORS 341.556 that is not paid by the community
college employing the faculty member;
(K) Compensation described and authorized under ORS 352.232 that is not paid by the public
university employing the officer or employee;
(L) Compensation described and authorized under ORS 353.270 that is not paid by Oregon Health
and Science University; or
(M) For years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, any amount in excess of $195,000 for a
calendar year. If any period over which salary is determined is less than 12 months, the $195,000
limitation for that period shall be multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number
of months in the determination period and the denominator of which is 12. On January 1 of each
year, the board shall adjust the dollar limit provided by this subparagraph to reflect any percentage
changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as pub-
lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.
(27) “School year” means the period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 next following.
(28) “System” means the Public Employees Retirement System.
(29) “Variable account” means the account established for a member who participates in the
Variable Annuity Account under ORS 238.260.
(30) “Vested” means being an active member of the system in each of five calendar years.
(31) “Volunteer firefighter” means a firefighter whose position normally requires less than 600
hours of service per year.
SECTION 4.
(1) The amendments to ORS 238.005 by section 3 of this 2025 Act apply only
to a person who:
(a)(A) Is employed as a counselor of a county juvenile department who is charged with
and primarily performs the duties described in ORS 419A.012 and 419A.016 on the effective
date of this 2025 Act; or
(B) Becomes employed as a counselor of a county juvenile department who is charged
with and primarily performs the duties described in ORS 419A.012 and 419A.016 after the ef-
fective date of this 2025 Act;
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(b)(A) Is employed as an assistant attorney general in the division of the Department of
Justice responsible for the prosecution of criminal matters on the effective date of this 2025
Act; or
(B) Becomes employed as an assistant attorney general in the division of the Department
of Justice responsible for the prosecution of criminal matters after the effective date of this
2025 Act;
(c)(A) Is employed by a county sheriff, a municipal police department, a police depart-
ment established by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 or the Department of State
Police to be responsible for obtaining, classifying and verifying fingerprints using electronic
or manual methods on the effective date of this 2025 Act; or
(B) Becomes employed by a county sheriff, a municipal police department, a police de-
partment established by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 or the Department of
State Police to be responsible for obtaining, classifying and verifying fingerprints using
electronic or manual methods after the effective date of this 2025 Act; or
(d)(A) Is employed as a force protection officer of the Oregon Military Department whose
duties include patrolling and protecting state and federal property, personnel and essential
military operational resources on an Oregon Air National Guard installation on the effective
date of this 2025 Act; or
(B) Becomes employed as a force protection officer of the Oregon Military Department
whose duties include patrolling and protecting state and federal property, personnel and es-
sential military operational resources on an Oregon Air National Guard installation after the
effective date of this 2025 Act.
(2)(a) A person who is employed as a counselor of a county juvenile department who is
charged with and primarily performs the duties described in ORS 419A.012 and 419A.016 on
or after the effective date of this 2025 Act is entitled to service under the Public Employees
Retirement System as a police officer only for service performed as a counselor of a county
juvenile department who is charged with and primarily performs the duties described in ORS
419A.012 and 419A.016 on or after the effective date of this 2025 Act.
(b) A person who is employed as an assistant attorney general in the division of the De-
partment of Justice responsible for the prosecution of criminal matters on or after the ef-
fective date of this 2025 Act is entitled to service under the Public Employees Retirement
System as a police officer only for service performed as an assistant attorney general in the
division of the Department of Justice responsible for the prosecution of criminal matters on
or after the effective date of this 2025 Act.
(c) A person who is employed by a county sheriff, a municipal police department, a police
department established by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 or the Department of
State Police to be responsible for obtaining, classifying and verifying fingerprints using
electronic or manual methods on or after the effective date of this 2025 Act is entitled to
service under the Public Employees Retirement System as a police officer only for service
performed as a person employed by a county sheriff, a municipal police department, a police
department established by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 or the Department of
State Police to be responsible for obtaining, classifying and verifying fingerprints using
electronic or manual methods on or after the effective date of this 2025 Act.
(d) A person who is employed as a force protection officer of the Oregon Military De-
partment whose duties include patrolling and protecting state and federal property, person-
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nel and essential military operational resources on an Oregon Air National Guard installation
on or after the effective date of this 2025 Act is entitled to service under the Public Em-
ployees Retirement System as a police officer only for service performed as a force pro-
tection officer of the Oregon Military Department whose duties include patrolling and
protecting state and federal property, personnel and essential military operational resources
on an Oregon Air National Guard installation on or after the effective date of this 2025 Act.
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