State elected officials retirement.

WORKING DRAFT
2008
STATE OF
WYOMING
08LSO-0051

SENATE FILE
NO.
SF0089

State elected officials retirement.

Sponsored by:
Senator(s) Meier and Representative(s) Buchanan and Slater

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to
retirement; establishing a retirement plan for state elected officials; imposing duties on the Wyoming retirement system; specifying application and authorizing refunds from other public retirement plans; requiring a report on plan operation on an actuarial sound basis; granting rulemaking authority;

specifying application;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
801 through 9
‑
3
‑
809 are created to read:

ARTICLE 8
STATE ELECTED OFFICIAL'S RETIREMENT

9
‑
3
‑
801.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(i)

"Account" or "member account" means the state elected official's contributions and his contributions paid by the state under this article;

(ii)

"Board" or "retirement board" means the retirement board of the
Wyoming
retirement system established by W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
404;

(iii)

"Credited service" means service as a state elected official for which contributions were made and not refunded under this article;

(iv)

"Highest average salary" means the average annual salary of a state elected official for the highest paid three (3) years of continuous service;

(v)

"Regular interest" means interest compounded annually at a rate determined by the board, not exceeding the average amount of interest actually earned per annum by the retirement account;

(vi)

"Retirement account" means the account established by W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
407(a);

(vii)

"Retirement plan" means the retirement plan established for state elected officials under this article;

(viii)

"Salary" means the cash remuneration paid, including contributions required by W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
803, to an elected official;

(ix)

"State elected official" means the governor, the secretary of state, the state auditor, the state treasurer and the state superintendent of public instruction.

9
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3
‑
802.

Plan a
dministration.

(a)

T
he state elected official's retirement plan is created for the benefit of state elected
officials
as defined by W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
8
01
(a)
(
i
x).

(b)

The board shall administer the state official's retirement plan. For purposes of plan administration and except as otherwise specified by this article, the Wyoming Retirement Act shall apply to the administration of this article and all matters pertaining to the board are applicable to the retirement plan to the extent not inconsistent with this article or where the terms of the Wyoming Retirement Act can have no application. Specifically with respect to this article, the board shall have rulemaking authority in accordance with W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
409.

9
‑
3
‑
803.

State elected official's
contributions.

Each state elected official shall pay into the account ten percent (10%) of his salary to fund benefits provided under this article. Contributions required under this section shall be deducted each pay period from each elected official's salary, paid by the state for each elected official for the sole purpose of determining tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code, § 414(h) and are subject to W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
412(c).

9
‑
3
‑
804.

Employer contributions.

T
he state shall for each elected official
covered under this section, pay into the member's account a contribution equal to ten percent (10%) of the salary paid to each elected official covered under this article and may pay into the member's account any portion of the amount of the contribution required under
W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
803
. Payments under this section shall be made monthly to the account in accordance with W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
413
.
No additional contribution shall be imposed upon the state for benefits provided state elected officials under this article.

9
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3
‑
805.

Age of retirement.

A state elected official is eligible for retirement under this article when he has been elected to statewide office, has
not less than four (4) years of statewide service
as a
state
elected official
to his credit and is at least sixty (60) years of age.

9
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3
‑
806.

Amount of benefit; election for refunds of contributions; benefit adjustments; benefit payments and distributions.

(a)

T
he
retirement benefit for a state elected official under this article is equal to six and twenty-five hundredths percent (6.25%) of the highest average salary multiplied by each year of service credit, as determined under W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
417, up to a maximum of eight (8) years. Benefits payable under this subsection shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the elected official's highest annual salary.

(b)

Any state elected official qualifying for benefits under this article who has also contributed to a retirement plan of the state or a political subdivision and is eligible for benefits under that plan shall, upon
s
election
by
the qualifying elected official, receive benefits under either subsection (a) of this section or under the other retirement plan of the state or political subdivision. Upon
making such
election, the qualifying elected official shall receive a refund of all contributions by the elected official to his account within that retirement plan not selected under this subsection, together with regular interest and payable in lump sum. The refund payment shall not include any employer matching contributions to his account under that plan
nor any contributions made by an employer on behalf of the plan member.
A refund payment under this subsection shall be made only upon written request by the qualified elected official to the applicable plan and only if the qualified elected official certifies in writing his forfeiture of all rights to benefits, employer matching contributions and service credit under that plan not selected under this subsection.

(c)

Retirement benefits payable under this article shall be adjusted in accordance with W.S. 9
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3
‑
419(b).

(d)

W.S. 9
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3
‑
430 applies to this article.

(e)

W.S. 9
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3
‑
422 does not apply to this article.

9
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3
‑
807.

Death benefits; survivor's benefits.

(a)

W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
421 applies to
state elected officials
and their
survivors under this a
rticle
.

(b)

Upon the death of a former state elected official receiving a retirement benefit under this article, the official's survivor shall receive a monthly retirement allowance during the survivor's life equal to fifty percent (50%) of the allowance received by the former elected official under this article at the time of the official's death. Survivor's benefits are subject to the adjustment under W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
806(c).

9
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3
‑
808.

Disposition of funds; custodian of monies.

Funds accruing to the account used to fund benefits for the state elected official's retirement plan under this article shall be commingled with all money on deposit with the state treasurer in the
Wyoming
retirement account. The board may designate the state treasurer as the custodian of the retirement account. Disbursements from the account for purposes as specified in W.S. 9
‑
3
‑
407(c) shall be made only upon warrants drawn by the state auditor upon certification by the director of the
Wyoming
retirement system or his designee. All disbursements from the account shall be accounted for in accordance with the uniform state accounting system or in a manner approved by the state auditor or the state treasurer as provided under W.S. 9
‑
4
‑
214.

9
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3
‑
809.

Exemption of benefits from state and local taxes, execution and attachment; benefits paid under qualified domestic relations order.

(a)

Benefits and allowances set forth under this article are exempt from any state, county or municipal tax and are not subject to execution or attachment by trustee process or otherwise, in law or equity, or under any other process, and are not assignable except as specially provided in this article.

(b)

Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, benefits and allowances under this article may be paid in accordance with qualified domestic relations orders pursuant to W.S. 9
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3
‑
426.

Section
2
.

W.S. 9
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3
‑
402(a)
(vii)(F) by creating a new subdivision (VI
) is
amended to read:

9
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3
‑
402.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(vii)

"Member" means and includes any full
-
time or regular part
-
time employee of an employer, including substitute teachers if treated by the employer as regular, part-time employees and including law enforcement officers and firefighter members, but "member" does not mean:

(F)

Employees covered by other retirement plans of the state or a political subdivision of the state, including:

(VI)

State elected officials
covered under the state elected official's retirement plan pursuant to W.S. 9
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3
‑
801 through 9
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3
‑
809.

Section 3.

On or before February 1, 2010, t
he
Wyoming
retirement system shall report to the joint appropriations
interim
committee on the amounts necessary to operate the retirement plan for state elected officials
established under this act
on an
actuarially
sound basis
.

Section 4.

This act shall apply only to state officials whose terms commence after the 2010 general election.

Section
5
.

This act is effective July 1, 2008.

(END)

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SF0089