2003-PA-0017

Act No. 17

Public Acts of 2003

Approved by the Governor

June 10, 2003

Filed with the Secretary of State

June 10, 2003

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 10, 2003

STATE OF MICHIGAN

92nd LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2003

Introduced by Reps. Ehardt, Tabor, Newell, Vander Veen, Rocca, Stewart, Stahl and Pappageorge

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4285

AN ACT to amend 1980 PA 300, entitled "An act to provide a retirement system for the public school employees of this state; to create certain funds for this retirement system; to provide for the creation of a retirement board within the department of management and budget; to prescribe the powers and duties of the retirement board; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, agencies, officials, and employees; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending section 4 (MCL 38.1304), as amended by 2002 PA 94, and by adding section 92.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 4. (1) "Compound interest" means interest compounded annually on July 1 on the contributions on account as of the previous July 1 and computed at the rate of investment return determined under section 104a(1) for the last completed state fiscal year.

(2) "Contributory service" means credited service other than noncontributory service.

(3) "Deferred member" means a member who has ceased to be a public school employee and has satisfied the requirements of section 82 for a deferred vested service retirement allowance.

(4) "Department" means the department of management and budget.

(5) "Designated date" means September 30, 1997.

(6) "Direct rollover" means a payment by the retirement system to the eligible retirement plan specified by the distributee.

(7) "Distributee" includes a member or deferred member. Distributee also includes the member's or deferred member's surviving spouse or the member's or deferred member's spouse or former spouse under an eligible domestic relations order, with regard to the interest of the spouse or former spouse.

(8) Beginning January 1, 2002, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, "eligible retirement plan" means an individual retirement account described in section 408(a) of the internal revenue code, an individual retirement annuity described in section 408(b) of the internal revenue code, an annuity plan described in section 403(a) of the internal revenue code, or a qualified trust described in section 401(a) of the internal revenue code, an annuity contract described in section 403(b) of the internal revenue code, or an eligible plan under section 457(b) of the internal revenue code which is maintained by a state, political subdivision of a state, or an agency or instrumentality of a state or political subdivision of a state and which agrees to separately account for amounts transferred into such eligible plan under section 457(b) of the internal revenue code from this retirement system, that accepts the distributee's eligible rollover distribution. However, in the case of an eligible rollover distribution to a surviving spouse, an eligible retirement plan means an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity described above.

(9) Beginning January 1, 2002, "eligible rollover distribution" means a distribution of all or any portion of the balance to the credit of the distributee. Eligible rollover distribution does not include any of the following:

(a) A distribution made for the life or life expectancy of the distributee or the joint lives or joint life expectancies of the distributee and the distributee's designated beneficiary.

(b) A distribution for a specified period of 10 years or more.

(d) The portion of any distribution that is not includable in federal gross income, determined without regard to the exclusion for net unrealized appreciation with respect to employer securities, except to the extent that the portion of a distribution that is not includable in federal gross income is paid to either of the following:

(i) An individual retirement account or annuity described in section 408(a) or (b) of the internal revenue code.

(ii) A qualified defined contribution plan as described in section 401(a) or 403(a) of the internal revenue code that agrees to separately account for amounts transferred, including separately accounting for the portion of the distribution that is includable in gross income and the portion of the distribution which is not includable in gross income.

(10) "Employee organization professional services leave" or "professional services leave" means a leave of absence that is renewed annually by the reporting unit so that a member may accept a position with a public school employee organization to which he or she belongs and which represents employees of a reporting unit in employment matters. The member shall be included in membership of the retirement system during a professional services leave if all of the conditions of section 71(5) and (6) are satisfied.

(11) "Employee organization professional services released time" or "professional services released time" means a portion of the school fiscal year during which a member is released by the reporting unit from his or her regularly assigned duties to engage in employment matters for a public school employee organization to which he or she belongs. The member's compensation received or service rendered, or both, as applicable, by a member while on professional services released time shall be reportable to the retirement system if all of the conditions of section 71(5) and (6) are satisfied.

(12) "Final average compensation" means the aggregate amount of a member's compensation earned within the averaging period in which the aggregate amount of compensation was highest divided by the member's number of years,including any fraction of a year, of credited service during the averaging period. The averaging period shall be 36 consecutive calendar months if the member contributes to the member investment plan; otherwise, the averaging period shall be 60 consecutive calendar months. If the member has less than 1 year of credited service in the averaging period, the number of consecutive calendar months in the averaging period shall be increased to the lowest number of consecutive calendar months that contains 1 year of credited service.

(13) "Health benefits" means hospital, medical-surgical, and sick care benefits and dental, vision, and hearing benefits for retirants, retirement allowance beneficiaries, and health insurance dependents provided pursuant to section 91.

(14) "Internal revenue code" means the United States internal revenue code of 1986.

(15) "Long-term care insurance" means group insurance that is authorized by the retirement system for retirants, retirement allowance beneficiaries, and health insurance dependents, as that term is defined in section 91, to cover the costs of services provided to retirants, retirement allowance beneficiaries, and health insurance dependents, from nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health care providers, adult day care providers, and other similar service providers.

(16) "Member investment plan" means the program of member contributions described in section 43a.

Sec. 92. Beginning on July 1, 2004, upon written application of a retirant, the retirement system shall withhold from the retirant's retirement allowance the entire monthly premium for voluntary long-term care insurance for the retirant, the retirement allowance beneficiary, and health insurance dependents, as that term is defined in section 91, who elect coverage in a long-term care insurance plan that is authorized by the retirement system. If the entire monthly premium for retirants, retirement allowance beneficiaries, and health insurance dependents is greater than the retirement allowance, the retirement system shall withhold the entire retirement allowance and apply it to the premium balance.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor