Chapter 130 Oregon Laws 1999
Session Law
AN ACT
HB 2279
Relating to retirement of
certain school employees; creating new provisions; amending ORS 23.166, 25.367,
238.015, 238.115, 238.680, 243.830 and 342.865; and repealing ORS 12.133,
238.170, 239.002, 239.004, 239.100, 239.102, 239.104, 239.106, 239.108,
239.110, 239.112, 239.114, 239.116, 239.118, 239.120, 239.122, 239.124,
239.126, 239.128, 239.133, 239.135, 239.137, 239.138, 239.140, 239.150,
239.201, 239.203, 239.205, 239.207, 239.208, 239.209, 239.210, 239.211,
239.212, 239.213, 239.214, 239.215, 239.216, 239.217, 239.219, 239.221,
239.223, 239.225, 239.227, 239.229, 239.231, 239.233, 239.235, 239.237,
239.239, 239.241, 239.242, 239.243, 239.245, 239.247, 239.249, 239.253,
239.254, 239.257, 239.258, 239.259, 239.260, 239.261, 239.262, 239.263,
239.730, 239.735, 239.740, 239.745, 239.750 and 239.755 and section 87, chapter
80, Oregon Laws 1999 (Enrolled Senate Bill 29).
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 12.133, 238.170, 239.002, 239.004,
239.100, 239.102, 239.104, 239.106, 239.108, 239.110, 239.112, 239.114,
239.116, 239.118, 239.120, 239.122, 239.124, 239.126, 239.128, 239.133,
239.135, 239.137, 239.138, 239.140, 239.150, 239.201, 239.203, 239.205,
239.207, 239.208, 239.209, 239.210, 239.211, 239.212, 239.213, 239.214,
239.215, 239.216, 239.217, 239.219, 239.221, 239.223, 239.225, 239.227,
239.229, 239.231, 239.233, 239.235, 239.237, 239.239, 239.241, 239.242,
239.243, 239.245, 239.247, 239.249, 239.253, 239.254, 239.257, 239.258,
239.259, 239.260, 239.261, 239.262, 239.263, 239.730, 239.735, 239.740,
239.745, 239.750 and 239.755 are repealed.
SECTION 1a. If Senate Bill 29 becomes law, section 87,
chapter 80, Oregon Laws 1999 (Enrolled Senate Bill 29) (amending ORS 239.261),
is repealed.
SECTION 2.
ORS 23.166 is amended to read:
23.166. (1) All funds exempt from execution and other process
under ORS 23.170, 23.185 (1)(b), (c), (d) and (e), 238.445, [239.261,] 344.580, 401.405, 407.595,
411.760, 412.115, 412.610, 413.130, 414.095, 655.530, 656.234, 657.855 and
748.207 and section 3101, title 38, United States Code and section 407, title
42, United States Code shall remain exempt when deposited in an account of a
judgment debtor as long as the exempt funds are identifiable.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not
apply to any accumulation of funds greater than $7,500.
SECTION 3.
ORS 25.367 is amended to read:
25.367. ORS 25.311 to 25.318, 25.351 to 25.367 and 25.722 and
the amendments to ORS 23.170, 23.175, 23.185, 25.010, 25.070, 25.340, 25.370,
29.145, 29.147, 29.411, 29.415, 109.015, 238.445, [239.261,] 409.020, 419B.408, 419C.600, 656.234, 657.780, 659.010
and 659.121 by sections 4 and 22 to 49, chapter 798, Oregon Laws 1993, apply to
current support, arrears and interest on arrears, independently or combined,
whether arrears are owed to an obligee, the state or a foreign jurisdiction.
SECTION 4.
ORS 238.015 is amended to read:
238.015. (1) No
person may become a member of the system unless that person is in the service
of a public employer and has completed six months' service uninterrupted by
more than 30 consecutive working days during the six months' period. Every
employee of a participating employer shall become a member of the system at the
beginning of the first full pay period of the employee following the six
months' period. All public employers participating in the Public Employees
Retirement System established by chapter 401, Oregon Laws 1945, as amended, at
the time of repeal of that chapter, and all school districts of the state,
shall participate in, and their employees shall be members of, the system,
except as [follows:] otherwise specifically provided by law.
[(1)(a) An employee who
is a member of, or eligible for membership in, a retirement system established
by a public employer prior to April 8, 1953, or who is a member of, or eligible
to membership in, an association established pursuant to ORS chapter 239, may
not become a member of the system established by this chapter until the
previously established system or the system of the association is integrated
with the system established by this chapter pursuant to the procedure provided
by ORS 238.680. As a member of the system established by this chapter an
employee shall receive no retirement credit during such time as the employee
heretofore excluded or hereafter excludes the employee from the previously
established system or from the association, and shall receive only such
retirement credit during the time the employee is a member of the previously
established system or of the association as the contract of integration
provides, except that any teacher who has been continuously employed by a
school district of this state from July 1, 1929, to July 1, 1951, in which an
association has been established pursuant to ORS chapter 239, and who has not
been a member of such association at any time from July 1, 1929, to September
1, 1953, shall receive credit for prior service as provided by ORS 238.225 upon
payment prior to December 1, 1953, to the board by such teacher of such
contributions as would have been deducted from the salary of the teacher from
July 1, 1946, to the date of becoming a member of this system if the teacher
had become a member of this system on July 1, 1946, and the school district by
which said teacher is employed shall transmit to the board, at such time as the
board designates, such sums as the school district would have been required to
transmit under the provisions of ORS 238.225 if such teacher had become a
member of this system on July 1, 1946, and, upon such payments, such teacher
shall be deemed to have been a member of the system established by this chapter
for the purposes of this chapter continuously from July 1, 1946.]
[(b) Notwithstanding
paragraph (a) of this subsection, an employee who is a member of, or eligible
for membership in, an association established pursuant to ORS chapter 239 shall
become a member of the system established by this chapter if the employee has
separated, for any reason other than death or disability, from all service
entitling the employee to membership in the system of the association, and the
employee shall receive retirement credit under this chapter for the period of
time the employee was a member of an association established pursuant to ORS
chapter 239 upon payment to the Public Employees Retirement Board of all
amounts in the individual account of the employee established pursuant to ORS
chapter 239. The payment by the employee shall be deposited in the individual
account of the employee in the Public Employees Retirement Fund. Upon such
payment by the employee, the school board which previously employed the
employee shall pay to the retirement board such sums as may be determined by
actuarial computation to fund the retirement credit received by the employee.
The school board may, with the consent of the board, make payment in three
equal annual installments.]
[(c) Notwithstanding
paragraph (a) of this subsection, an employee who is a member of a retirement
system established by a public employer prior to April 8, 1953, shall become a
member of the system established by this chapter if the employee has separated
from all service entitling the employee to membership in the retirement system
established prior to April 8, 1953; but the employee shall receive no
retirement credit under this chapter for the time the employee is a member of,
or eligible for membership in, the retirement system established prior to April
8, 1953. Furthermore, if the employee has been separated for disability from
service entitling the employee to membership in a retirement system established
prior to April 8, 1953, and is receiving a disability benefit under such
retirement system at the time the employee becomes a member of the system established
by this chapter, the employee shall not receive any benefit under this chapter
for such disability.]
(2) Any active member of the Public Employees Retirement System
who, through the annexation of a political subdivision employing the member or
by change of employment, becomes the employee of another political subdivision
which is participating in the Public Employees Retirement System and has also a
separate retirement system for its employees, shall remain an active member of
the Public Employees Retirement System unless, within 60 days after the
effective date of the annexation or change of employment or April 8, 1953, the
member shall by written notice to the Public Employees Retirement Board and to
the administrative body of the new public employer elect to relinquish
membership in the Public Employees Retirement System and become a member of the
separate retirement system of the employer, if eligible for membership in that
retirement system, and the member shall be so carried by the new employer. Immediately
upon such annexation of any political subdivision or such change of employment,
the new public employer shall inform such employee in writing of the right of
the employee to exercise an election as in this section provided.
(3) A political subdivision (other than a school district) not
participating in the retirement system established by chapter 401, Oregon Laws
1945, as amended, which employs one or more employees, each of whose position
requires 600 hours of service per year, or an agency created by two or more
political subdivisions to provide themselves governmental services, which
employs one or more employees, each of whose position requires 600 hours of
service per year, may, through its governing body, notify the board in writing,
that it elects to include its employees in the system hereby established. Such
public employer may request the board to make a study and estimate of the cost
of including it and its eligible employees, other than volunteer firefighters,
in the system, which the board thereupon shall cause to be made and the cost of
which the employer shall bear. Upon completion of the study and estimate the
employer may apply for admission to the system, whereupon it shall begin to
participate therein and its eligible employees other than volunteer
firefighters shall become members of the system. If the employer is an agency
created by two or more political subdivisions to provide themselves
governmental services and ceases thereafter to transmit to the board current
service contributions for any of its eligible employees, the benefits based
upon employer current service contributions to which such employees would
otherwise be entitled shall be reduced accordingly.
(4) Except as subsection (7) of this section provides otherwise
with reference to volunteer firefighters, no employee whose position with one
public employer or concurrent positions with two or more public employers
normally require less than 600 hours of service per year may become a member of
the system.
(5) No inmate of a state institution or an alien on a training
or educational visa working for any participating employer, even though the
inmate or alien received compensation from a participating employer, shall be
eligible to become a member of the system. No person employed by a
participating employer and defined by such employer as a student employee is
eligible to become a member of the system for such student employment.
(6) A person holding an elective office or an appointive office
with a fixed term or an office as head of a department to which the person is
appointed by the Governor may become a member of the system by giving the board
written notice of desire to do so within 30 days after taking the office or, in
the event that the officer is not eligible to become a member of the system at
the time of taking the office, within 30 days after becoming so eligible.
Membership so established shall not be discontinued during the appointive or
elective term of the officer except upon separation of the officer from
service.
(7) A public employer employing volunteer firefighters may
apply to the board at any time for them to become members of the system. Upon
receiving the application the board shall fix a wage at which, for purposes of
this chapter only, they shall be considered to be employed and which shall be
the basis for computing the amounts of the contributions which they pay into,
and of the benefits which they and their beneficiaries receive from, the fund;
and if the wage so fixed is satisfactory to the employer, shall include the
firefighters in the system.
(8)(a) In the event that an employee enters the service of a
public employer which is participating in or later begins to participate in the
system and in the event that at the time of entering that service or at the
time that the employer begins to participate in the system the employee has
commenced to purchase and is continuing to purchase a retirement annuity, if
the employer deems the annuity adequate for the purposes of this chapter it may
enter into an agreement with the employee and the board pursuant to which the
employee may be exempted from contributing to the Public Employees Retirement
Fund, and, if no public funds are being used to purchase the annuity or a
corresponding pension, the employer, in lieu of the contributions which it
otherwise would make to the fund on account of the employee, may make
contributions toward the cost of purchasing the annuity. Such employee
otherwise shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter, except that
neither the employee nor any person claiming under the employee shall receive
any payments from the retirement fund as service or disability allowance.
(b) An employee who enters into an agreement under paragraph
(a) of this subsection may elect at any time thereafter to start to participate
in the system by giving written notice of desire to participate to the board
and to the employer. The employee shall receive no retirement credit for the
period during which the employee was exempted from contributing to the fund
under the agreement, but the employee shall be considered to have completed the
six months' service required for membership in the system. When the employee
starts to participate in the system the employer shall start to contribute to
the fund on the account of the employee in the same manner as the employer
contributes on the account of other employees who are active members of the
system and the employer shall stop making contributions toward the cost of
purchasing the retirement annuity.
(9)(a) All new appointees in the Federal Cooperative Extension
Service or in any other service in which participation in the Federal Civil
Service retirement program is mandatory, who receive a federal appointment on
or after July 1, 1955, may participate in the Public Employees Retirement
System only by giving written notice of their election to so participate to the
Public Employees Retirement Board within six months after the effective date of
their appointment.
(b) All persons employed by the Federal Cooperative Extension
Service or by any other service in which participation in the Federal Civil
Service retirement program is mandatory, who are under federal appointment as
of July 1, 1955, and who are members of the state retirement system, shall
continue such membership unless, prior to February 1, 1956, they give written
notice to the Public Employees Retirement Board of their desire to cancel their
membership.
(c) Any person who is an active member of the Public Employees
Retirement System, who, on or after July 1, 1955, is employed by the Federal
Cooperative Extension Service or by any other service in which participation in
the Federal Civil Service retirement program is mandatory, and who is given a
federal appointment, shall continue such membership in the Public Employees
Retirement System unless, within six months after the effective date of the
appointment, the person gives written notice to the Public Employees Retirement
Board of the desire to cancel membership.
(d) A cancellation of membership under paragraph (b) or (c) of
this subsection terminates membership in the Public Employees Retirement System
and cancels the right to any benefits from, or claims against, that system.
Such cancellation prevents the withdrawing member from claiming thereafter any
retirement credit for any period of employment before the cancellation. Upon
receipt of a notice of cancellation, the Public Employees Retirement Board
shall refund to the withdrawing member, regardless of age, the account balance
of the employee in the retirement fund.
(10) Managers and other employees of foreign trade offices of
the Economic Development Department who live and perform services in foreign
countries under the provisions of ORS 285A.090 (14) shall not be members of the
system. However, any person who is an active member of the system immediately
before becoming a manager or employee of a foreign trade office shall continue
to be a member of the system during the period of time the person serves as a
manager or employee of the foreign trade office.
(11) An employee who is an employee of the Oregon Health
Sciences University may not be an active member of the Public Employees
Retirement System if that employee is participating in an alternative
retirement program established by the university pursuant to ORS 353.250.
SECTION 5.
ORS 238.115 is amended to read:
238.115. (1)(a) A member of the system who, after separation
from all service entitling the employee to membership in the system and
withdrawal of the amount credited to the account of the employee in the fund,
reenters the service of an employer participating in the system and serves as
an active member of the system for 10 years after that reentry, and who has not
otherwise obtained restoration of creditable service forfeited by the
withdrawal, shall obtain restoration of one full month of creditable service
forfeited by the withdrawal for each three full months of service as an active
member after that reentry if the member, within 90 days before the effective
date of retirement of the employee:
(A) Applies in writing to the board for restoration of
creditable service; and
(B) Pays to the board in a lump sum for credit to the account
of the employee in the fund the amount withdrawn and interest on the amount
withdrawn compounded annually for each year or portion of a year after the date
of the withdrawal and before the effective date of retirement of the employee.
The interest shall be computed at the annual rate of 7.5 percent.
(b) If an employee who obtains restoration of creditable
service as provided in this subsection does not obtain restoration of all
creditable service forfeited by the withdrawal pursuant to service after
reentry, the payment under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be reduced
proportionately to reflect the percentage of creditable service restored.
(c) An employee who obtains restoration of creditable service
as provided in this subsection is not entitled to elect to receive the service
retirement benefit described in ORS 238.305 (2).
(2) An employee who is a member of the system, who forfeited
creditable service rendered to a public employer before March 27, 1953, because
under ORS 237.976 (2) the employee withdrew contributions of the employee to
the Public Employees Retirement System established by chapter 401, Oregon Laws
1945, and who did not obtain restoration of creditable service so forfeited as
provided in chapter 857, Oregon Laws 1977, shall, upon retirement, receive
restoration of creditable service so forfeited, if the employee, before the
effective date of retirement of the employee:
(a) Applies in writing to the board for the restoration of the
creditable service; and
(b) Pays to the board in a lump sum for credit to the account
of the employee in the fund an amount determined by the board to be equal to
the full amount of contributions so withdrawn and the interest that would have
accumulated to the account of the employee in the fund had those contributions
not been withdrawn.
(3)(a) A member of the Public Employees Retirement System who
was a member of an association established pursuant to ORS chapter 239 (1997 Edition), but separated from all
service entitling the employee to membership in the system of the association
and withdrew the amount credited to the account of the employee in the
retirement fund of the association, and who, after that separation, entered the
service of an employer in the field of education participating in the Public
Employees Retirement System and served as an active member of that system for
10 years after that entry, and who has not otherwise obtained restoration of
all creditable service forfeited by the withdrawal, shall obtain creditable
service as a member of the Public Employees Retirement System equal to all
creditable service forfeited by the withdrawal if the member within 90 days
before the effective date of retirement of the member:
(A) Applies in writing to the Public Employees Retirement Board
for that creditable service; and
(B) Pays to the board in a lump sum for credit to the account
of the member in the Public Employees Retirement Fund the amount withdrawn and
interest on the amount withdrawn compounded annually for each year or portion
of a year after the date of the withdrawal and before the effective date of
retirement or effective date of application of the member. The interest shall
be computed at the rate actually credited to member accounts for that period.
(b) This subsection provides a method of obtaining creditable
service for forfeited creditable service described in this subsection that is
in lieu of any application of subsection (1) of this section for that purpose.
SECTION 6.
ORS 238.680 is amended to read:
238.680. (1) Employees[,
other than licensed teachers employed by a school district in which an
association has been organized pursuant to ORS chapter 239,] whose
membership in a previously established retirement system excludes them from
membership in the system established by this chapter may apply to the Public
Employees Retirement Board in writing for the former system to be integrated
into the latter and for them to be allowed to become members of the latter.
Whenever two-thirds of them and their employer, through its governing body, so
apply, the board:
(a) May cause a financial and actuarial investigation of the
proposed integration to be made, the cost of which shall be borne by the
previously established system; and
(b) May upon such terms as are set forth in a contract between
the board and the employer, integrate the previously established system into
the system established by this chapter.
(2) Nothing in this chapter nor any action taken pursuant
thereto shall reduce or impair the benefits which employees who are receiving
benefits from a retirement system integrated with the system provided by this
chapter would have received had the integration not been effected.
(3) A retirement plan which has been adopted by an association
organized pursuant to the provisions of ORS chapter 239 (1997 Edition), prior to April 8, 1953, and which exists on April
8, 1953, may be integrated into the retirement system established by this
chapter in the manner prescribed in this subsection and not otherwise:
(a) A proposed form of contract setting forth all the terms,
conditions and provisions of the integration shall be prepared by, and adopted
by a majority vote of, the board of trustees of the association and approved by
the board of directors of the school district in which the association is
organized.
(b) The proposed contract so adopted and approved shall be
submitted to a vote of the active members of the association. In submitting a
proposed contract, an association shall follow the procedure provided in its
bylaws for the promulgation and adoption of bylaws.
(c) Adoption by the membership of an association of a proposed
contract of integration shall be by an affirmative vote of not less than
two-thirds of the active members of the association at the time of the
election.
(d) The proposed contract so formulated, approved and adopted
shall be submitted to the retirement board created by ORS 238.630 for
acceptance or rejection. In the event that the proposed contract is accepted by
the board, then the integration shall proceed in accordance with the provisions
of the contract.
(e) No contract of integration shall in any way alter, impair
or adversely affect any rights, benefits or privileges which have vested under
the provisions of law in a member of an association by virtue of retirement,
either on account of disability or on account of having attained the retirement
age, prior to the effective date of the contract of integration.
(f) A contract of integration formulated, approved and adopted
as provided in this subsection shall contain provisions whereby there will be
provided to each active member of the association who becomes a member of the
retirement system created by this chapter pursuant to a contract of
integration, retirement benefits, in addition to the retirement benefits
accruing for subsequent service under the Public Employes' Retirement Act of
1953, determined in compliance with sound actuarial practice and with the
findings of an accredited actuary on the basis of the reserves of the members
at the time of the integration.
(g) A contract of integration shall likewise provide that any
active member of an association which integrates with the retirement system may
elect at the time of the integration as to whether the member shall obtain a
refund of the amount standing to the credit of the member on the books of the
association at the time of the integration. In the event that a member so
elects, then the amount standing to the credit of the member shall be refunded
and the additional benefits provided under paragraph (f) of this subsection
shall not be available to the member to whom the refund is made.
(4) If a public employer applies for inclusion of a class of
employees under ORS 238.035, application for integration under subsection (1)
of this section shall be made by the employer and by two-thirds of the class of
employees who are to become members of the system, or if the class designated
under ORS 238.035 is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, application
for the class shall be approved under the terms of the collective bargaining
agreement.
(5) If a public employer entering into an integration contract
under the provisions of this section continues to maintain the public
employer's previously established system for the purpose of providing benefits
to some or all of the employer's employees who become members of the system
under the integration contract, the board may allow an employee or alternate
payee to waive the right to receive all other benefits that would otherwise be
paid under this chapter if:
(a) The employee or alternate payee elects to receive a refund
of accumulated member contributions along with interest credited to those
contributions at the time of refund; and
(b) The employer certifies to the board that the waiver of
benefits other than the refund of member contributions is required as a
condition of the employee's or alternate payee's receipt of benefits under the
previously established system.
(6) A waiver under subsection (5) of this section must be made
before an employee's effective date of retirement or the effective date of an
alternative payee's election to commence receiving payments. The waiver is
irrevocable as to the benefits waived and applies to all future payment of
those benefits that would otherwise be made to the employee, the alternate
payee or the beneficiaries of the employee or alternate payee. The provisions
of subsection (5) of this section apply only to:
(a) Employees of the public employer who become members of the
system under the provisions of the integration contract and who are
participants in the previously established system of the public employer at the
time the integration contract goes into effect; and
(b) Alternate payees of employees described in paragraph (a) of
this subsection.
SECTION 7.
ORS 243.830 is amended to read:
243.830. An agreement executed pursuant to ORS 243.820 by an
employee who is subject to ORS chapter 238[,
ORS 239.002 to 239.263] or a similar retirement program for public
employees[,] in no way affects the
contributions to be made or the benefits to be provided for such employee under
ORS chapter 238[, ORS 239.002 to 239.263]
or the other similar program. Reduction of salary or foregoing a salary increase
by a stated amount under ORS 243.820 shall not be deemed a reduction in salary
for the purpose of such contributions and benefits.
SECTION 8.
ORS 342.865 is amended to read:
342.865. (1) No contract teacher shall be dismissed or the
teacher's contract nonextended except for:
(a) Inefficiency;
(b) Immorality;
(c) Insubordination;
(d) Neglect of duty, including duties specified by written
rule;
(e) Physical or mental incapacity;
(f) Conviction of a felony or of a crime according to the
provisions of ORS 342.143;
(g) Inadequate performance;
(h) Failure to comply with such reasonable requirements as the
board may prescribe to show normal improvement and evidence of professional
training and growth; or
(i) Any cause which constitutes grounds for the revocation of
such contract teacher's teaching license.
(2) In determining whether the professional performance of a
contract teacher is adequate, consideration shall be given to regular and
special evaluation reports prepared in accordance with the policy of the
employing school district and to any written standards of performance which
shall have been adopted by the board.
(3) Suspension or dismissal on the grounds contained in
subsection (1)(e) of this section shall not disqualify the teacher involved for
any of the disability benefits provided in ORS chapter 238, or any of the
benefits provided in ORS [239.233 to
239.239 or] 332.507.
(4) Dismissal under subsection (1)(f) of this section shall
remove the individual from any school district policies, collective bargaining
provisions regarding dismissal procedures and appeals and the provisions of ORS
342.805 to 342.937.
SECTION 9. The repeal of statutes by section 1 of this
1999 Act, and the amendments to statutes by sections 2 to 8 of this 1999 Act,
do not affect any right accrued or obligation incurred under those statutes
before the effective date of this 1999 Act.
SECTION 10. The repeal of ORS 12.133 by section 1 of
this 1999 Act does not revive any cause of action barred by the operation of
ORS 12.133 before the effective date of this 1999 Act.
Approved by the Governor
April 26, 1999
Filed in the office of
Secretary of State April 26, 1999
Effective date October 23,
1999
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