Substitute House Bill No. 5639
Substitute House Bill No. 5639
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-251
AN ACT EXPANDING BENEFITS UNDER THE TEACHERS'
RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 10-183e
of the general statutes, as amended by section 1
of public act 97-301, is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(b) Any member may purchase, as provided in
subsection (c) of this section, additional
credited service, but not to exceed an aggregate
of one year in the case of service described in
subdivision (2) of this subsection for each two
years of active full-time service as a Connecticut
teacher; and not to exceed an aggregate of one
year in the case of absence described in
subdivision (8) of this subsection for each five
years of active full-time service as a Connecticut
teacher, provided if any such absence exceeds
thirty consecutive school months, such additional
credited service shall be limited to thirty school
months; and not to exceed an aggregate of ten
years for all service described in this
subsection. In no event, however, may any service
described in this subsection be purchased if the
member is receiving or is, or will become,
entitled to receive a retirement benefit based
upon such service from any governmental system
other than the teachers' retirement system or the
federal Social Security System. Additional
credited service includes:
(1) Service as a teacher in a school for
military dependents established by the United
States Department of Defense;
(2) Service as a teacher in another state of
the United States, its territories or possessions;
(3) Service in the armed forces of the United
States in time of war, as defined in section
27-103, or service in said armed forces during the
period beginning October 27, 1953, and ending
January 31, 1955;
(4) Service in a permanent full-time position
for the state;
(5) Service as a teacher at The University of
Connecticut prior to July 1, 1965;
(6) Service as a teacher at the Wheeler
School and Library, North Stonington, prior to
September 1, 1949;
(7) Service as a teacher at the Gilbert Home,
Winsted, prior to September 1, 1948;
(8) Any formal leave of absence as provided
in regulations adopted by the board, if the member
subsequently returns to service for at least one
school year;
(9) Service as a teacher at the American
School at Hartford for the Deaf, the Connecticut
Institute for the Blind or the Newington
Children's Hospital;
(10) Forty or more days of service as a
substitute teacher, OR THE EQUIVALENT SERVICE
RENDERED AT LESS THAN HALF-TIME, in a single
public school system within the state of
Connecticut in any school year, provided twenty
days of such service shall equal one month of
credited service under subsection (a) of this
section;
(11) Service in the armed forces of the
United States, other than service described in
subdivision (3) of this subsection, not to exceed
thirty months;
(12) Service as a full-time, salaried,
elected official of the state or any political
subdivision of the state during the 1978 calendar
year or thereafter, if such member subsequently
returns to service for at least one school year;
(13) Service in the public schools of
Connecticut as a member of the federal Teacher
Corps, not to exceed two years; and
(14) Service in the United States Peace
Corps.
Sec. 2. Section 10-183g of the general
statutes is amended by adding subsection (q) as
follows:
(NEW) (q) On January 1, 1999, each eligible
retired member who had rendered at least
twenty-five years of full-time service, or such
member's successor beneficiary, as defined in
subsection (j) of this section, shall receive a
single increase in benefits provided under chapter
167a. Such increase shall be sufficient to
increase the monthly benefit of such eligible
members or successor beneficiaries, whose monthly
benefit as of December 31, 1998, before any
actuarial reduction for early retirement or for an
optional benefit payment plan, is less than twelve
hundred dollars and shall be sufficient to
increase such monthly benefit to twelve hundred
dollars.
Sec. 3. Subsection (c) of section 10-183j of
the general statutes is repealed and the following
is substituted in lieu thereof:
(c) A coparticipant's option may be elected
in which the member receives an actuarially
reduced benefit as provided in subsection (d) of
this section and upon such member's death,
one-third, one-half, two-thirds, three-fourths or
all of such amount is paid to such member's
designated beneficiary for life. [Only such
member's spouse, dependent parent, brother or
sister may be designated as a coparticipant. Such
option shall not become effective until one year
after the filing of such election or evidence of
good health is submitted according to rules of the
board. If such member dies or such member's
application for retirement becomes effective
before the effective date of such option, such
option will not become effective at any time
thereafter. If such member dies after the
effective date of such election, but before
retirement, such option will be effective only if
such member at the time of his death fulfilled the
age and service requirements for normal, early or
proratable benefits.]
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 10-183h of
the general statutes, as amended by section 9 of
public act 97-301, is repealed and the following
is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) The basic survivor's monthly benefit,
subject to a family maximum of [six hundred] ONE
THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED dollars, shall be (1) three
hundred dollars each for a surviving spouse, [;]
PLUS TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS FOR EACH YEAR OF SERVICE
IN EXCESS OF TWELVE YEARS IN THE CONNECTICUT
PUBLIC SCHOOLS COMPLETED BY THE MEMBER, SUBJECT TO
A MAXIMUM MONTHLY BENEFIT OF SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS,
(2) THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH for a dependent
former spouse; for a dependent parent if there is
no surviving spouse or dependent child; and for a
legal guardian of any dependent child if there is
no surviving spouse, dependent former spouse or
dependent parent, and [(2)] (3) [two] THREE
hundred dollars for [a] EACH dependent child. [or
if more than one child is eligible, a total of
three hundred dollars allocated in equal shares.]
In applying the family maximum, the benefit shall
be first allocated to the child or children, with
the excess allocated to the surviving spouse and
any dependent former spouse IN PROPORTION TO THE
AMOUNT EACH WOULD RECEIVE ACCORDING TO THE ABOVE
FORMULA. Payment of the benefit shall commence on
the last day of the month following the month of
the member's death. Such benefit shall continue
through the month preceding the month in which the
survivor dies or ceases to be eligible for such
benefit. Such benefit to the legal guardian of
dependent children shall continue until all such
children are no longer dependent, as defined in
section 10-183b. Notwithstanding the provisions of
this subsection, any such surviving spouse,
dependent former spouse, dependent parent or legal
guardian may waive the right to payment of the
benefit under this subsection in order that a
designated beneficiary who is the child of the
deceased member may receive such member's
accumulated contributions plus credited interest.
Such waiver shall be made prior to the payment of
the benefit to any such surviving spouse,
dependent former spouse, dependent parent or legal
guardian.
Sec. 5. Subsection (d) of section 10-183h of
the general statutes is repealed and the following
is substituted in lieu thereof:
(d) [The] ON AND AFTER JULY 1, 1998, THE
surviving spouse [, in the absence of an effective
election of the coparticipant's option provided
pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-183j and
in lieu of the other benefits provided by this
section,] may elect to receive a monthly benefit
for life equal to the benefit payable if a
[one-half] ONE HUNDRED PER CENT coparticipant's
option had been elected or an amount equal to the
member's accumulated contributions with credited
interest. An election under this subsection may be
made only in cases where (1) the spouse is such
member's sole designated beneficiary or where all
other designated beneficiaries relinquish all
claim to any amounts that may be due them from the
system and (2) such member at the time of death
was eligible for a retirement benefit other than a
disability benefit.
Sec. 6. A surviving spouse who withdrew
retirement contributions during the 1997-1998
school year may elect to return such
contributions, plus interest at a rate determined
by the board, and be covered by the provisions of
subsection (d) of section 10-183h of the general
statutes, as amended by section 5 of this act,
provided such surviving spouse provides written
notification of such election to the board and
returns such contributions, plus interest, not
later than October 1, 1998.
Sec. 7. This act shall take effect from its
passage, section 4 of this act shall be applicable
to any person receiving benefits from the
Teachers' Retirement System on the effective date
of this act, and section 5 of this act shall be
applicable to the surviving spouse of a member who
dies on or after August 15, 1997.
Approved June 8, 1998