Reference is to Printer's Date 4/10/13--S.
Amend the bill, and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 9-11-80 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 278 of 2012, is further amended to read:
"Section 9-11-80.
(1) On the application of a member in
service or the member's employer, a member who has the years of
earned service required for the member's class pursuant to
Section 9-11-60(1) or any contributing member who is disabled as
a result of an injury arising out of and in the course of the
performance of the member's duties regardless of length of
membership, may be retired by the retirement board not less than
thirty days and not more than nine months next following the
date of filing the application on a disability retirement
allowance if the system, after a medical examination of the
member, certifies that the member is mentally or physically
incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that the
incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that the member should
be retired. For purposes of this section, a member is
considered to be in service on the date the application is filed
if the member is not retired and the last day the member was
employed by a covered employer in the system occurred not more
than ninety days before the date of filing.
The South Carolina Retirement System may
contract with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to
evaluate the medical evidence submitted with the disability
application relative to the job being performed and make
recommendations to the system. The system may approve a
disability retirement subject to the member participating in
vocational rehabilitation with the Department of Vocational
Rehabilitation. Upon determination by the department that a
member retired on disability is able to reenter the job market
and work is available, the retirement system may adjust the
benefit paid by the system in accordance with Sections 9-1-1580,
9-1-1590, 9-9-60, and 9-11-90.
(2)(A) Upon disability
retirement based upon an application received by the system
before January 1, 2014, the member shall receive a disability
retirement allowance which shall be equal to a service
retirement allowance computed on the basis of his average final
compensation, his years of credited service and his accumulated
additional contributions at the date of his disability
retirement; provided, however, that, at disability retirement,
his disability retirement allowance shall be determined on the
basis of the number of years of credited service the member
would have completed had he remained in service until attaining
age fifty-five and on the basis of the average final
compensation. For the purpose of calculating the disability
retirement allowance, the additional credited service so
determined shall must be either Class
One service, or Class Two service, or
Class Three service depending upon the classification of the
member at the time of retirement.
(B)
Upon disability retirement based upon an application
received by the system after December 31, 2013, the member shall
receive a disability retirement allowance which is equal to a
service retirement allowance computed on the basis of the
member's average final compensation, the member's years of
credited service, and the member's accumulated additional
contributions at the date of the member's disability retirement.
However, at disability retirement, the member's disability
retirement allowance must be determined on the basis of the
member's average final compensation at retirement and on the
basis of the number of years of credited service the member
would have completed had the member remained in service until
attaining age fifty-five or until attaining twenty-five years of
credited service, whichever is less. For the purpose of
calculating the disability retirement allowance, the additional
credited service so determined must be either Class One
service, or Class Two service, or
Class Three service depending upon the classification of the
member at the time of retirement.
(3)(A)
Once each year during the first five years following the
retirement of a member on a disability retirement allowance, and
once in every three-year period thereafter, the Board may
require any disability beneficiary who has not yet attained the
age of fifty-five years to undergo a medical examination, such
examination to be made at the place of residence of the
beneficiary or other place mutually agreed upon, by the system.
If a disability beneficiary who has not yet attained the age of
fifty-five years refuses to submit to any such medical
examination, the member's retirement allowance may be
discontinued until the member's withdrawal of such refusal, and
if the refusal continues for one year, all the member's rights
in and to the member's retirement allowance may be revoked, but
upon revocation any unexpended portion of the member's
accumulated contributions to date of retirement shall be
returned to the member.
(B)
To continue to receive a disability
retirement allowance, a member who is retired on a disability
retirement allowance based upon an application received by the
system after December 31, 2013, and who has not yet attained the
age of fifty-five years shall provide proof to the system that
the member is qualified for the receipt of Social Security
disability benefits. This proof must be submitted to the system
within thirty days of the third anniversary of the member's
disability retirement date and within thirty days of each
anniversary thereafter. A member's disability retirement
allowance ceases upon a determination by the Social Security
Administration that the member is no longer entitled to Social
Security disability benefits for any reason. If any disability
beneficiary who has not yet attained the age of fifty-five years
refuses to provide proof of disability required by the board,
his disability retirement allowance must be discontinued until
the member provides such proof. If a member's refusal to
provide proof that the member remains qualified for Social
Security disability benefits continues for one year, all of the
member's rights in and to the member's disability retirement
allowance pursuant to this section may be revoked by the
board.
(4) If
the system certifies that the member's disability has been
removed and that the member has regained earning capacity, the
member's disability retirement allowance may be discontinued, or
if the disability has been partly removed and the member's
earning capacity regained in part, the disability retirement
allowance may be reduced proportionately as provided pursuant to
Section 9-1-1580. The determination of the board as to any
disputed question, after due consideration accorded to the
member, is conclusive. If the retirement allowance of any
member retired for disability is discontinued or reduced, and if
the member again suffers disability within five years of the
date of the member's recovery and again loses earning capacity,
the member is entitled to apply to the board for a restoration
of the original retirement allowance, and the board may restore
all or part of the member's original retirement allowance. At
the expiration of the five-year period, if the retirement
allowance has not been restored, all rights in and to the
member's disability retirement allowance are revoked. The
member then is entitled to a deferred early retirement allowance
as provided in Section 9-11-70 based upon the member's average
final compensation and credited service at the member's date of
disability retirement.
(5) After age
fifty-five, a disability retiree is subject to the same earnings
limitation as a service retiree.
(6) Notwithstanding any
other provision of this section, upon retirement for disability
after October 15, 1992, at any age, a member must receive a
disability retirement allowance equal to at least fifteen
percent of his average final compensation."
SECTION 2. A. Section 9-11-10(18) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 153 of 2005, is further amended to read:
"(18)
[Reserved] 'Medical board' means the
board provided for in Section 9-11-30(2)."
B. Section 9-11-30(2) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 153 of 2005, is further amended to read:
"(2)
[Reserved] The
board shall designate a medical board composed of three
physicians who are not members of the system. If required,
other physicians who are not members of the system may be
employed to report on special cases. The medical board shall
arrange for and pass upon all medical examinations required
under the system, shall investigate all essential statements and
certificates by or on behalf of a member in connection with an
application for disability retirement, and shall report in
writing to the board its conclusions and recommendations upon
all matters referred to it."
SECTION 3. Part III, SECTION 6 of Act 153 of 2005 is amended to read:
SECTION 6. Excluding Chapter 11, in Title 9 of the 1976 Code, wherever the phrase 'medical board' or any variant of 'medical board' appears, it must be construed to mean the 'system' unless the context clearly requires otherwise. The Code Commissioner shall replace the reference in future code supplements and replacement volumes as the Code Commissioner determines appropriate."
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.