Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 117, GENERAL PROVISIONS, page 523, after line 19, by adding an appropriately numbered new proviso to read:
/ (GP: PORS-Critical Needs Earnings Limitation Exemption) (1) The earnings limitation imposed pursuant to Section 9-11-90(4) of the 1976 Code as to members of the Police Officers Retirement System that retired before January 1, 2018, and are employed by a state agency, a local law enforcement agency, or a local fire service agency covered by the system in a position designated as a critical need, is suspended for Fiscal Year 2018-19.
For purposes of this item, a 'critical need position' is defined as a position satisfying the requirements of either subitem (1)(a) or subitem (1)(b) as follows:
(a) an investigator requiring advanced training or special certification, a law enforcement or fire service instructor with ten or more years of experience as a law enforcement or fire service instructor, a school resource officer, an agency command staff member or line supervisor, a detention officer, or correctional officer, which position also satisfies each of the following requirements:
(i) the hiring agency has authorization and funding for the position;
(ii) the position has remained vacant for twelve months or longer;
(iii) the hiring agency has provided sufficient evidence to the Law Enforcement Training Council of ongoing efforts to fill the vacant position; and
(iv) the hiring agency has no other position filled currently or within the preceding six months with the same or similar intended responsibilities.
(b) a law enforcement or fire service position for a hiring agency with a vacancy rate of twenty percent or more calculated as a percentage of all authorized and funded law enforcement or fire service positions, as applicable to the hiring agency.
(2) For the provisions of this item to apply, the Law Enforcement Training Council shall review and approve, from the documentation provided by the hiring agency, that no qualified, nonretired member is available for employment in the position, and that the member selected for employment meets the requirements of this section. After approval is received from the Law Enforcement Training Council, the hiring agency may extend an offer of employment to a retired member and shall, thereafter, notify the council of the engagement of a retired member in a critical need position as defined in subsection (1). The council shall notify the Public Employee Benefit Authority of a member's approved exemption from the earnings limitation. If the hiring agency fails to notify the council of the engagement of a retired member as a critical need position pursuant to this section, or the council fails to approve a retired member's exemption from the earnings limitation, the hiring agency shall reimburse the system for all benefits wrongly paid to the retired member.
(3) A hiring agency shall pay to the system the employer contribution for active members prescribed by law with respect to any retired member engaged to perform services for the agency, regardless of whether the retired member is a full-time or part-time employee, or a temporary or permanent employee. If an agency which is obligated to the system pursuant to this item fails to pay the amount due, as determined by the system, the amount must be deducted from any funds payable to the agency by the State.
(4) The Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) shall submit a report regarding the earnings limitation exemptions available to retired members of the Police Officers Retirement System to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee no later than January 31, 2019, to include:
(a) the total number of retired members as of December 31, 2018;
(b) the number of retired members as of December 31, 2018 employed by a covered employer;
(c) the number of retired members as of December 31, 2018 employed by a covered employer and exempt from the earnings limitation pursuant to the provisions of Section 9-11-90(4)(a)(ii);
(d) the number of retired members as of December 31, 2018 employed by a covered employer and exempt from the earnings limitation pursuant to this proviso; and
(e) any reduction or growth in the system's unfunded liability as a result of the earnings limitation exemption provided for in this proviso./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend sections, totals and title to conform.