Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format
Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.306 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19990112 Primary Sponsor:Mescher All Sponsors:Mescher, Reese Drafted Document Number:l:\s-res\wcm\001reti.dmb.doc Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Finance Committee 06 SF Subject:Retirement systems, optional programs; eligibility extended to public officers, employees newly hired by July 1, 1999 History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ Senate 19990112 Introduced, read first time, 06 SF referred to Committee Senate 19981216 Prefiled, referred to Committee 06 SF Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND SECTIONS 9-17-10, 9-17-20, 9-17-30 AND 9-17-40, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM FOR FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLICLY-SUPPORTED FOUR-YEAR AND POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SO AS TO EXTEND ELIGIBILITY FOR THIS OPTIONAL RETIREMENT PROGRAM TO ALL PUBLIC EMPLOYEES NEWLY HIRED ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 1999.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 9-17-10 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 419 of 1998, is further amended to read:
"Section 9-17-10. There is established an optional retirement program for eligible public employees the publicly-supported four-year and postgraduate institutions of higher education and technical colleges. Only employees of participating institutions holding faculty and administrative positions are eligible to participate in the optional retirement program. No employee is eligible to participate in the optional retirement program unless he is eligible for membership in the South Carolina Retirement System, the Police Officers Retirement System, the Retirement System for members of the General Assembly or the Retirement System for Judges and Solicitors. Retirement and death benefits must be provided for a participant in the optional retirement program through the purchase of an individual annuity contract, fixed or variable in nature, or a combination thereof or such other instrument or investment as may be recommended by the director of the system. The State employer and the participant shall contribute to any authorized instrument or investment or toward the purchase of the any such contract which must be issued to, and become the property of, the participant. Eligibility is determined solely by the South Carolina Retirement System."
SECTION 2. Section 9-17-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 9-17-20. The South Carolina Retirement System shall provide for the administration of the optional retirement program under this chapter. The executive director of the South Carolina Retirement System, a representative appointed by the Commission on Higher Education, and a representative appointed by the Council of Presidents of the Public Colleges and Universities, a representative appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, a representative appointed by the Speaker of the House and a representative appointed by the Governor shall designate not less than two companies from which annuity contracts are to be purchased under the program. In making the designation, the Retirement System, the Commission on Higher Education, and the council shall consider:
(1) the nature and extent of the rights and benefits to be provided by the contracts for participants and their beneficiaries;
(2) the relation of such rights and benefits to the amount of contributions to be made;
(3) the suitability of such rights and benefits to the needs of the participants;
(4) the efficacy of the contracts in the recruitment and retention of faculty and administrators;
(5) the ability and experience of the designated companies in providing suitable rights and benefits under the contracts."
SECTION 3. Section 9-17-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 419 of 1998, is further amended to read:
"Section 9-17-30. Eligible employees employed by publicly-supported four-year and post-graduate institutions of higher education on or after July 1, 1987, shall elect either to join the South Carolina Retirement System or to participate in the optional retirement program under this chapter on or before December 1, 1987, or within ninety thirty days after entry into service,. whichever is later. Eligible employees employed by a publicly-supported technical college on or after July 1, 1998, shall elect either to join the South Carolina Retirement System or to participate in the optional retirement program under this chapter on or before December 1, 1998, or within ninety thirty days after entry into service, whichever is later. All other eligible public employees first hired on or after July 1, 1999, shall elect either to join the South Carolina Retirement System or to participate in the optional retirement program under this chapter on or before September 30, 1999, or within thirty days after entry into service, whichever is later. The election must be made in writing and filed with the Retirement System and the appropriate officer of the employee's participating institution and is effective on the date of employment. If an eligible employee fails to make the election provided in this section, the member is considered to have elected membership in the South Carolina Retirement System."
SECTION 4. Section 9-17-40 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 419 of 1998, is further amended to read:
"Section 9-17-40. Each participant shall contribute monthly to the program the same amount which he would be required to contribute to the South Carolina Retirement System if he were a member of that system. Participant contributions may be made by payroll deduction, by a reduction in salary, or by employer pick up in accordance with any applicable provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Each participating institution employer shall contribute on behalf of each participant the same amount it would be required to contribute to the South Carolina Retirement System if the participant were a member of that system. Each participating institution employer shall remit to the designated companies, for application to participants' contracts, an amount equal to the participant's contribution plus that percentage of each participating institution's employer's contribution which would have been used to fund all Retirement System benefits for future service if the participants had been members of the Retirement System, but the participating institution's employer's contribution may not be less than four and one-quarter percent of compensation. The participating institution employer shall remit the remainder of its required contribution to the Retirement System."
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
This web page was last updated on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 9:05 A.M.