PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 1383, 1761 PRINTER'S NO. 2038
No. 1093 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, PIPPY, LAVALLE, PUNT, WASHINGTON, FONTANA,
COSTA, ERICKSON, LOGAN, MELLOW, WAUGH, WONDERLING, RAFFERTY,
BOSCOLA, GREENLEAF, O'PAKE, TOMLINSON, FUMO, STACK, KITCHEN,
MADIGAN AND TARTAGLIONE, SEPTEMBER 17, 2007
SENATOR ARMSTRONG, APPROPRIATIONS, RE-REPORTED AS AMENDED,
MAY 12, 2008
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 29, 1956 (1955 P.L.1804, No.600),
2 entitled, as amended, "An act providing for the establishment
3 of police pension funds or pension annuities in certain
4 boroughs, towns and townships; authorizing the establishment
5 of police pension funds or pension annuities by regional
6 police departments; providing for the regulation and
7 maintenance of police pension funds or pension annuities;
8 providing for an actuary; continuance of existing funds or
9 transfer thereof to funds herein established; prescribing
10 rights of beneficiaries; contributions by members; providing
11 for expenses of administration; continuation of existing
12 authority to provide annuity contracts; credit for military
13 service; refunds; exempting allowances from judicial process;
14 and repealing certain acts," further providing for
15 applicability of certain benefit provisions for certain
16 beneficiaries; and making a related repeal.
17 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
18 hereby enacts as follows:
19 Section 1. Section 1 of the act of May 29, 1956 (1955
20 P.L.1804, No.600), referred to as the Municipal Police Pension
21 Law, amended April 27, 2002 APRIL 17, 2002 (P.L.239, No.30), is <--
22 amended to read:
23 Section 1. (a) (1) Each borough, town and township of this
1 Commonwealth maintaining a police force of three or more full-
2 time members and each regional police department shall, and all
3 other boroughs, towns or townships may, establish, by ordinance
4 or resolution, a police pension fund or pension annuity to be
5 maintained by a charge against each member of the police force,
6 by annual appropriations made by the borough, town, township or
7 regional police department, by payments made by the State
8 Treasurer to the municipal treasurer from the moneys received
9 from taxes paid upon premiums by foreign casualty insurance
10 companies for purposes of pension retirement for policemen, and
11 by gifts, grants, devises or bequests granted to the pension
12 fund pursuant to section two of this act.
13 (2) Such fund shall be under the direction of the governing
14 body of the borough, town, township or regional police
15 department, and applied under such regulations as such governing
16 body, by ordinance or resolution, may prescribe for the benefit
17 of such members of the police force as shall receive honorable
18 discharge therefrom by reason of age and service, or disability,
19 and may prescribe for the benefit (i) of surviving spouses, and
20 if no spouse survives or if he or she survives and subsequently
21 dies, then (ii) of child or children under the age of eighteen
22 years or, if attending college, under or attaining the age of
23 twenty-three years, of members of the police force or of members
24 retired on pension.
25 (3) All such pensions as shall be allowed to those who are
26 retired by reason of disabilities shall be in conformity with a
27 uniform scale.
28 (4) The surviving spouse, of a member of the police force or <--
29 a [member who] former member of the police force who, prior to
30 April 18, 2002, retired on pension and dies subsequent to
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1 retirement or who, after April 16, 2002, retires on pension [WHO <--
2 DIES] and dies subsequent to retirement, who dies or if no <--
3 spouse survives or if he or she survives and subsequently dies,
4 then the child or children under the age of eighteen years or,
5 if attending college, under or attaining the age of twenty-three
6 years, of a member of the police force or a member who retires
7 on pension who dies, shall, during her lifetime in the case of a
8 surviving spouse or until reaching the age of eighteen years or,
9 if attending college, under or attaining the age of twenty-three
10 years in the case of a child or children, be entitled to receive
11 a pension calculated at no less than fifty per centum of the
12 pension the member was receiving or would have been receiving
13 had he been retired at the time of his death.
14 (5) The surviving spouse of a member of the police force who
15 dies before his pension has vested or if no spouse survives or
16 if he or she survives and subsequently dies, the child or
17 children under the age of eighteen years or, if attending
18 college, under or attaining the age of twenty-three years, of
19 the member of the police force shall be entitled to receive
20 repayment of all money which the member invested in the pension
21 fund plus interest or other increases in value of the member's
22 investment in the pension fund unless the member has designated
23 another beneficiary for this purpose.
24 (b) For purposes of this act, the phrase "attending college"
25 shall mean the eligible children are registered at an accredited
26 institution of higher learning and are carrying a minimum course
27 load of seven credit hours per semester and the term "regional
28 police department" shall mean a municipal police force organized
29 and operated in combination by two or more municipalities
30 through an intermunicipal agreement pursuant to 53 Pa.C.S. Ch.
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1 23 Subch. A (relating to intergovernmental cooperation).
2 Section 2. the General Assembly finds and declares as
3 follows:
4 (1) This act is intended to clarify the purpose of the
5 act of April 17, 2002 (P.L.239, No.30), entitled "An act
6 amending the act of May 29, 1956 (1955 P.L.1804, No.600),
7 entitled, as amended, 'An act providing for the establishment
8 of police pension funds or pension annuities in certain
9 boroughs, towns and townships; authorizing the establishment
10 of police pension funds or pension annuities by regional
11 police departments; providing for the regulation and
12 maintenance of police pension funds or pension annuities;
13 providing for an actuary; continuance of existing funds or
14 transfer thereof to funds herein established; prescribing
15 rights of beneficiaries; contributions by members; providing
16 for expenses of administration; continuation of existing
17 authority to provide annuity contracts; credit for military
18 service; refunds; exempting allowances from judicial process;
19 and repealing certain acts,' further providing for benefits
20 and for payment into police pension funds by members," to
21 declare and affirm its applicability to the spouses and
22 dependent children of police officers who had retired prior
23 to the effective date of that act and who subsequently died,
24 as well as those who were deceased on the effective date of
25 the act or who retired subsequently thereto.
26 (2) It is the manifest intent of the General Assembly
27 that insofar as the act of April 17, 2002 (P.L.239, No.30),
28 affects the benefits payable to a surviving spouse or
29 dependent child or children under section 1(a)(2) and (4) of
30 the act of May 29, 1956 (1955 P.L.1804, No.600), referred to
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1 as the Municipal Police Pension Law, that in addition to its
2 prospective applicability, this act declares and affirms that
3 the mandated benefit payments shall be payable to the
4 surviving spouse of a member or to a dependent child or
5 children, as applicable, regardless of whether the member
6 retired or died on, before or after April 17, 2002, and
7 further provided that the surviving spouse was not remarried
8 as of April 17, 2002, or alternatively, to the deceased
9 member's dependent child or children.
10 Section 3. Repeals are as follows:
11 (1) The General Assembly declares that the repeal under
12 paragraph (2) is necessary to effectuate this act.
13 (2) Section 4 of the act of April 17, 2002 (P.L.239,
14 No.30), entitled "An act amending the act of May 29, 1956
15 (1955 P.L.1804, No.600), entitled, as amended, 'An act
16 providing for the establishment of police pension funds or
17 pension annuities in certain boroughs, towns and townships;
18 authorizing the establishment of police pension funds or
19 pension annuities by regional police departments; providing
20 for the regulation and maintenance of police pension funds or
21 pension annuities; providing for an actuary; continuance of
22 existing funds or transfer thereof to funds herein
23 established; prescribing rights of beneficiaries;
24 contributions by members; providing for expenses of
25 administration; continuation of existing authority to provide
26 annuity contracts; credit for military service; refunds;
27 exempting allowances from judicial process; and repealing
28 certain acts,' further providing for benefits and for payment
29 into police pension funds by members," is repealed.
30 Section 4. This act shall apply retroactively to April 17,
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1 2002.
2 Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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