PRINTER'S NO. 1450
No. 1281 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY CIVERA, ITKIN, SAYLOR, ARMSTRONG, McNAUGHTON,
BELARDI, TRELLO, HENNESSEY, JOSEPHS, STABACK, GANNON, OLASZ,
LAUGHLIN, GRUITZA, ALLEN, DeLUCA, L. I. COHEN, BOSCOLA,
E. Z. TAYLOR, C. WILLIAMS AND NICKOL, APRIL 10, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON URBAN AFFAIRS, APRIL 10, 1997
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 22, 1935 (P.L.233, No.99), entitled "An
2 act creating and establishing a fund for the care,
3 maintenance, and relief of aged, retired, and disabled
4 employees of the Bureau of Police in cities of the second
5 class; providing a pension fund for said employees; and
6 providing for the payment of certain dues, fees, assessments,
7 fines, and appropriations thereto; regulating membership
8 therein; creating a board for the management thereof;
9 providing the amount, mode, and manner of payment to
10 beneficiaries thereof, and for the care and disposition of
11 said fund; providing for the payment into this fund by cities
12 of the second class of all monies heretofore payable into any
13 other funds, organizations, corporations, or associations
14 having the same or similar purposes, and of such additional
15 monies as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of
16 this act," further providing for pension payments to spouses.
17 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
18 hereby enacts as follows:
19 Section 1. Section 11 of the act of May 22, 1935 (P.L.233,
20 No.99), referred to as the Second Class City Policemen Relief
21 Law, amended November 9, 1965 (P.L.687, No.334), is amended to
22 read:
23 Section 11. When any member of the fund shall resign or be
24 dismissed from service, or shall die while in active service,
1 there shall be paid to him or to his widow, and if no widow
2 survive, to his executor or administrator, if his service has
3 been terminated by death, from the fund, all dues paid by him
4 into the fund without interest, and all monies which the fund
5 may have received under any assignment made by the said member
6 to the fund at the time of his admission to membership, under
7 the provisions of subsection (3) of section 8 hereof.
8 In addition, when any member of the fund shall die as a
9 result of injuries received while in the performance of his
10 duties, there shall be paid to his widow from the fund, monthly
11 sums in amounts which together with any payments received under
12 "The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act" or "The
13 Pennsylvania Occupational Disease Act," will be equal to fifty
14 per centum (50%) of his salary at the time of his death. Such
15 monthly payments shall continue [for five hundred (500) weeks,
16 or until the widow shall remarry, or] until her death[,
17 whichever shall first occur].
18 In the event there are surviving children but no widow, or
19 after the payments herein provided for the widow have been
20 discontinued by reason of [the end of the five hundred (500)
21 week period or] her [remarriage or] death, each [unmarried]
22 child of the deceased member under eighteen (18) years of age
23 shall thereafter receive payments equal to twenty-five per
24 centum (25%) of the payments above provided for the widow, but
25 in no case shall total payments to one family be more than fifty
26 per centum of his salary at the time of his death. Where there
27 is only one child, the minimum monthly payments shall be sixty
28 dollars ($60). Where the maximum amount is payable it shall be
29 divided equally among the children entitled thereto. The
30 payments for each child shall terminate upon his reaching the
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1 age of eighteen (18) years[,] or his [marriage or] death:
2 Provided, That the board may continue indefinitely payments to a
3 dependent incompetent child. The payments shall consist of any
4 payments received under "The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation
5 Act" or "The Pennsylvania Occupational Disease Act,"
6 supplemented by the necessary amount from the pension fund.
7 Payments to the widows and children of members killed while
8 on duty shall be made on and after July 1, 1959.
9 In the event there are no surviving children or no widow
10 entitled to receive the payments provided for in this act, any
11 dependent parents of the member shall receive the payments the
12 widow would have received had she survived [and not remarried].
13 Section 2. Section 11.1 of the act, amended November 9, 1965
14 (P.L.687, No.334) and July 8, 1970 (P.L.455, No.156), is amended
15 to read:
16 Section 11.1. Married Persons; Pension to Surviving Spouse
17 and Dependent Children.--
18 (a) Any married person who elects in writing to be governed
19 by the provisions of this amendment and who retires under the
20 provisions of this act shall, at the time of his retirement,
21 receive the pension provided by this act during his lifetime and
22 a pension after his death, payable to his surviving spouse at
23 the time of his death, equal to fifty per centum of his pension:
24 Provided, That such person so retiring shall have been married
25 to his spouse for not less than two years prior to the date of
26 death and the spouse was dependent upon such deceased employee
27 at the time of his death.
28 (a.1) Any retired member of the Police Pension Fund who
29 retired prior to August 27, 1963, may, within ninety days after
30 the effective date of this amendment, elect to be governed by
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1 the provisions of this subsection, provided such election shall
2 be in writing and that such writing shall be filed with the
3 Secretary of the Police Pension Fund. Each retired member who
4 elects to be governed under the provisions of this subsection
5 shall agree to contribute one-half of one percent of his monthly
6 pension to the Police Pension Fund. Upon the death of any
7 retired member who elected in the manner above prescribed to be
8 governed by this subsection, his widow and surviving children
9 shall receive the benefits otherwise provided by this act for
10 widows and children of deceased members who elected to be
11 governed by the amending act of August 27, 1963 (P.L.1297) and
12 any further amendments thereto.
13 (b) Such surviving spouse shall be entitled to receive
14 payments commencing the first day of the month in which the
15 death of the deceased spouse occurs, and shall continue [to],
16 even if she remarries, and terminate upon the death of such
17 surviving spouse[, unless such surviving spouse shall remarry,
18 in which event the board may allocate the pension to dependent
19 children or parents as provided in this act]: Provided, That in
20 no case shall total payments to a member or his survivors or his
21 estate be less than the deceased member's contribution into the
22 fund.
23 (c) In the event there is no surviving spouse, or the
24 surviving spouse dies [or remarries] while receiving payments
25 under this section, and where there are dependent children of
26 the deceased member of the fund, the board may pay to each such
27 dependent child twenty-five per centum of the pension earned by
28 the deceased member until the age of eighteen [or marriage] or
29 death: Provided, That the board may indefinitely continue
30 payments to a dependent incompetent child.
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1 Where the sums payable to dependent children under this
2 section are equal to the maximum pension to which the widow
3 would be entitled, it shall be divided equally among the
4 children entitled thereto.
5 In the event there are no surviving children or no widow
6 entitled to receive the payments provided for in this act, any
7 dependent parents of the deceased member shall receive the
8 monthly payments the widow would have received had she survived
9 [and not remarried].
10 (d) The word "pension" as used in this section shall be
11 construed to mean the sum of the pension provided by this act
12 plus the amount of service increment, if any, to which the
13 married person retiring shall be entitled.
14 Section 3. Section 14.6 of the act, added March 3, 1972
15 (P.L.96, No.34), is amended to read:
16 Section 14.6. In addition to the other benefits provided by
17 this act the city council is authorized by ordinance to adopt a
18 plan of paying to widows of deceased policemen[,] not otherwise
19 covered under this act, even if they have remarried, a monthly
20 award of such amount as the council may from time to time
21 determine and may further appropriate from the city's general
22 fund sufficient amounts to make such further awards.
23 Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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