HOUSE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 427, 854
PRINTER'S NO. 1591
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
423
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY J. WARD, MARTIN, SCAVELLO, YAW AND BAKER,
MARCH 15, 2021
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, APRIL 13, 2022
AN ACT
Amending Title 71 (State Government) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in membership, credited service,
classes of service, and eligibility for benefits relating to
retirement for State employees and officers, further
providing for mandatory and optional membership in the system
and participation in the plan; and, in benefits, further
providing for termination of annuities.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 5301(d) and 5706(a)(2) 5706(A.1) and
(a.5) of Title 71 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are
amended to read:
§ 5301. Mandatory and optional membership in the system and
participation in the plan.
* * *
(d) Return to service.--
(1) An annuitant who returns to service as a State
employee before January 1, 2019, or returns to State service
as a Class A-5 exempt employee after December 31, 2018, shall
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resume active membership in the system as of the effective
date of employment, except as otherwise provided in section
5706(a) and (a.1) (relating to termination of annuities),
regardless of the optional membership category of the
position.
(2) An annuitant or a participant receiving
distributions who returns to service as a State employee on
or after January 1, 2019, shall resume active membership in
the system and, if an active member of Class A-5 or Class A-
6, shall be an active participant in the plan as of the
effective date of employment, except as otherwise provided in
section 5706(a) and (a.1), regardless of the optional
membership or participation category of the position:
Provided, however, That a participant or former participant
who previously elected to be solely a participant under
section 5306.4 or 5306.5 shall be a participant in the plan
and not an active member of the system, except for service as
a Class A-5 exempt employee.
* * *
§ 5706. Termination of annuities.
(a) General rule.--
* * *
(2) This subsection shall not apply in the case of any
annuitant who:
(i) may render services to the Commonwealth in the
capacity of an independent contractor; or
(ii) is over normal retirement age or who has been
an annuitant for more than one year and who may render
service to the Commonwealth:
(A) as a member of an independent board or
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commission or as a member of a departmental
administrative or advisory board or commission when
such members of independent or departmental boards or
commissions are compensated on a per diem basis for
not more than 150 days per calendar year; or
(B) as a member of an independent board or
commission requiring appointment by the Governor,
with advice and consent of the Senate, where the
annual salary payable to the member does not exceed
$35,000 and where the member has been an annuitant
for at least six months immediately preceding the
appointment.
(C) as a part-time fire instructor at any of the
following who has received certification as a
firefighter training instructor from the Pennsylvania
State Fire Academy :
(I) the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy;
(II) the Department of Education;
(III) a State-owned educational institution;
(IV) a community college; or
(V) the Pennsylvania State University.
(A.1) RETURN TO STATE SERVICE DURING EMERGENCY.--WHEN, IN
THE JUDGMENT OF THE EMPLOYER, AN EMERGENCY CREATES AN INCREASE
IN THE WORK LOAD SUCH THAT THERE IS SERIOUS IMPAIRMENT OF
SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC, AN ANNUITANT WHO IS OVER NORMAL
RETIREMENT AGE OR WHO HAS BEEN AN ANNUITANT FOR MORE THAN [ONE
YEAR] SIX MONTHS MAY BE RETURNED TO STATE SERVICE FOR A PERIOD
NOT TO EXCEED [95] 120 DAYS IN ANY CALENDAR YEAR WITHOUT LOSS OF
HIS ANNUITY. IN COMPUTING THE NUMBER OF DAYS AN ANNUITANT HAS
RETURNED TO STATE SERVICE, ANY AMOUNT OF TIME LESS THAN ONE-HALF
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OF A DAY SHALL BE COUNTED AS ONE-HALF OF A DAY. FOR AGENCIES,
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS UNDER THE GOVERNOR'S JURISDICTION, THE
APPROVAL OF THE GOVERNOR THAT AN EMERGENCY EXISTS SHALL BE
REQUIRED BEFORE AN ANNUITANT MAY BE RETURNED TO STATE SERVICE.
* * *
(a.5) No contributions or credited service.--The service of
an annuitant whose annuity does not cease upon his return to
State or school service shall not be subject to member
contributions or eligible for qualification as creditable State
service [and], shall not be eligible for participation in the
plan, mandatory pickup participant contributions, voluntary
contributions or employer defined contributions[.], shall not be
subject to school employee member contributions to the Public
School Employees' Retirement System or , eligible for
qualification as creditable school service in the Public School
Employees' Retirement System OR ELIGIBLE FOR MEMBERSHIP OR
PARTICIPATION IN AN ALTERNATIVE RETIREMENT PLAN and shall not be
eligible for participation as a school employee in the School
Employees' Defined Contribution Plan or any type of
contributions to the School Employees' Defined Contribution
Plan.
* * *
Section 2. This act shall apply only to service as a State-
certified fire instructor performed after the effective date of
this section without regard to whether the service as an
annuitant began before or after the effective date of this
section. THIS ACT SHALL NOT CREATE IN ANY MEMBER OF THE SYSTEM
OR IN ANY OTHER PERSON CLAIMING AN INTEREST IN THE ACCOUNT OF
ANY MEMBER OF THE SYSTEM A CONTRACTUAL RIGHT, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED.
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Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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