| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Florida Retirement System; amending |
| 3 | s. 121.111, F.S.; authorizing additional persons to |
| 4 | purchase credit for prior military wartime service; |
| 5 | providing an effective date. |
| 6 |
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| 7 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 121.111, Florida |
| 10 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 11 | 121.111 Credit for military service.-- |
| 12 | (2) Any member whose initial date of employment is before |
| 13 | January 1, 1987, who has military service as defined in s. |
| 14 | 121.021(20)(b), and who does not claim such service under |
| 15 | subsection (1) may receive creditable service for such military |
| 16 | service if: |
| 17 | (a) The member is vested; |
| 18 | (b) Creditable service, not to exceed a total of 4 years, |
| 19 | is claimed only as service earned in the Regular Class of |
| 20 | membership; and |
| 21 | (c) The member pays into the proper retirement trust fund |
| 22 | 4 percent of gross salary, based upon his or her first year of |
| 23 | salary subsequent to July 1, 1945, that he or she has credit for |
| 24 | under this system, plus 4 percent interest thereon compounded |
| 25 | annually from the date of first creditable service under this |
| 26 | chapter until July 1, 1975, and 6.5 percent interest compounded |
| 27 | annually thereafter, until payment is made to the proper |
| 28 | retirement trust fund. |
| 29 | (d) The member may not receive credit for any wartime |
| 30 | military service if the member also receives credit for such |
| 31 | service under any federal, state, or local retirement or pension |
| 32 | system where "length of service" is a factor in determining the |
| 33 | amount of compensation received. However, credit for wartime |
| 34 | military service may be received where the member also receives |
| 35 | credit under a pension system providing retired pay for |
| 36 | nonregular service in the Armed Forces of the United States in |
| 37 | accordance with 10 U.S.C. ss. 1331 et seq., as follows: |
| 38 | 1. Any person whose retirement date under the Florida |
| 39 | Retirement System is prior to July 1, 1985, may claim such |
| 40 | service at any time, as provided in this subsection, upon |
| 41 | payment of contributions and interest as provided in paragraph |
| 42 | (c), with interest computed to the retired member's retirement |
| 43 | date. The benefit shall be recalculated and increased to include |
| 44 | the additional service credit granted for such wartime military |
| 45 | service, and a lump-sum payment shall be made to the retiree for |
| 46 | the amount owed due to the additional service credit, |
| 47 | retroactive to the date of retirement. |
| 48 | 2. Any person whose retirement date is on or after July 1, |
| 49 | 1985, must claim such service and pay the required |
| 50 | contributions, as provided in paragraph (c), prior to the |
| 51 | commencement of his or her retirement benefits, as provided in |
| 52 | this subsection. |
| 53 | (e) Any member claiming credit under this subsection must |
| 54 | certify on the form prescribed by the department that credit for |
| 55 | such service has not and will not be claimed for retirement |
| 56 | purposes under any other federal, state, or local retirement or |
| 57 | pension system where "length of service" is a factor in |
| 58 | determining the amount of compensation received, except where |
| 59 | credit for such service has been granted in a pension system |
| 60 | providing retired pay for nonregular service as provided in |
| 61 | paragraph (d). If the member dies prior to retirement, the |
| 62 | member's beneficiary must make the required certification before |
| 63 | credit may be claimed. If such certification is not made by the |
| 64 | member or the member's beneficiary, credit for wartime military |
| 65 | service shall not be allowed. |
| 66 | (f) Service credit awarded for wartime military service |
| 67 | shall be the total number of years, months, and days from and |
| 68 | including the date of entry into active duty through the date of |
| 69 | discharge from active duty, up to a maximum of 4 years. If the |
| 70 | military service includes a partial year, it shall be stated as |
| 71 | a fraction of a year. Creditable military service shall be |
| 72 | calculated in accordance with rule 60S-2.005(2)(j), Florida |
| 73 | Administrative Code. |
| 74 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |