Citations Affected: IC 36-8; noncode.
Synopsis: 1977 fund disability benefit. Provides that a member of the
1977 police officers' and firefighters' pension and disability fund who
receives a disability benefit based on a determination that the fund
member has a Class 1 impairment or, under certain circumstances, a
Class 2 impairment (disabled member) is entitled to receive the
disability benefit for the remainder of the disabled member's life.
(Currently, a disabled member receives a disability benefit until age 52;
at 52, the disabled member's benefit is recomputed as a retirement
benefit.) Provides that, upon becoming 52, the disabled member is
entitled to receive a monthly supplemental benefit equal to the greater
of: (1) the monthly retirement benefit that the disabled member would
have received had the disabled member remained in service until
retirement upon becoming 52; or (2) the monthly retirement benefit
earned by a fund member with 20 years of service; reduced by the
amount of any disability benefit that the disabled member is entitled to
receive for life. Provides that a fund member's retirement benefit is
based on: (1) the member's years of active service; plus (2) if
applicable, the period, not to exceed 20 years, during which the
member received disability benefits. (The introduced version of this
bill was prepared by the pension management oversight commission.)
Effective: July 1, 2009.
January 7, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Pensions and Labor.
February 12, 2009, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
February 16, 2009, read second time, ordered engrossed.
February 17, 2009, engrossed. Read third time, passed. Yeas 49, nays 0.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
pensions.
the member may continue to receive disability benefit payments.
However, benefits payable for disability under this subsection are
reduced by amounts for which the fund member is eligible from:
(1) a plan or policy of insurance providing benefits for loss of
time because of disability;
(2) a plan, fund, or other arrangement to which the fund member's
employer has contributed or for which the fund member's
employer has made payroll deductions, including a group life
policy providing installment payments for disability, a group
annuity contract, or a pension or retirement annuity plan other
than the fund established by this chapter;
(3) the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), the
Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. 231 et seq.), the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs, or another federal, state, local, or
other governmental agency;
(4) worker's compensation payable under IC 22-3; and
(5) a salary or wage, including overtime and bonus pay and extra
or additional remuneration of any kind, the fund member receives
or is entitled to receive from the member's employer.
For the purposes of this subsection, a retired fund member is
considered eligible for benefits from subdivisions (1) through (5)
whether or not the member has made application for the benefits.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a plan, policy of insurance, fund,
or other arrangement:
(1) delivered, issued for delivery, amended, or renewed after
April 9, 1979; and
(2) described in subsection (c)(1) or (c)(2);
may not provide for a reduction or alteration of benefits as a result of
benefits for which a fund member may be eligible from the 1977 fund
under subsection (c).
(e) Time spent receiving disability benefits, not to exceed twenty
(20) years, is considered active service for the purpose of determining
retirement benefits. until the fund member has a total of twenty (20)
years of service. A fund member's retirement benefit shall be based
on:
(1) the member's years of active service; plus
(2) if applicable, the period, not to exceed twenty (20) years,
during which the member received disability benefits.
(f) A fund member who is receiving disability benefits:
(1) under section 13.3(d) of this chapter; or
(2) based on a determination under this chapter that the fund
member has a Class 3 impairment;
12.3(c)(2) of this chapter, a fund member who is determined to have a
Class 3 impairment and for whom it is determined that there is no
suitable and available work within the fund member's department,
considering reasonable accommodation to the extent required by the
Americans with Disabilities Act, is entitled to the following benefits
instead of benefits provided under subsection (d):
(1) If the fund member did not have a Class 3 excludable
condition under section 13.6 of this chapter at the time the fund
member entered or reentered the fund, the fund member is
entitled to a monthly base benefit equal to the product of the
member's years of service, not to exceed thirty (30) years of
service, multiplied by one percent (1%) of the monthly salary of
a first class patrolman or firefighter in the year of the local board's
determination of impairment.
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (5), a fund member is
entitled to receive the benefits set forth in subdivision (1) if:
(A) the fund member had a Class 3 excludable condition under
section 13.6 of this chapter at the time the fund member
entered or reentered the fund;
(B) the fund member has a Class 3 impairment that is not
related in any manner to the Class 3 excludable condition
described in clause (A); and
(C) the Class 3 impairment described in clause (B) occurs after
the fund member has completed four (4) years of service with
the employer after the date the fund member entered or
reentered the fund.
(3) Except as provided in subdivision (5), a fund member is not
entitled to a monthly base benefit for a Class 3 impairment if:
(A) the fund member had a Class 3 excludable condition under
section 13.6 of this chapter at the time the fund member
entered or reentered the fund; and
(B) the Class 3 impairment occurs before the fund member has
completed four (4) years of service with the employer after the
date the fund member entered or reentered the fund.
(4) A fund member is not entitled to a monthly base benefit for a
Class 3 impairment if:
(A) the fund member had a Class 3 excludable condition under
section 13.6 of this chapter at the time the fund member
entered or reentered the fund; and
(B) the Class 3 impairment is related in any manner to the
Class 3 excludable condition.
(5) If, during the first four (4) years of service with the employer:
firefighter in the year of the local board's determination of
impairment and the member has fewer than four (4) years of
service; or
(2) until the member becomes fifty-two (52) years of age if the
member's benefit is:
(A) equal to or greater than thirty percent (30%) of the
monthly salary of a first class patrolman or firefighter in
the year of the local board's determination of impairment;
or
(B) less than thirty percent (30%) of the monthly salary of
a first class patrolman or firefighter in the year of the local
board's determination of impairment if the member has at
least four (4) years of service.
(h) (j) Upon becoming fifty-two (52) years of age, a fund member
with a Class 1 or Class 2 impairment determined under subsection
(h)(1) is entitled to receive the retirement benefit payable to a fund
member with:
(1) twenty (20) years of service; or
(2) the total years of service (including both active service and
the period, not to exceed twenty (20) years, during which the
member received disability benefits) and salary, as of the year
the member becomes fifty-two (52) years of age, that the fund
member would have earned if the fund member had remained in
active service until becoming fifty-two (52) years of age;
whichever is greater.
(i) (k) Upon becoming fifty-two (52) years of age, a fund member
who is receiving or has received a Class 3 impairment benefit that is:
(1) equal to or greater than thirty percent (30%) of the monthly
salary of a first class patrolman or firefighter in the year of the
local board's determination of impairment; or
(2) less than thirty percent (30%) of the monthly salary of a first
class patrolman or firefighter in the year of the local board's
determination of impairment if the member has at least four (4)
years of service;
is entitled to receive the retirement benefit payable to a fund member
with twenty (20) years of service.
(j) (l) Notwithstanding section 12.3 of this chapter and any other
provision of this section, a member who:
(1) has had a covered impairment;
(2) recovers and returns to active service with the department; and
(3) within two (2) years after returning to active service has an
impairment that, except for section 12.3(b)(3) of this chapter,
would be a covered impairment;
is entitled to the benefit under this subsection if the impairment
described in subdivision (3) results from the same condition or
conditions (without an intervening circumstance) that caused the
covered impairment described in subdivision (1). The member is
entitled to receive the monthly disability benefit amount paid to the
member at the time of the member's return to active service plus any
adjustments under section 15 of this chapter that would have been
applicable during the member's period of reemployment.