Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 211
02/12/2009 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation, Joseph Masters, Commissioner Designee, Department of Public Safety | |
| Confirmation, Kathleen Ballenger, Nominee, Alaska Public Offices Commission | |
| SB79 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | SB 79 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 79-MED BENEFITS OF DISABLED PEACE OFFICERS
9:29:51 AM
CHAIR MENARD announced the consideration of SB 79.
SENATOR LESIL MCGUIRE, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, said
SB 79 addresses an odd situation that has been in statute since
1986 and was recently identified. People in the Tier II
retirement system have just begun the retirement process and an
irregularity was found. If public safety employees are disabled
during their first 20 years of service, they receive major
medical coverage for the disability. The state will provide
permanent disability for life to a person who is severely
injured fighting a fire or serving the community in the area of
public safety. Persons who are injured after 25 years of service
go immediately into the retirement system and have medical
coverage. SB 79 is for those who become disabled between their
21st year and 25th year. It is a small, inadvertent gap in
benefits. She has found no record or any public policy statement
that was intended to exclude this group of public safety
employees who become permanently disabled in the line of duty.
The bill restores what she believes is the original intent of
lawmakers in 1986. "If you are out there serving us, our
communities, in the area of public safety and you become
disabled, ... certainly it would be our intent that you receive
permanent disability coverage for your life." Fiscally, it may
be $570,000, but there is no way to know. It corrects a serious
problem in the statute.
9:32:59 AM
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if anyone has been denied those benefits
and if the bill needs to be retroactive. Are we dealing with an
unfortunate person who was disabled in the 21st year of service?
SENATOR MEYER said this is just an oversight.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said there are other bills [in the legislature]
that are more comprehensive and will change the defined
contribution plan to a defined benefit plan, but this bill is
just correcting an oversight.
9:34:21 AM
SENATOR KOOKESH asked if there are other overlooked issues,
because it is a lot of money.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said other issues may have been created as the
tiers changed over the years in an effort to reduce the state's
liability, including the wholesale change from a defined benefit
program to a defined contribution program. "But at this time I
haven't identified any."
9:35:32 AM
JEFF BRIGGS, Legislative Director, Alaska Professional
Firefighters Association, Anchorage, said there are no
firefighters that have been injured and denied benefits, but
there is a corrections officer in Fairbanks. Senator Olson said
he met someone while campaigning.
SENATOR PASKVAN said that an employee who was disabled after 17
years of work would qualify for medical coverage. It would seem
that a person disabled in the 21st year has given more to this
state. If there is someone out there that was disabled in those
gap years, the bill should be made retroactive "so this
oversight doesn't land on just a few people."
MR. BRIGGS said he agrees. His group just found out about the
problem last winter, and it tried going through the Department
of Administration and found out that the statute would need to
change. It only affects Tier II and Tier III public safety
employees, and since Tier II was created in 1986, it is just now
impacting employees that are reaching that gap. His hope is that
the legislation would take effect from that 20-year point. "We
are the only workgroup that this happens to." All other work
groups are covered for occupational injuries. The plan allows
vesting at 10 years, so a person with 10 years and a day of
service has more benefits than a person with 20 to 25 years.
9:39:06 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked that legislative legal staff answer Senator
Paskvan's question about the bill being retroactive.
DAN WAYNE, Attorney, Legislative Legal Services, Juneau, said if
there is a peace officer that was denied benefits, it won't fix
that. "It would fix it prospectively." He doesn't believe
correctional officers will be affected by this bill. "Under the
definitions of peace officers that we have in statute, they
don't appear in any of those definitions." He said the staff in
retirements and benefits should know if someone has been denied
[benefits].
SENATOR FRENCH asked for that definition of who is a peace
officer under state law.
MR. WAYNE said that in AS 01.10.060 a peace officer is "an
officer of the state troopers; a member of the police force of a
municipality; a village public safety officer; a regional public
safety officer; a United States marshal or deputy marshal; or an
officer whose duty it is to enforce and preserve the public
peace." That's the general definition. Under criminal statutes,
peace officer means a public servant vested by law with the duty
to maintain public order or make arrests. He doesn't think a
correctional officer is a peace officer.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if the bill will fix the problem for
firefighters.
9:42:20 AM
MR. WAYNE said it will certainly fix it prospectively.
SENATOR FRENCH said, "For firefighters?"
The committee took an at-ease.
9:44:11 AM
SENATOR MCGUIRE said lines 15-18 on page 2 of the bill
references 20 years of credited service as a peace officer under
AS 39.35.360 and 39.35.370. That statute refers to a peace
officer or a firefighter, "so that's where the definition comes
from and that's where the firefighters come in." She has no
objection to including correctional officers. There is no
retroactivity clause, but the bill clarifies a law that was put
in place in 1986. It is her intent that the new statute would
work from that moment. "This would have been the rule. This
would've been what was intended." If a retroactivity clause is
needed to make it clear, she welcomes that from the committee.
SENATOR FRENCH said it may save some poor guy a lawsuit. "An
injured worker will face a lawsuit and there'll be some good-
natured Department of Law attorney saying the statute doesn't
cover you, and the legislature had their opportunity to do it."
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if [this conversation] of the committee
will influence it.
SENATOR FRENCH said, a little, but it is better to be explicit.
9:46:29 AM
MR. WAYNE said it is better to be explicit.
SENATOR FRENCH said in 2006 the first Tier II employees got 20
years of service and could get injured and not have coverage,
unlike if it had happened the year before. The gap to be fixed
starts there. It is now 2009, so the gap has been there for
three years, so there may be people that have been injured and
are fighting for major medical disability payments. This bill
could cure their problem if the bill is explicit in covering
everyone who has 20 years of service in Tier II. So the
committee should make it retroactive to 2006 or "just say that
we mean to make it cover all those employees."
MR. WAYNE said he agrees.
SENATOR FRENCH said he thinks a CS [committee substitute] is
needed.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said a conceptual amendment on making the law
retroactive would be acceptable, and then Mr. Wayne could tackle
the language.
9:48:46 AM
SENATOR PASKVAN said his concern is that there may be
individuals that have already been denied. It is important to
make it explicit through a CS.
SENATOR MEYER said it is the chair's prerogative to get a CS or
use a conceptual amendment, but he would like to hear from Kevin
Brooks because there may be other overlooked classifications.
CHAIR MENARD said it will affect the fiscal note if there are
others, so she prefers a CS.
9:50:44 AM
KEVIN BROOKS, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Administration,
Juneau, said it is his understanding that p-retirement is
differentiated from police officers defined in statute. P-
retirement includes peace officers, firefighters, and
correctional officers, but he will confirm that later.
SENATOR FRENCH said Senator Meyer's issue may be resolved
because it may be only that narrow class of employees that have
access to a 20-year retirement. So other employees won't fall
into this gap.
MR. BROOKS said he thinks that is correct, and those benefits
have been changed from 20 to 25 [years] for Tier IV. He has a
handy matrix comparing the tiers that he will give to the
committee. He believes there are no other oversights that are
similar. He knows of no one who has applied for benefits that
may have been denied [because of this gap], but he will check
into that. He said his department attached the fiscal note of
about $570,000. There is a lot of proposed legislation relating
to pension benefits this year. This bill is a very narrow piece,
but the retirement management board is meeting today and will
provide the status of the funds. At the last report there was a
$7.4 billion unfunded status with PERS and TRS retirement funds.
That doesn't include the dramatic recent losses. He expects that
the unfunded liability has grown, and it may be in the $9
billion range. This bill adds a $570,000 present value to the
liability, and he is concerned about adding anything. But the
bill does recognize a gap in benefits. He is trying to figure
out the intent of the gap, and he hasn't gotten a definitive
answer. "We had a small amount in our operating budget, as well,
to do some programming changes -- $12,800 in the current year;
$12,400 in FY10, but that's just some computer programming
changes that we would need to make to accommodate the changes in
the plan if the bill becomes law."
9:55:50 AM
SENATOR MEYER said the confusion was defining peace officers for
retirement purposes which is different than the definition in
statute. Does the administration support this bill? He believes
it was an oversight, but it will add to the unfunded liability.
MR. BROOKS said he has no word from the governor, but the
department is neutral because of the additional cost. He
apologized for the "cop out."
CHAIR MENARD suggested that if it is the right thing to do, it
"trumps what the department's going to have to look at and get
creative to find this money, because if we truly did err, then
this is our opportunity to correct it."
9:57:50 AM
CHAIR MENARD closed public testimony and asked Mr. Wayne if he
had further comments.
MR. WAYNE said it is a good idea to name correctional officers
and firefighters explicitly, which means changing the title. It
would be changing the law as it is now because only peace
officers are eligible ... There are a couple of paragraphs that
refer to peace officers in the bill on page 2. If the committee
intends to include correctional officers and firefighters, they
should be added.
CHAIR MENARD said that is a good suggestion and held SB 79 in
committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|