05 LC 21
7974
House
Bill 253
By:
Representatives Forster of the
3rd,
Watson of the
91st,
Bryant of the
160th,
Murphy of the
23rd,
Sims of the
169th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to retirement and pensions,
so as to provide that a member of any public retirement system created by
general law may obtain up to five years of creditable service for prior military
service; to provide for the payment of employee contributions with interest; to
provide for related matters; to provide conditions for an effective date and
automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws, and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
1 of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to general provisions relative to retirement and pensions, is amended by
inserting at the end thereof the following:
"47-1-16.
(a)
Anything in this title to the contrary notwithstanding, any member of a public
retirement system created by this title who was on active duty in the armed
forces of the United States during any period and who was discharged under
honorable conditions may receive creditable service for such period of active
duty up to a maximum of five years, provided that such member shall pay the
regular employee contribution of 5 percent of the compensation first paid to
such member as an employee after returning from military service plus 4 1/2
percent interest on such employee contributions, compounded annually to date of
payment; provided, further, that no service in the armed forces shall be deemed
as creditable under any provisions of this chapter if such service has or will
be used in the determination of any
membeŕs
eligibility for retirement benefits or allowances from any other state or
federal retirement program, excluding social security and those retirement
programs covered under Public Law 810, 80th Congress, as amended.
Notwithstanding any other time limitation provided in this title for obtaining
creditable service for military service, a qualified member may obtain
creditable service pursuant to the provisions of this subsection by making
application therefor prior to December 31, 2006, or within six months of the
date he or she became a member of this retirement system, whichever date is
later.
(b)
Any person who on June 30, 2006, was a member of a public retirement system
which provided for creditable service for prior military service shall have the
option of obtaining such creditable service pursuant to the provisions of such
retirement system then in effect or under the provisions of this Code section.
Any person who becomes a member of a public retirement system on or after July
1, 2006, may obtain creditable service only under the provisions of this Code
section."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2006, only if it is determined to have
been concurrently funded as provided in Chapter 20 of Title 47 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, the "Public Retirement Systems Standards Law";
otherwise, this Act shall not become effective and shall be automatically
repealed in its entirety on July 1, 2006, as required by subsection (a) of Code
Section 47-20-50.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.