05 LC 21
8081
House
Bill 344
By:
Representative Cummings of the
16th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 47-7-101 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to eligibility for retirement benefits under the Georgia
Firefighterś
Pension Fund, withdrawal of application for benefits before approval, and
reemployment, so as to provide that the benefits of a firefighter who returns to
service after retirement may exceed his or her previous benefit after he or she
has acquired one
yeaŕs
service after such reemployment; 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.
Code
Section 47-7-101 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
eligibility for retirement benefits under the Georgia
Firefighterś
Pension Fund, withdrawal of application for benefits before approval, and
reemployment, is amended by striking in its entirety subsection (b) and
inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"(b)
Any person who again becomes a paid employee of a fire department or of a
volunteer fire department after having been placed on retirement or disability
under Code Section 47-7-100 or 47-7-102 shall immediately notify the
secretary-treasurer of such reemployment. Retirement benefits being paid to such
person shall be suspended as of the date of such reemployment and shall remain
suspended until such reemployment terminates at which time the payment of
retirement benefits shall be resumed in the amount to which the person was
eligible at the time of reemployment. Disability benefits being paid to any such
person shall be terminated as of the date of such reemployment. Within six
months of the commencement of reemployment, any such person who at the time of
application otherwise meets the requirements for membership may, by application
in the manner provided by this chapter, become a member of the fund. In the
event the application is granted, such member, upon meeting the requirements
provided by law, shall be entitled to all benefits provided for in Code Section
47-7-100, but the amount of monthly retirement or disability benefits payable to
such member shall not exceed the amount of the monthly benefit which would be
payable to such member had such subsequent retirement become effective at the
time of the
membeŕs
prior retirement, unless after such reemployment the member shall have acquired
not less than
seven
yearś
one
yeaŕs
creditable service as a member of the
fund."
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.