Subchapter E. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec.
249.51. State guarantee.
249.53. Exemption from execution; assignment of rights.
249.54. Fraud and adjustment of errors.
249.55. Construction of code; collective bargaining generally.
249.57. General regulations.
249.58. Optional Alternate Retirement Program.§ 249.51. State guarantee.
The required interest charges payable, the maintenance of reserves in the fund, and the payment of all annuities and other benefits granted by the Board under the provisions of the code, are hereby made obligations of those departments, agencies, boards, commissions or independent public corporations specifically enumerated in section 5102 of the code (relating to definitions), which are not paid for by the Commonwealth from General Fund revenues. The obligations for the employer guarantee under section 5951 of the code (relating to State guarantee) are deemed imposed upon those agencies who have, by prior legislation or Board determination, been accepted into the System.
§ 249.53. Exemption from execution; assignment of rights.
(a) General. In the event any member, entitled to a benefit, has been determined, at the time this benefit becomes payable, to be obligated to the Commonwealth for the repayment of money for any employment related reason, or to be obligated to the State Employees’ Credit Union for the repayment of a loan not to exceed $750 with interest, as provided in section 5953 of the code (relating to taxation, attachment and assignment of funds), the Board will cause to be paid from the member’s account, upon his authorization, or upon certification of his agencies legal representative, the amount of indebtedness. The member, or his designated beneficiary, in the case of a deceased member, shall have the privilege of restoring the set off amount to his account within 30 days thereafter in a lump sum. Failing that, any benefit to which he would otherwise be entitled shall be withheld until an amount sufficient to satisfy the obligation has been accumulated, whereupon the annuity shall be payable to the member.
(b) Debt priorities. In the event a member is indebted, not only to the Commonwealth, but also the State Employees’ Credit Union, under section 5953 of the code, payments to satisfy indebtedness to the Commonwealth shall be made in full before the Credit Union indebtedness is satisfied.
(c) Effect of credit union payment. In the event the Board is required to satisfy a credit union loan on behalf of an active member, as provided in section 5953(b)(2) of the code, the amount of the satisfaction will be automatically converted into an arrears liability of the member, which shall be restored in full by the defaulting member by lump sum or payroll deductions over a period not exceeding 1 year with statutory interest charged during the repayment period.
Source The provisions of this § 249.53 amended March 12, 1976, 6 Pa.B. 449. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (18769).
§ 249.54. Fraud and adjustment of errors.
(a) Any person knowingly making any false statements falsifying or permitting to be falsified any record of this System with an intent to defraud it, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree punishable by law.
(b) The Board upon learning of any mistake in any record resulting in the payment of a greater or lesser benefit than that provided by the code, will make an appropriate adjustment, as far as practicable, so that the person thereto entitled shall receive only the benefit specifically provided under the code.
§ 249.55. Construction of code; collective bargaining generally.
The pension benefits available to State employees under the code may only be changed, modified or altered by legislation. No collective bargaining agreement, or binding arbitration award, or any determination resulting from the collective bargaining process between the Commonwealth and its employees, or between other employers whose employees are subject to these provisions, shall have the effect of modifying, altering or changing any benefit specifically provided under the code, unless there is statutory authority authorizing such change, alteration or modification. The repealer provisions of the code specifically exclude, as a bargainable matter under the act of June 24, 1968 (P. L. 237, No. 111) (43 P. S. § § 217.1—217.10), with respect to collective bargaining between policemen and firemen, and the Public Employee Relations Act (43 P. S. § § 1101.101—1101.2301), with respect to collective bargaining between public employers and their employees, those items relating to the pension benefits provided by the code.
§ 249.57. General regulations.
(a) Effect of enactment of code. The code is intended as a reenactment and recodification of existing law, which also repeals, to the extent inconsistent therewith, those acts which are specifically enumerated in the repealer section of the code.
(b) Effect of lifting of pension freeze for certain members. The limitations on salaries of any member terminating service hereafter, which limitations had been in effect pursuant to the Commonwealth Compensation Commission freeze for pension purposes, for certain legislative, executive, and judicial employees, are repealed retroactive to January 1, 1973. Any member in this category shall be required to pay to the fund the total accumulated deductions that would have been paid in the absence of such freeze, retroactive to January 1, 1973, or other period applicable, including statutory interest during the repayment period. Any benefits shall be payable without reference to any limitations heretofore imposed for service subsequent to January 1, 1973.
(c) Effect of repeal of certain judicial benefits. The additional retirement benefits provided certain judges of Class E and E-1, under prior law, shall only continue for those judges exercising the option for such benefits prior to March 1, 1974, whereupon those benefits are expressly terminated. Such benefits shall be limited to the benefits existing when the application for same was made and subsequent superannuation benefits shall be restricted to the compensation actually received and the contributions based thereon.
(d) Crediting of statutory interest during leave of absence without pay. Statutory interest shall be credited to accounts of members on leave without pay, commencing July 1, 1974, for a period not to exceed 2 years in such leave status.
(e) Payment of fees for furnishing certain information. Effective January 1, 1976, the Board will charge a fee for each request to furnish duplicate information to members based on the following schedules:
1. Federal Interest Income Statement (Duplicate) (1099) …$5.00
2. Statement of Employee’s Retirement Account (Duplicate) (RB-393) …$5.00
3. Annuitant’s Initial Information Letter (Duplicate) (RS-340) …$5.00
4. Disability Annuitant’s Initial Information Letter(Duplicate) (RS-326) …$5.00
5. Tax Statement (Duplicate) (RB-325) …$5.00
6. Federal Statement for Recipients of Annuities, Pension orRetired Pay (Duplicate) (W2-P) …$5.00
7. Request for Recomputation of Present Value on Current Basis …$15.00
8. Membership account statements (Duplicate) …$5.00
9. All other information (duplicate), per item …$5.00
Each such request shall be accompanied by a check or money order in the amount necessary to obtain each of the items set forth in this subsection and shall be made payable to the State Employees’ Retirement System. Cash will not be acceptable.
Source The provisions of this § 249.57 amended March 12, 1976, 6 Pa.B. 449. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (22952).
§ 249.58. Optional Alternate Retirement Program.
Under section 5301 of the code (relating to mandatory and optional membership), certain school employees may elect not to join the System in favor of an optional alternate retirement program approved by the employer.
(1) Every employee, who is eligible for membership in the optional alternate retirement program, shall make the election within 30 days of the first date of active employment. Employees not exercising the option to join the optional alternate retirement program shall be deemed to have chosen to commence active membership in the System, unless they have elected membership in the Public School Employees’ Retirement System.
(2) When an eligible employee elected to participate in the optional alternate retirement program in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2) as it existed on April 15, 2005, or paragraph (4) as it existed on April 15, 2005, or elects to participate in the optional alternate retirement program in accordance with current paragraph (1), the election shall be final and binding so long as the employee remains eligible to remain in the optional alternate retirement program. If the employee later becomes employed by the Commonwealth in a capacity which does not qualify him for membership in the optional alternate retirement program, the employee shall, upon meeting the qualifications for membership in this System, make contributions to the fund, and if eligible, the employee may reinstate former credited service for which contributions had been withdrawn. Remittance of contributions or reinstatement of former credited service shall be made in accordance with the applicable provisions of the code. Service, salary or other compensation paid to an employee while a member of the optional alternate retirement program will not be credited toward membership in or retirement benefit from this System.
(3) Each year, the Board will certify to the Secretary of Education or the governing bodies of employing institutions the percentage rate of the employer normal contribution as determined in accordance with section 5508(b) of the code.
Source The provisions of this § 249.58 amended July 18, 1975, 5 Pa.B. 1840; amended April 15, 2005, effective April 16, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 2275. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (204984) to (204986).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
