Pensions/General Assembly/Election Day/Full-Service, the official text

SPONSOR: Sen. Sokola & Rep. Minor-Brown
                                   Sen. Wilson

                   DELAWARE STATE SENATE
                   153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

                   SENATE BILL NO. 154

   AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STATE EMPLOYEES’ PENSION
   PLAN.

   BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

1  Section 1. Amend § 5527, Subchapter II, Chapter 55, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as

2 shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

3  (d) (1) Notwithstanding provisions of this chapter to the contrary, an elected official shall receive a pension

4 computed in accordance with this subsection. The service or disability pension payable to the elected official and the

5 survivor’s pension payable to the eligible survivor of such individuals shall be computed on the basis of compensation to

6 the elected official as an elected official irrespective of other credited service, with contribution to be determined based

7 upon compensation as an elected official. The minimum amount of pension payable to an elected member of the General

8 Assembly or a retired elected member of the General Assembly shall be computed by multiplying the elected official’s

9 years of service as an elected member of the General Assembly times the highest rate of payment being paid to any retired

10 member of the General Assembly, such rate to be computed by dividing the monthly pension being paid to such retired

11 member by the elected official’s years of service as an elected member of the General Assembly. An elected official elected

12 prior to January 1, 2012, shall be eligible to receive a pension beginning with the first month after the attainment of age 60,

13 provided that the elected official shall have served at least 5 years at the time of the elected official’s termination of service

14 as an elected official, or beginning with the first month after attainment of age 55, provided that the elected official shall

15 have served at least 10 years at the time of the elected official’s termination of service as an elected official. An elected

16 official elected on or after January 1, 2012, shall be eligible to receive a pension beginning with the first month after the

17 attainment of age 60, provided that the elected official shall have served at least 20 years at the time of the elected official’s

18 termination of service as an elected official, or beginning with the first month after attainment of age 65, provided that the

19 elected official shall have served at least 10 years at the time of the elected official’s termination of service as an elected

20 official. For the purposes of this section, a member of the General Assembly who is elected on Election Day in November

21 and serves through the next Election Day in November will receive full-service credit for that term. Any pension for

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22 credited service other than as an elected official shall be determined under the remainder of this chapter as a separate

23 pension.

                                                                            SYNOPSIS

                   This Act provides that, for purposes of Title 29 of the Delaware Code, Section 5527, related to the amount of
        monthly ordinary service or disability pension, a member of the General Assembly who is elected on Election Day in
        November and serves through the next Election Day in November will receive full-service credit for that term. Thus, the
        Act provides that a member of the House of Representatives who served five, two-year terms and, for each term, was
        elected on Election Day in November and served through the next Election Day in November will be credited with ten
        years of service. Likewise, the Act provides that a member of the Senate who served five, four-year terms and, for each
        term, was elected on Election Day in November and served through the next Election Day in November will be credited
        with twenty years of service.

                                                                                                                                  Author: Senator Sokola

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