HB0693 Skaggs, Bill

P R E F I L E D

HB 693 -- Kansas City School Retirement

This bill makes several changes in the Kansas City Public School Retirement System by:

(1)˙Adding language to statutes clarifying that 7 members of the 12 person board of trustees constitute a quorum, and 7 trustees must support a motion for it to be a decision of the board;

(2)˙Complying with the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which increased the rights of veterans to purchase credited service for periods of active military service;

(3)˙Expanding the discretion of the Board of Trustees to develop uniform policies for members to purchase service credit for service to Kansas City, military service, health leave, education leave, state and out-of-state service, private school service, and work at public libraries, colleges, junior colleges, and universities;

(4)˙Eliminating the 30 day waiting period between the filing of a retirement application and the receipt of retirement benefits;

(5)˙Establishing a minimum monthly benefit of $300 for people who retire with at least 20 years of service, and a proportionally reduced minimum benefit for people with between 10 and 20 years of service;

(6)˙Simplifying procedures for calculating retirement benefits;

(7)˙Granting the Board additional discretion to grant cost of living adjustments when recommended to do so by the actuary, provided that such an adjustment would not impair the actuarial soundness of the retirement system;

(8)˙Providing an optional death benefit of a member's contributions (with interest) for the surviving spouse, dependent children, dependent parent, or beneficiary of a member who dies before retirement. The benefit will be calculated as though the deceased member had at least 10 years of creditable service; and

(9)˙Making technical changes.