To repeal sections 169.440 and 169.466, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to teacher and school employee retirement systems in metropolitan school districts, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

     Section A. Sections 169.440 and 169.466, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 169.440 and 169.466, to read as follows:

     169.440. 1. The board of trustees shall fix and determine by proper rules and regulations how much service in any year is equivalent to one year of service, but in no case shall more than one year of service be creditable for all service in one calendar year. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subsection, the board of trustees shall include an employee's accumulated and unused days of sick leave, if any, in computing the employee's creditable service upon the employee's retirement.

     2. Under such rules and regulations as the board of trustees shall adopt, each employee who was employed by the school district on and prior to the date this retirement system becomes operative and who becomes a member within one year from such date, shall file a detailed statement of all service as such employee rendered by the member to the school district prior to that date and prior to the member's attainment of age sixty-five, for which the member claims credit; provided, however, that teachers may, in addition, claim credit in such statement for not more than ten years of service rendered in public schools outside the school district. Any member with service prior to January 1, 1944, who became a member after January 1, 1945, may file claim for prior service up to a maximum of twelve years provided the member has a minimum of five continuous years of membership service and a total membership service of not less than the years of prior service being claimed.

     3. Subject to the above restrictions and to such other rules and regulations as the board of trustees may adopt, the board of trustees shall verify the service claims as soon as practicable after the filing of such statements of service.

     4. Upon verification of the statements of service, the board of trustees shall issue prior service certificates, certifying to each member the length of prior service with which the member is credited on the basis of the member's statement of service. So long as the holder of such a certificate continues to be a member, a prior service certificate shall be final and conclusive for retirement purposes as to such service; provided, however, that any member may, within one year from the date of issuance, or modification, of such certificate, request the board of trustees to modify or correct the member's prior service certificate. When any employee ceases to be a member the employee's prior service certificate shall become void, and should such employee again become a member such employee shall enter the retirement system as a member not entitled to prior service and membership service credit. After the member has five years of continuous membership service since last date of reemployment and provided the member could not under the applicable law at date of the member's termination have left such member's accumulated contributions for accrued deferred retirement benefits, the member may reinstate the member's creditable service as of such date by paying to the system the accumulated contributions the member withdrew with interest to the date of repayment.

     5. Membership service at retirement shall include creditable service as an employee, on account of which contributions are made by the employing board and by the member except as to creditable military service and accumulated and unused days of sick leave.

     6. Creditable service upon retirement of a member, or upon such other date as a member shall cease to be an employee shall consist of membership service, and if the member has a prior service certificate in full force and effect it shall include service certified on the member's prior service certificate, except that in determining the amount of any benefits pursuant to sections 169.410 to 169.585 the years of prior service creditable shall not exceed the number of years which, when added to the membership service of the member, equals thirty-five years.

     7. Any member inducted into the armed forces of the United States while an employee, and discharged or separated from such service by other than dishonorable discharge, shall be credited with such period or periods of time, not exceeding a total of four years, spent in such service during time of war or national emergency, and any additional period or periods of involuntary service as if such member had been for all effects and purposes in active service as an employee during such period or periods of time. Periods of national emergency, as that term is used in this section, shall be prescribed by rule of the board of trustees, giving due regard to the acts and resolutions of Congress and the proclamations and orders of the President.

     8. Any employee whose membership was terminated during the years 1944 to 1947, inclusive, pursuant to a rule of the board of education prohibiting the employment of married women teachers and who was reemployed on or before January 1, 1950, and is a member as of October 13, 1969, may reinstate the creditable service forfeited by the termination and acquire credit as membership service for service rendered subsequent to the termination. In order to obtain such credit, the member must pay the unpaid accumulated contributions for the approved years of membership service to be credited together with any contributions which have been refunded to the member plus interest from the date of the refund or from the date of membership service to the date of repayment as provided herein. No prior service may be reinstated or other service credited unless full payment is made for contributions for all possible service which is classified as membership service.

     9. Any member who is granted a leave of absence with reduced pay may authorize deduction of contributions based on full compensation, the same as if not on leave, and in such case the full compensation shall be used as annual compensation in determining the final average compensation for calculation of benefits.

     10. Any employee who rendered service which at the time was not classified as membership service nor were contributions paid but which would be classified as membership service under later law and regulations may receive credit for such service by paying the required contributions for such period of service with interest to date.

     11. A member who has rendered service in a public school district in the state of Missouri, or outside the state of Missouri, may elect to purchase and receive credit for such service in accordance with the following conditions and limitations:

     (1) The member must have a minimum of five years of continuous creditable membership service in this retirement system prior to the member's election to purchase;

     (2) Service to be credited must be service for which the member did not and could not receive accrued benefits by leaving contributions with any other retirement system under the applicable law in effect at the termination of such service;

     (3) The member must have one year of creditable service in this system for each year to be credited;

     (4) The maximum period of service which can be credited pursuant to this subsection is ten years;

     (5) The member must pay for the purchase of service after January 1, 1944, the total amount of member's contributions for such years being purchased plus interest at the rates fixed by the board of trustees with the contributions based on the compensation at which the member initially was employed in this school district and the contribution rates then in effect;

     (6) If all service after January 1, 1944, for which a member is eligible has been purchased and it is less than ten years, the member may apply for credit for service prior to January 1, 1944, provided the total credit does not exceed ten years, subject to applicable conditions and limitations in this subsection, but no payment shall be required;

     (7) A member shall receive credit at retirement for only such service as has met the conditions of this subsection. If the member has paid for any service which has not been credited, the member shall receive a refund of the excess payment. If the member has not completed such member's payment at time of retirement, the first benefits from the system shall be applied to pay the balance of the amount due and thereafter the full benefits shall be payable; and

     (8) Any credit granted for service outside the school district prior to January 1, 1944, pursuant to subsection 2 of this section shall be included in determining whether any additional credit may be obtained pursuant to this subsection.

     12. An active member who is involuntarily laid off in a staff reduction by the board of education or board of regents after 1980 may, if the member is restored to full-time employment, elect to purchase and receive credit for service retirement for the period of such layoff in accordance with the following conditions and limitations:

     (1) The member shall be an employee with a minimum of five years of continuous creditable membership service in this retirement system prior to the time the member elects to purchase service for the period of such layoff;

     (2) The member shall not have been paid the member's accumulated contribution credited to the member's individual account after such layoff;

     (3) The maximum period of creditable service which may be credited pursuant to this subsection is five years;

     (4) The member shall pay for the purchase of creditable service the total cost of such service as determined by the board of trustees based on accepted actuarial methods using the same assumptions used by the retirement system at the time of such election. Such cost shall include both the employee's and the system's share of the cost of such credited service;

     (5) The member shall make payment in full for the purchase of creditable service pursuant to this subsection over a period not to exceed five years, measured from the date of election, or prior to the effective date of retirement of the member, whichever is earlier, and with interest compounded annually at the rate established by the board of trustees.

     13. Notwithstanding any other provision of sections 169.410 to 169.540 to the contrary, any member with five or more years of creditable service who ceased to be an employee, who has [withdrawn] received a refund of such member's accumulated contributions [or had such contributions refunded] pursuant to [sections 169.410 to 169.540] subsection 9 of section 169.460, who again becomes a member of the retirement system, may elect to reinstate any creditable service forfeited at time or times of any previous [withdrawals or] refunds. Such reinstatement shall be effected by the member paying to the retirement system with interest the amount of accumulated contributions [withdrawn by such member or] refunded to the member [at] on or after the time [or times of withdrawal or refund] such member ceased to be an employee, and by [teaching] continuous employment in the district for at least an additional seven years of creditable service before such member retires. Such payment with interest shall be made over a period of not longer than five years from the date of such member's election to reinstate creditable service, provided that such payment shall in all events be made prior to the retirement of such member. The member electing to reinstate such creditable service may not receive or be eligible to receive retirement benefits from any other retirement system for the period for which creditable service is being reinstated, and such member shall furnish an affidavit to the retirement system so stating.

     169.466. 1. Any retired member with fifteen or more years of creditable service at retirement receiving retirement benefits on August 28, [1996] 1997, shall receive on January first of each year, commencing on January 1, 1997, an increase in the amount of benefits received by the retired member pursuant to sections 169.410 to 169.540 during the preceding year of one hundred percent of the increase in the consumer price index calculated in the manner provided in this section; except that, no such increase in retirement benefits shall be paid for any year if such increase in the consumer price index is less than one percent. Such annual retirement benefit increase, however, shall not exceed three percent and the total increases in the amount of retirement benefits received by any retired member shall not, in the aggregate, exceed ten percent of the annual retirement benefits such retired member [was receiving on August 28, 1996] received during the year preceding the January first of the first year the retired member is entitled to receive an increase pursuant to this section. A retired member qualified to receive an annual retirement benefit increase pursuant to this section shall not be eligible to receive an additional benefit until the January first after the first anniversary of the date on which he or she commenced receiving retirement benefits pursuant to sections 169.410 to 169.540. Benefits shall not be decreased in the case of a decrease in the consumer price index for any year.

     2. For the purpose of this section, any increase in the consumer price index shall be determined by the board of trustees in November of each year based on the consumer price index for the twelve-month period ended on September thirtieth of such year over the consumer price index for the twelve-month period ended on September thirtieth of the year immediately prior thereto. Any increase so determined shall be applied by the board of trustees in calculating increases in retirement benefits that become payable pursuant to this section for the twelve-month period beginning on the January first immediately following such determination.

     3. An annual increase in retirement benefits, if any, shall be payable monthly with monthly installments of other retirement benefits pursuant to sections 169.410 to 169.540.