Archives - 98th Legislature

98th Legislature - 2004 & 2003

2004 Legislative Action

LB 960 LB 1115	Change the makeup of the Public Employees Retirement Board (the board which oversees NPERS). LB 960 would change one of the public members of the seven-member board to one coming from a retirement system administered by the PERB. LB 1115 would increase the number of members to nine and would specify one member each retired, public, judge, state patrol, county, and state, and three members from the School Plan.	LB 960 amended into LB 1097 (see below). LB 1115 indefinitely postponed.
LB 961	Changes the School Plan certified mailing made every other year to one requiring only first class mail, saving about $166,000 each biennium. The bill was advanced to General File January 21.	Passed and signed into law.
LB 1030	Expands the investment options over employer contributions of State and County Defined Contribution members to the same options currently available for the employee contributions.	Amended into LB 1097 (see below).
LB 1080	Clarifies state law that the annuity provision in 79-514 does not extend authority to school districts to institute 401(a) retirement plans in addition to the School Employees Retirement System.	Indefinitely postponed.
LB 1081	Provides for forfeiture of contributions and clarifies that salary spiking is a misdemeanor under the fraud provision of section 79-949.	Indefinitely postponed.
LB 1097	Cleans up various provisions of retirement statutes (agency technical bill). Changes include: Judges Plan: Increases contribution rates to 8% for the first 20 years of membership and 4% thereafter, and provides a revised 50% joint and survivor benefit. Applies to newly appointed judges first serving after the effective date of the bill, and currently appointed judges who elect to participate. School Plan: Changes the cost calculation for members who elect to repay a refund more than 3 years after returning to the system. Effective 7/1/04, repayment shall include the amount withdrawn plus an amount equal to the actuarial assumed rate of return for the period (instead of the actual rate of return). Allows the PERB to waive disability examinations in extraordinary circumstances such as hospice placement for a terminal illness or injury. In addition, several bills were amended into 1097. LB 960: Increases the number of PERB members to eight (one judges, one state patrol, one county, one state, two school - one active administrator and one active teacher, and two public members). LB 1030: Expands the three investment options for employer contributions for State and County Defined Contribution members to the 11 investment options available for the employee contributions (effective July 16th). LB 1098: Adds provisions to the State Patrol death benefits to cover situations when the surviving children of a patrol member are not members of the household of the surviving spouse. LB 1132: Changes the procedure for claims made on the service annuity benefit for members of the Class V (Omaha) Retirement System.	Passed and signed into law.
LB 1098	Adds provisions for State Patrol death benefits to cover two situations not addressed previously.	Amended into LB 1097 (see above).
LB 1132	Changes the procedure for claims made on the service annuity benefit for members of the Class V (Omaha) Retirement System.	Amended into LB 1097 (see above).
LB 1208	Provides two benefit enhancements for the Judges' Plan, a 100% joint and survivor death benefit and a subsidized early retirement benefit, for new members and for current members who opt to increase their contribution rate.	Indefinitely postponed. Provisions similar to the death benefit were amended into LB 1097.

2003 Legislative Action

LB 120	Provides for buyout/early retirement of certain public employees. A constitutional amendment (LR 221CA) has been introduced this session dealing with the same issue.	Indefinitely postponed.
LB 514	Temporarily increases (from 7/1/04 to 6/30/05) the contribution rate for members of the State Patrol Plan from 11% of compensation to 12% of compensation.	Passed and signed into law.
LB 544	Increases the member contribution rate in the School plan, but does not specify the exact amount by which the increase is made (the bill shows it as “XXX” amount). Future amendments will designate the contribution rate prior to passage. The bill may be revisited in future sessions depending on investment returns in the school plan.	Indefinitely postponed.
LB 679	Adds a new death benefit in the Judges plan, changes the “normal” form of the benefit to a 50% Joint & Survivor Annuity, allows early unreduced retirement for those judges who are at least age 60 and have 20 years of service, and allows a modified reduced early retirement for judges who are at least 60 with less than 20 years of service.	Indefinitely postponed. Provisions similar to the death benefit were amended into LB 1097.