2022 -- S 2413

========

LC003213

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- TEACHERS' RETIREMENT

     

     Introduced By: Senators Ruggerio, McCaffrey, Goodwin, and Pearson

     Date Introduced: February 15, 2022

     Referred To: Senate Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

1

     SECTION 1. Sections 16-16-1 and 16-16-26 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-16 entitled

2

"Teachers' Retirement [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" are

3

hereby amended to read as follows:

4

     16-16-1. Definitions.

5

     (a) The following words and phrases used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is

6

plainly required by the context, have the following meanings:

7

     (1) "Active member" means any teacher as defined in this section for whom the retirement

8

system is currently receiving regular contributions pursuant to §§ 16-16-22 and 16-16-22.1.

9

     Except as otherwise provided in this section, the words and phrases used in this chapter, so

10

far as applicable, have the same meanings as they have in chapters 8 to 10 of title 36.

11

     (2) "Beneficiary" means any person in receipt of annuity, benefit, or retirement allowance

12

from the retirement system as provided in this chapter.

13

     (3) "Child" includes a stepchild of a deceased member who has been a stepchild for at least

14

one year immediately preceding the date on which the member died or an adopted child of a

15

deceased member without regard to the length of time the child has been adopted.

16

     (4) "Former spouse divorced" means a person divorced from a deceased member, but only

17

if the person meets one of the following conditions:

18

     (i) Is the mother or father of the deceased member's child(ren);

19

     (ii) Legally adopted the deceased member's child(ren) while married to the deceased

 

1

member and while the child(ren) was under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

2

     (iii) Was married to the deceased member at the time both of them legally adopted a

3

child(ren) under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

4

     (iv) Was married to the deceased member for ten (10) or more years and to whom the

5

deceased member was required by a court order to contribute post-divorce support.

6

     (5) "Member" means any person included in the membership of the retirement system

7

under the provisions of this chapter.

8

     (6) "Prior service" means service as a teacher rendered prior to the first day of July, 1949,

9

certified on his or her prior service certificate and allowable as prior service under the provisions

10

of this chapter.

11

     (7) "Retired teacher" means any teacher who retired prior to July 1, 1949, pursuant to the

12

provisions of G.L. 1938, ch. 195, as amended, and who on June 30, 1949, was in receipt of a pension

13

under the provisions of that chapter.

14

     (8) "Retirement system" and "system" means the employees' retirement system of the state

15

of Rhode Island created by chapter 8 of title 36, and "retirement board" means the board established

16

under that chapter.

17

     (9) "Salary" or "compensation" includes any and all salary paid for teaching services

18

regardless of whether any part of the salary or compensation is derived from any state or federal

19

grant or appropriation for teachers' salaries, as the term is defined in § 36-8-1(8). "Average

20

compensation" shall be defined in accordance with section 36-8-1(5)(a).

21

     (10) "Service" means service as a teacher as described in subdivision (12) of this section.

22

Periods of employment as teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, superintendent, or

23

assistant superintendent shall be combined in computing periods of service and employment.

24

     (11) "Spouse" means the surviving person who was married to a deceased member, but

25

only if the surviving person meets one of the following conditions:

26

     (i) Was married to the deceased member for not less than one year immediately prior to the

27

date on which the member died;

28

     (ii) Is the mother or father of the deceased member's child(ren);

29

     (iii) Legally adopted the deceased member's child(ren) while married to the deceased

30

member and while the child(ren) was under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

31

     (iv) Was married to the deceased member at the time both of them legally adopted a

32

child(ren) under the age of eighteen (18) years.

33

     (12) "Teacher" means a person required to hold a certificate of qualification issued by or

34

under the authority of the board of regents for elementary and secondary education and who is

 

LC003213 - Page 2 of 6

1

engaged in teaching as his or her principal occupation and is regularly employed as a teacher in the

2

public schools of any city or town in the state, or any formalized, commissioner approved,

3

cooperative service arrangement. The term includes a person employed as a teacher, supervisor,

4

principal, assistant principal, superintendent, or assistant superintendent of schools, director,

5

assistant director, coordinator, consultant, dean, assistant dean, educational administrator, nurse

6

teacher, and attendance officer or any person who has worked in the field of education or is working

7

in the field of education that holds a teaching or administrative certificate. In determining the

8

number of days served by a teacher the total number of days served in any public school of any city

9

or town in the state may be combined for any one school year. The term also includes a school

10

business administrator whether or not the administrator holds a teaching or administrative

11

certificate, and also includes occupational therapists and physical therapists licensed by the

12

department of health and employed by a school committee in the state, or by any formalized,

13

commissioner approved, cooperative service arrangement.

14

     (13) "Teaching" includes teaching, supervising, and superintending or assistant

15

superintending of schools.

16

     (14) "Total service" means prior service as defined in subdivision (6) of this section, plus

17

service rendered as a member of the system on or after the first day of July, 1949.

18

     (15) For purposes of this chapter, "domestic partner" shall be defined as a person who,

19

prior to the decedent's death, was in an exclusive, intimate and committed relationship with the

20

decedent, and who certifies by affidavit that their relationship met the following qualifications:

21

     (i) Both partners were at least eighteen (18) years of age and were mentally competent to

22

contract;

23

     (ii) Neither partner was married to anyone else;

24

     (iii) Partners were not related by blood to a degree which would prohibit marriage in the

25

state of Rhode Island;

26

     (iv) Partners resided together and had resided together for at least one year at the time of

27

death; and

28

     (v) Partners were financially interdependent as evidenced by at least two (2) of the

29

following:

30

     (A) Domestic partnership agreement or relationship contract;

31

     (B) Joint mortgage or joint ownership of primary residence;

32

     (C) Two (2) of: (I) joint ownership of motor vehicle; (II) joint checking account; (III) joint

33

credit account; (IV) joint lease; and/or

34

     (D) The domestic partner had been designated as a beneficiary for the decedent's will,

 

LC003213 - Page 3 of 6

1

retirement contract or life insurance.

2

     (b) The masculine pronoun wherever used shall also include the feminine pronoun.

3

     (c) Any term not specifically defined in this chapter and specifically defined in chapters

4

36-8 -- 36-10 shall have the same definition as set forth in chapters 36-8 -- 36-10.

5

     16-16-26. Spouse's or domestic partner's benefits Spouse's, former spouse divorced,

6

or domestic partner's benefits.

7

     (a) Spouse's, former spouse divorced, and domestic partner's benefits are payable following

8

the decease of a member as provided in §§ 16-16-25 -- 16-16-38.

9

     (b) The spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner shall be entitled to benefits

10

upon attaining the age of sixty (60) years.

11

     (c) The spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner was living with the deceased

12

member at the time of the member's death. A spouse or domestic partner is deemed to have been

13

living with the deceased member if they were both members of the same household on the date of

14

the deceased member's death, or the spouse or domestic partner was receiving regular contributions

15

from the deceased member toward support on that date, or the deceased member had been ordered

16

by a court to contribute to the spouse's, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner's support.

17

     (d) Remarriage of the spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner or establishment

18

of a domestic partnership shall render him or her ineligible to receive current or future benefits

19

under this section.

20

     (e) The spouse or domestic partner of a member, as defined in this section, shall be entitled

21

to monthly benefits payable in accordance with the following table:

22

Spouse's or Domestic

23

Highest Annual Partner's Monthly

24

Salary Minimum Benefit

25

     $17,000 or less $825

26

     $17,001 to $25,000 $963

27

     $25,001 to $33,000 $1,100

28

     $33,001 to $40,000 $1,238

29

     $40,001 and over $1,375

30

     (f) The former spouse divorced shall be entitled to monthly benefits, payable in accordance

31

with the table provided in subsection (e) of this section, only if there are no dependent children,

32

parents, or other spouse or domestic partner entitled to benefits.

33

     (f)(g) A yearly cost-of-living adjustment for spouse's, former spouse divorced, or domestic

34

partner's benefits shall be based on the annual social security adjustment.

 

LC003213 - Page 4 of 6

1

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

========

LC003213

========

 

LC003213 - Page 5 of 6

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- TEACHERS' RETIREMENT

***

1

     This act would, for purposes of teachers' retirement benefits, amend the definition of

2

"former spouse divorced" to include someone who was married to a deceased member for ten (10)

3

or more years and the deceased member was required by court order to contribute support to the

4

person post-divorce and would include the classification of "former spouse divorced" in the spouse

5

and domestic partner's benefits statute.

6

     This act would take effect upon passage.

========

LC003213

========

 

LC003213 - Page 6 of 6