| | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | | Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17801, as amended by PL 1987, c. 739, §§25 and 48, | | is repealed and the following enacted in its place: |
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| | | §17801.__Amendments not to reduce value of benefits |
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| | | If a member has met the minimum creditable service | | requirements for a service retirement benefit under section | | 17851, no amendment to this Part may cause any reduction in the | | value of the accrued service retirement benefits earned by that | | member under the provisions of this Part based on the member's | | creditable service, earnable compensation, employee contributions | | and pick-up contributions. |
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| | | 1.__Definitions.__As used in this section, unless the context | | otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following | | meanings. |
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| | | A.__"Accrued service retirement benefits" means those | | benefits that a member would be entitled to receive upon | | retirement based on service performed before the effective | | date of an amendment of this Part assuming a continuation of | | the laws in effect at the time the service was performed. |
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| | | B.__"Value" means the present dollar value of the member's | | service retirement benefits as determined by the Maine State | | Retirement System using commonly accepted actuarial | | assumptions and procedures. |
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| | | 2.__Benefit value protected.__Specific provisions of this Part | | establishing service retirement benefits may be amended by law so | | long as the value of accrued service retirement benefits earned | | by a member is not reduced. |
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| | | 3.__Contractual obligation of the State.__This section is a | | solemn contractual commitment of the State protected under the | | "obligation of contracts" clauses of the Constitution of Maine, | | Article I, Section 11 and the United States Constitution, Article | | I, Section 10. |
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| | | This bill provides that the retirement benefits of state | | employees and teachers under the Maine State Retirement System | | represent a solemn contractual commitment of the State, the value | | of which may not be reduced once those benefits are earned. This | | bill is intended to specifically supplant, with respect to the | | accrued retirement benefits of the named groups of retirement |
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