Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17852, sub-§3-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 489, §17, is further amended to read:

3-A. Member with creditable service of 25 years or more whether or not in service at retirement; fewer than 10 years of creditable service on July 1, 1993. The amount of the service retirement benefit for members qualified under section 17851, subsection 3, is computed in accordance with subsection 1, except that:

A-1.__The amount arrived at under subsection 1 is reduced by multiplying the percentage that a life annuity due at 62 years of age bears to the life annuity due at the age of retirement;

B-1.__For the purposes of making the computation under paragraph A-1, the board-approved tables of annuities in effect at the date of the member's retirement are used; and

C. The benefit is reduced by 6% for each year that the member's age precedes 62 years of age; and

D. Effective October 1, 1999, the reduction to be applied to the service retirement benefit of a member to whom this subsection applies may not be greater than that in effect on October 1, 1999 under paragraph C for a member who, on October 1, 1999 or thereafter, meets the creditable service requirement for eligibility to receive a service retirement benefit under section 17851, subsection 1-C, paragraph A; section 17851, subsection 1-C, paragraph B; section 17851, subsection 2-C, paragraph A; section 17851, subsection 2-C, paragraph B; or section 17851-A, subsection 2, paragraph A. For a member to whom section 17851-A applies, this paragraph must be applied in accordance with the requirements of section 17851-A, subsection 4.

This subsection applies to members who, on July 1, 1993, do not have 10 years of creditable service, except that paragraphs A-1 and B-1 apply only to teachers who do not have 10 years of creditable service.

SUMMARY

This bill provides a reduction in the early retirement penalty for teachers and state employees.