An Act To Amend the Laws Relating to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17057, sub-§4, as corrected by RR 2009, c. 2, §3, is amended to read:
(1) Impair the retirement system's ability to obtain such material, data or information in the future; or
(2) Cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the retirement system or of the person or entity from whom the information was obtained . ; or
(3) Result in the potential violation of state and federal laws and regulations relating to insider trading.
(1) The retirement system's total commitment to the venture capital fund;
(2) The date of the commitment to the venture capital fund;
(3) Contributions and distributions made to or received from an innovation finance program the fund;
(4) The market value of the investment;
(5) The name of the venture capital fund; and
(6) The interim internal rate of return of the venture capital fund.
(1) Direct investments in land, timber, mineral rights, private company equity or private company debt;
(2) Indirect investments in limited partnerships, limited liability corporations or other entities that may invest in the investments described in subparagraph (1);
(3) Investments in unregistered securities or funds offered under exemptions provided in Section 144(A) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or Section 3(c)1 or 3(c)7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; or
(4) Investments or potential investments of the retirement system pursuant to the state innovation finance program authorized under Title 10, section 1026-T.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §17057, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
(1) Notwithstanding any confidentiality provision to the contrary, applications, resumes and letters and notes of reference, other than those letters and notes of reference expressly submitted in confidence, pertaining to the applicant hired are public records after the applicant is hired, except that personal contact information is not a public record as provided in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3, paragraph O.
(2) Telephone numbers are not public records if they are designated as "unlisted" or "unpublished" in an application, resume or letter or note of reference.
(3) This paragraph does not preclude a union representative from access to personnel records, consistent with paragraph D, that may be necessary for the bargaining agent to carry out collective bargaining responsibilities. Any records available to union representatives that are otherwise covered by this paragraph remain confidential and are not open to public inspection;
(1) Medical information of any kind, including information pertaining to diagnosis or treatment of mental or emotional disorders;
(2) Performance evaluations and personal references submitted in confidence;
(3) Information pertaining to the creditworthiness of a named employee;
(4) Information pertaining to the personal history, general character or conduct of members of the employee's immediate family;
(5) Personal information pertaining to the employee's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical disability, mental disability, marital status and sexual orientation; social security number; personal contact information as provided in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3, paragraph O; and personal employment choices pertaining to elected payroll deductions, deferred compensation, savings plans, pension plans, health insurance and life insurance; and
(6) Complaints, charges or accusations of misconduct, replies to those complaints, charges or accusations and any other information or materials that may result in disciplinary action. If disciplinary action is taken, the final written decision relating to that action is no longer confidential after the decision is completed if it imposes or upholds discipline. If an arbitrator completely overturns or removes disciplinary action from an employee personnel file, the final written decision is public except that the employee's name must be deleted from the final written decision and kept confidential. If the employee whose name was deleted from the final written decision discloses that the employee is the person who is the subject of the final written decision, the entire final written decision, with regard to that employee, is public.
For purposes of this subparagraph, "final written decision" means:
(a) The final written administrative decision that is not appealed pursuant to a grievance arbitration procedure; or
(b) If the final written administrative decision is appealed to arbitration, the final written decision of a neutral arbitrator.
A final written administrative decision that is appealed to arbitration is no longer confidential 120 days after a written request for the decision is made to the employer if the final written decision of the neutral arbitrator is not issued and released before the expiration of the 120 days.
This paragraph does not preclude a union representative from having access to personnel records that are necessary for the bargaining agent to carry out collective bargaining responsibilities. Any records available to union representatives that are otherwise covered by this paragraph remain confidential and are not open for public inspection;
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §17652, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §15, is further amended to read:
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §17652, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §15, is further amended to read:
Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §17652, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §15, is further amended to read:
Sec. 6. 5 MRSA §17652, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §15, is further amended to read:
Sec. 7. 5 MRSA §17705-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 491, §112, is further amended to read:
Sec. 8. 5 MRSA §17706-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §20, is further amended to read:
Pursuant to the Code, Section 401(a)(31)(B), the amount of an automatic refund under this section for a member who has not reached normal retirement age may not exceed $1,000.
Sec. 9. 5 MRSA §17952, first ¶, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 801, §§5 and 7, is amended to read:
A qualifying member may designate a beneficiary to receive benefits upon the qualifying member's death by filing a written designation of beneficiary with the executive director. The last designation of any beneficiary revokes all previous designations. In order to be in effect, the written designation must be received by the retirement system office or be postmarked before the qualifying member's death.
Sec. 10. 5 MRSA §18058, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §24, is further amended to read:
Sec. 11. 5 MRSA §18058, sub-§2, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 17, §1 and affected by §3, is repealed.
Sec. 12. 5 MRSA §18058, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
Sec. 13. 5 MRSA §18251, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §28, is further amended to read:
(1) Membership of trustees of a water district is governed by Title 35-A, section 6410, subsection 8;
(2) Membership of trustees of a sanitary district is governed by Title 38, section 1104; and
(3) Membership of trustees of a sewer district is governed by Title 38, section 1252;
A person must make an election at the time of initial hire, or on the date of first eligibility to participate, whichever occurs earlier, whether to be a member of the program. Once an election is made under this subsection, the election is irrevocable with respect to all subsequent employment with the same employer when membership in the program is not mandatory.
Sec. 14. 5 MRSA §18252, first ¶, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §31, is further amended to read:
A person who is or would be covered by the United States Social Security Act as a result of employment by a participating local district with Social Security coverage may elect to be a member in the Participating Local District Retirement Program. A person must make an election at the time of initial hire or on the date of first eligibility to participate, whichever occurs earlier, whether to be a member of the program. Once an election is made under this section, the election is irrevocable with respect to all subsequent employment with the same employer when membership in the program is not mandatory.
Sec. 15. 5 MRSA §18252-A, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §32, is further amended to read:
Sec. 16. 5 MRSA §18253, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 801, §§5 and 7, is amended to read:
Sec. 17. 5 MRSA §18253, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 491, §202, is further amended to read:
Sec. 18. 5 MRSA §18306-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 491, §218 and c. 695, Pt. A, §9, is further amended to read:
Sec. 19. 5 MRSA §18307-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 474, §40, is further amended to read:
Pursuant to the Code, Section 401(a)(31)(B), the amount of an automatic refund under this subsection for a member who has not reached normal retirement age may not exceed $1,000.
Sec. 20. 5 MRSA §18552, first ¶, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 801, §§5 and 7, is amended to read:
A qualifying member may designate a beneficiary to receive benefits upon the qualifying member's death by filing a written designation of beneficiary with the executive director. The last designation of any beneficiary revokes all previous designations. In order to be in effect, the written designation must be received by the retirement system office or be postmarked before the qualifying member's death.
Sec. 21. 5 MRSA §18658, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1993, c. 386, §5, is further amended to read:
Sec. 22. 5 MRSA §18658, sub-§2, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 17, §2 and affected by §3, is repealed.
Sec. 23. 5 MRSA §18658, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
summary
This bill:
1. Further expands the investment-related activity of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System that is considered confidential;
2. Makes personnel records of retirement system staff confidential in a manner consistent with how similar records of other groups of public employees are treated;
3. Provides further clarification as to the conditions of membership for optional members, consistent with federal law;
4. Corrects the automatic refund provision of accumulated contributions to be consistent with federal law;
5. Makes the effectiveness of a beneficiary designation consistent as between the defined benefit and group life insurance programs;
6. Clarifies how employees make coverage elections under the group life insurance program; and
7. Clarifies how coverage under the group life insurance program is treated during an authorized leave of absence.