An Act To Recalculate Retirement Benefits for Certain State Employees Adversely Affected by Merit Pay Freezes

Sec. 1. Recalculation of benefits for certain Maine Public Employees Retirement System retirees subject to merit pay freezes; retroactivity. The changes to the law governing the calculation of retirement benefits for members of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System under Public Law 2015, chapter 267, Part CCCC, section 1 and Public Law 2015, chapter 385, which allowed members who retired on or after June 30, 2015 to pay the necessary member contributions to include in their retirement benefit calculations wages lost due to merit pay freezes and longevity pay freezes, apply retroactively to a member who retired on or after March 1, 2014 and prior to June 30, 2015 back to the date of the member's retirement, except that such lost wages may only include frozen merit pay and not frozen longevity pay.

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The law governing the calculation of retirement benefits for members of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System was amended by Public Law 2015, chapter 267, Part CCCC, section 1 and Public Law 2015, chapter 385 to allow members who retired on or after June 30, 2015 to pay the necessary member contributions to include in their retirement benefit calculations wages lost due to merit pay freezes and longevity pay freezes.

This bill authorizes a member of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System who retired on or after March 1, 2014 and prior to June 30, 2015 to include in the member's retirement benefit calculations wages lost due to merit pay freezes, retroactive to the date of the member's retirement. This provision does not include lost wages due to longevity pay freezes.