STAND. COM. REP. 1333

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1312

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 1312, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that pension benefits for retirees are finalized in a timely manner by:

(1) Requiring the Employees' Retirement System (ERS) to pay interest amounting to 4.5 percent per annum for pension benefits finalized after the 6th calendar month following the month of the retiree's retirement;

(2) Establishing that the interest shall be calculated on the difference between the amount the retiree is entitled to receive from the retiree's retirement date up to the day the payment is made and the amount the retiree was paid, including any refund of member contributions;

(3) Requiring any department or agency of the State or counties that fails to comply with ERS's request for information related to pension benefits, to pay a monthly fee to the ERS for each month that the department or agency fails to provide the information; and

(4) Appropriating funds to carry out the provisions of this bill.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association-Retired and the Hawaii State Teachers Association supported this bill. ERS and the Department of Human Resources of the City and County of Honolulu offered comments.

Your Committee has amended this measure by clarifying that beginning January 1, 2004, or the first day of the seventh calendar month following the month of retirement, whichever is later, interest payments calculated as simple interest shall be prorated up to the date payment is made.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1312, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1312, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

 

____________________________

DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair