Minnesota Session Laws - 1983, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1983 

                        CHAPTER 148--S.F.No. 900
           An act relating to retirement; teachers; definitions, 
          coordination with social security benefits, and 
          various administrative changes; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1982, sections 354.05, subdivisions 2 and 35; 
          354.44, subdivision 5; 354.52, subdivision 4; and 
          354.63, subdivision 2; and Laws 1982, Third Special 
          Session chapter 1, article 2, section 7. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 354.05, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [TEACHER.] "Teacher" includes any person who 
renders service as a teacher, supervisor, principal, 
superintendent, or librarian in the public schools of the state 
located outside of the corporate limits of the cities of the 
first class as those cities were so classified on January 1, 
1979, or in the state universities, or in any charitable or 
state institution including penal and corrective institutions 
supported, in whole or in part, by public funds, or who is 
engaged in educational administration in connection with the 
state public school system, including the state university 
system and state community college system, but excluding the 
University of Minnesota, whether the position be a public office 
or an employment, not including members of any general governing 
or managing board or body connected with the systems, or the 
officers of common, independent, special, or associated school 
districts, or unorganized territory.  The term shall also 
include an employee of the teachers retirement association 
unless the employee is covered by the Minnesota state retirement 
system by virtue of prior employment by the association, and any 
nurse, counselor, social worker, therapist or psychologist who 
renders service in the public schools as defined above or in 
state universities.  The term shall also include any person who 
renders teaching service on a part time basis and who also 
renders other services for a school district.  In such cases, 
the teachers retirement association shall have the authority to 
determine whether all or none of the combined employment shall 
be covered by the teachers retirement association.  The term 
does not mean any person who works for a school or institution 
as an independent contractor.  The term shall not include any 
person employed in subsidized on-the-job training, work 
experience or public service employment as an enrollee under the 
federal comprehensive employment and training act from and after 
March 30, 1978, unless the person has as of the later of March 
30, 1978 or the date of employment sufficient service credit in 
the retirement fund to meet the minimum vesting requirements for 
a deferred retirement annuity, or the employer agrees in writing 
on forms prescribed by the executive director to make the 
required employer contributions, including any employer 
additional contributions, on account of that person from revenue 
sources other than funds provided under the federal 
comprehensive training and employment act, or the person agrees 
in writing on forms prescribed by the executive director to make 
the required employer contribution in addition to the required 
employee contribution.  The term shall not include any person 
holding a part time adult supplementary vocational-technical 
school license who renders part time teaching service in a 
vocational-technical school if (1) the service is incidental to 
the regular nonteaching occupation of the person; and (2) the 
applicable vocational-technical school stipulates annually in 
advance that the part time teaching service will not exceed 300 
hours in a fiscal year; and (3) the part time teaching service 
actually does not exceed 300 hours in a fiscal year.  The term 
also shall not include a person exempt from licensure pursuant 
to section 125.031 or any person who was excluded from 
membership prior to January 1, 1981 pursuant to Laws 1978, 
Chapter 556, Section 1 and Laws 1980, Chapter 342, Section 8, if 
the person annually certifies on a form prescribed by the 
executive director that the person has established and is 
contributing to an individual retirement account which is based 
on non-teaching employment. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 354.05, 
subdivision 35, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 35.  [SALARY.] "Salary" means the compensation paid 
to a teacher excluding lump sum annual or sick leave payments 
and all forms of severance payments.  Severance payments 
includes, but is not limited to:  
    (a) payments to an employee to terminate employment;  
    (b) payments, or that portion of payments, that are not 
clearly for performance of services to the employer; and 
    (c) payments to an administrator or former administrator 
serving as an advisor to a successor or as a consultant to the 
employer under an agreement to terminate employment within two 
years or less for compensation that is significantly different 
than the most recent contract salary. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 354.44, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [RESUMPTION OF TEACHING.] Any person who retired 
under any provision of any retirement law applicable to schools 
and institutions covered by the provisions of this chapter and 
has thereafter resumed teaching in any school or institution to 
which this chapter applies shall continue to receive payments in 
accordance with the annuity except that during any quarter year 
in which the person's income from the teaching service is in an 
amount equal to or greater than the quarterly annual maximum 
earnings allowable for that age for the continued receipt of 
full benefit amounts monthly under the federal old age, 
survivors and disability insurance program as set by the 
secretary of health and human services pursuant to the 
provisions of 42 U.S.C., Section 403.  In the event that the 
person has not yet reached the minimum age for the receipt of 
social security benefits, the maximum earnings for the person 
shall be equal to the quarterly annual maximum earnings 
allowable for the minimum age for the receipt of social security 
benefits.  The amount in excess of the applicable re-employment 
income maximum specified in this subdivision shall be deducted 
from the annuity payable for the quarter the year immediately 
following the quarter year in which the excess amount was 
earned.  After a person has reached the age of 72 70, the person 
shall receive the annuity in full regardless of the amount of 
income. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 354.52, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  At least once each month, the chief 
administrative officer of each employing school district or 
managing body of schools and institutions to which the 
provisions of this chapter apply shall transmit all amounts due 
and furnish a signed statement indicating the amount due and 
transmitted, and shall transmit a statement containing such 
other information as the executive director shall require.  
Signing the statement shall have the force and effect of an oath 
as to the correctness of the amount due and transmitted.  Any 
amount thus due and not transmitted shall accrue interest at the 
rate of six percent compounded annually commencing 30 15 days 
after the date first due until the amount is transmitted and 
shall be paid by the employing school district or other managing 
body.  The state treasurer shall credit all money received or 
withheld pursuant to the provisions of this chapter to the fund 
and the reports and date received by the state treasurer from 
each reporting agency shall be available for the board.  Any 
person wilfully failing to perform any of the duties imposed 
upon him by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 354.63, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [VALUATION OF ASSETS; ADJUSTMENT OF BENEFITS.] 
(1) Effective July 1, 1973 for those members retiring pursuant 
to this chapter, the required reserves as determined in 
accordance with these sections shall be transferred to the 
Minnesota post-retirement investment fund as of the date of 
retirement.  An appropriate annuity table of mortality with an 
interest assumption as provided in section 354.07, subdivision 
1, will be used to determine the amount to be transferred.  
    (2) Annuity payments shall be adjusted in accordance with 
the provisions of section 11A.18.  For the purpose of making 
these adjustments, members who retire effective July 1 shall be 
considered to have retired effective the preceding June 30. 
This section is applicable for persons who retired effective 
July 1, 1982 or later.  
    (3) Notwithstanding section 356.18, increases in annuity 
payments pursuant to this section will be made automatically 
unless written notice is filed by the annuitant with the 
teachers retirement association board requesting that the 
increase shall not be made.  
    Sec. 6.  Laws 1982, Third Special Session chapter 1, 
article 2, section 7, is amended to read: 
    [356.62] [PAYMENT OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION.] 
    For purposes of any public pension plan, as defined in 
section 356.60, subdivision 1, clause (a) 356.61, each employer 
shall pick up the employee contributions required pursuant to 
law or the pension plan for all salary payable after December 
31, 1982.  If the United States Treasury department or a federal 
court rules that pursuant to section 414(h) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, that these picked up 
contributions, are not includable in the employee's adjusted 
gross income until they are distributed or made available, then 
these picked up contributions shall be treated as employer 
contributions in determining tax treatment pursuant to the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, and the employer 
shall discontinue withholding federal income taxes on the amount 
of these contributions.  The employer shall pay these picked up 
contributions from the same source of funds as is used to pay 
the salary of the employee.  The employer shall pick up these 
employee contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the 
employee. 
     Employee contributions that are picked up shall be treated 
for all purposes of the public pension plan in the same manner 
and to the same extent as employee contributions that were made 
prior to the date on which the employee contributions pick up 
began.  The amount of the employee contributions that are picked 
up shall be included in the salary upon which retirement 
coverage is credited and retirement and survivor's benefits are 
determined.  For purposes of this section, "employee" means any 
person covered by a public pension plan.  For purposes of this 
section, "employee contributions" include any sums deducted from 
the employee's salary or wages or otherwise paid in lieu 
thereof, regardless of whether they are denominated 
contributions by the public pension plan. 
    For any calendar year in which withholding has been reduced 
pursuant to this section, the association or agency 
administering the plan employing unit shall supply each employee 
and the commissioner of revenue with an information return 
indicating the amount of the employer's picked-up contributions 
for the calendar year that were not subject to withholding.  
This return shall be provided to the employee not later than 
January 31 of the succeeding calendar year.  The commissioner of 
revenue shall prescribe the form of the return and the 
provisions of sections 290.41 and 290.42 shall apply to the 
extent not inconsistent with the provisions of this section. 
    Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1, 3, 4, and 5 are effective July 1, 1983. Section 
2 is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Approved May 17, 1983