2023 -- H 5093

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- TEACHERS' RETIREMENT

     Introduced By: Representatives Fellela, Messier, Serpa, and Lima

     Date Introduced: January 12, 2023

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 16-16-1 and 16-16-26 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-16 entitled

"Teachers’ Retirement [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" are

hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-16-1. Definitions.

     (a) The following words and phrases used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is

plainly required by the context, have the following meanings:

     (1) “Active member” means any teacher as defined in this section for whom the retirement

system is currently receiving regular contributions pursuant to §§ 16-16-22 and 16-16-22.1.

     Except as otherwise provided in this section, the words and phrases used in this chapter, so

far as applicable, have the same meanings as they have in chapters 8 to 10 of title 36.

     (2) “Beneficiary” means any person in receipt of annuity, benefit, or retirement allowance

from the retirement system as provided in this chapter.

     (3) “Child” includes a stepchild of a deceased member who has been a stepchild for at least

one year immediately preceding the date on which the member died or an adopted child of a

deceased member without regard to the length of time the child has been adopted.

     (4) “Former spouse divorced” means a person divorced from a deceased member, but only

if the person meets one of the following conditions:

     (i) Is the mother or father of the deceased member’s child(ren);

     (ii) Legally adopted the deceased member’s child(ren) while married to the deceased

member and while the child(ren) was under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

     (iii) Was married to the deceased member at the time both of them legally adopted a

child(ren) under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

     (iv) Was married to the deceased member for ten (10) or more years and to whom the

deceased member was required by a court order to contribute post-divorce support.

     (5) “Member” means any person included in the membership of the retirement system

under the provisions of this chapter.

     (6) “Prior service” means service as a teacher rendered prior to the first day of July, 1949,

certified on his or her prior service certificate and allowable as prior service under the provisions

of this chapter.

     (7) “Retired teacher” means any teacher who retired prior to July 1, 1949, pursuant to the

provisions of G.L. 1938, ch. 195, as amended, and who on June 30, 1949, was in receipt of a pension

under the provisions of that chapter.

     (8) “Retirement system” and “system” means the employees’ retirement system of the state

of Rhode Island created by chapter 8 of title 36, and “retirement board” means the board established

under that chapter.

     (9) “Salary” or “compensation” includes any and all salary paid for teaching services

regardless of whether any part of the salary or compensation is derived from any state or federal

grant or appropriation for teachers’ salaries, as the term is defined in § 36-8-1(8). “Average

compensation” shall be defined in accordance with section 36-8-1(5)(a).

     (10) “Service” means service as a teacher as described in subdivision (12) of this section.

Periods of employment as teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, superintendent, or

assistant superintendent shall be combined in computing periods of service and employment.

     (11) “Spouse” means the surviving person who was married to a deceased member, but

only if the surviving person meets one of the following conditions:

     (i) Was married to the deceased member for not less than one year immediately prior to the

date on which the member died;

     (ii) Is the mother or father of the deceased member’s child(ren);

     (iii) Legally adopted the deceased member’s child(ren) while married to the deceased

member and while the child(ren) was under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

     (iv) Was married to the deceased member at the time both of them legally adopted a

child(ren) under the age of eighteen (18) years.

     (12) “Teacher” means a person required to hold a certificate of qualification issued by or

under the authority of the board of regents for elementary and secondary education and who is

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engaged in teaching as his or her principal occupation and is regularly employed as a teacher in the

public schools of any city or town in the state, or any formalized, commissioner approved,

cooperative service arrangement. The term includes a person employed as a teacher, supervisor,

principal, assistant principal, superintendent, or assistant superintendent of schools, director,

assistant director, coordinator, consultant, dean, assistant dean, educational administrator, nurse

teacher, and attendance officer or any person who has worked in the field of education or is working

in the field of education that holds a teaching or administrative certificate. In determining the

number of days served by a teacher the total number of days served in any public school of any city

or town in the state may be combined for any one school year. The term also includes a school

business administrator whether or not the administrator holds a teaching or administrative

certificate, and also includes occupational therapists and physical therapists licensed by the

department of health and employed by a school committee in the state, or by any formalized,

commissioner approved, cooperative service arrangement.

     (13) “Teaching” includes teaching, supervising, and superintending or assistant

superintending of schools.

     (14) “Total service” means prior service as defined in subdivision (6) of this section, plus

service rendered as a member of the system on or after the first day of July, 1949.

     (15) For purposes of this chapter, “domestic partner” shall be defined as a person who,

prior to the decedent’s death, was in an exclusive, intimate and committed relationship with the

decedent, and who certifies by affidavit that their relationship met the following qualifications:

     (i) Both partners were at least eighteen (18) years of age and were mentally competent to

contract;

     (ii) Neither partner was married to anyone else;

     (iii) Partners were not related by blood to a degree which would prohibit marriage in the

state of Rhode Island;

     (iv) Partners resided together and had resided together for at least one year at the time of

death; and

     (v) Partners were financially interdependent as evidenced by at least two (2) of the

following:

     (A) Domestic partnership agreement or relationship contract;

     (B) Joint mortgage or joint ownership of primary residence;

     (C) Two (2) of: (I) joint ownership of motor vehicle; (II) joint checking account; (III) joint

credit account; (IV) joint lease; and/or

     (D) The domestic partner had been designated as a beneficiary for the decedent’s will,

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retirement contract or life insurance.

     (b) The masculine pronoun wherever used shall also include the feminine pronoun.

     (c) Any term not specifically defined in this chapter and specifically defined in chapters

36-8 — 36-10 shall have the same definition as set forth in chapters 36-8 — 36-10.

     16-16-26. Spouse’s or domestic partner’s benefits Spouse's, former spouse divorced,

or domestic partner's benefits.

     (a) Spouse’s, former spouse divorced, and domestic partner’s benefits are payable

following the decease of a member as provided in §§ 16-16-25 — 16-16-38.

     (b) The spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner shall be entitled to benefits

upon attaining the age of sixty (60) years.

     (c) The spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner was living with the deceased

member at the time of the member’s death. A spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner

is deemed to have been living with the deceased member if they were both members of the same

household on the date of the deceased member’s death, or the spouse, former spouse divorced, or

domestic partner was receiving regular contributions from the deceased member toward support on

that date, or the deceased member had been ordered by a court to contribute to the spouse’s, former

spouse divorced, or domestic partner’s support.

     (d) Remarriage of the spouse, former spouse divorced, or domestic partner or establishment

of a domestic partnership shall render him or her ineligible to receive current or future benefits

under this section.

     (e) The spouse or domestic partner of a member, as defined in this section, shall be entitled

to monthly benefits payable in accordance with the following table:

Spouse’s or Domestic Partner’s

Highest Annual Salary Monthly Minimum Benefit

$17,000 or less $825

$17,001 to $25,000 $963

$25,001 to $33,000 $1,100

$33,001 to $40,000 $1,238

$40,001 and over $1,375

     (f) The former spouse divorced shall be entitled to monthly benefits, payable in accordance

with the table provided in subsection (e) of this section, only if there are no dependent children,

parents, or other spouse or domestic partner entitled to benefits.

     (f)(g) A yearly cost-of-living adjustment for spouse’s, former spouse divorced, or domestic

partner’s benefits shall be based on the annual social security adjustment.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- TEACHERS' RETIREMENT

***

     This act would for purposes of teachers' retirement benefits, amend the definition of

"former spouse divorced" to include someone who was married to a deceased member for ten (10)

or more years and the deceased member was required by court order to contribute support post-

divorce. It would also include the "former spouse divorced" in the spouse and domestic partner's

benefits statute.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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