An Act To Provide a Uniform Retirement Plan for Corrections Officers and Mental Health Workers II
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1223
Committee Amendment CA_A_S286 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 424, L.D. 1223, Bill, "An Act To 
Provide a Uniform Retirement Plan for Corrections Officers and Mental Health Workers" 
II 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 10 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 10. Corrections and Mental Health Workers Service Retirement 
Benefit Reserve; established. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, 
section 1536, there is established the Corrections and Mental Health Workers Service 
Retirement Benefit Reserve for the purpose of accumulating funds that would otherwise 
be payable to the Retirement Allowance Fund. The assets of the Corrections and Mental 
Health Workers Service Retirement Benefit Reserve must be held by the Maine State 
Retirement System as assets of the system apart from other assets attributable to the state 
employee and teacher retirement plan of the system. These assets must be accounted for 
by the system in the manner it determines to reflect the requirements of this Act. The 
Corrections and Mental Health Workers Service Retirement Benefit Reserve must be 
used to reserve funds to meet the full actuarial costs arising from the implementation of 
those sections of this Act that enact Title 5, section 17851-A, subsection 1, paragraph N 
and amend Title 5, section 17851-A, subsections 2, 3,4 and 5, including normal cost rates 
for the 6 years following the effective date of this Act. Any funds remaining in the 
Corrections and Mental Health Workers Service Retirement Benefit Reserve at the end of 
each fiscal year must be carried forward to be used for the same purposes. Expenditures 
may not be made from this reserve and appropriations may not be considered to be made 
to the Retirement Allowance Fund or the Maine State Retirement System from this 
reserve except as provided in this Act or by further authorization of the Legislature.' 
Amend the bill in section 11 in the last line (page 4, line 23 in L.D.) by inserting after 
the following: "section 1536." the following: 'In addition, beginning on the effective date 
of this Act, members of the Maine State Retirement System who are employees of the 
Department of Health and Human Services as of January 1, 2000 or hired thereafter who 
are employed in mental health institutions and whose duties involve providing direct care, 
meaning services or treatment essential to everyday security, health and well-being, to 
residents or patients of those institutions or to wards of the State shall contribute to their 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
't\.i" 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 424, L.n. 1223 
individual retirement accounts an additional 1 % of earnable compensation until the 
contingency set out in section 14 of this Act is satisfied by the required certification. 
Such contributions are included as accumulated contributions as defined in Title 5, 
section 17001, subsection 1 but must be refunded iJ;l full to any member contributing 
them who retires on or before the effective date of those sections of this Act that enact the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 17851-A, subsection 1, paragraph N and amend 
Title 5, section 17851-A, subsections 2, 3, 4 and 5 pursuant to section 15 of this Act.' 
Amend the bill in section 13 in the second line (page 5, line 4 in L.D.) by striking out 
the following: "between August 31,1984 and" and insert the following: 'before' 
Amend the bill in section 13 in the third line (page 5, line 5 in L.D.) by striking out 
the following: "between August 31, 1984 and" and insert the following: 'before' 
Amend the bill in section 13 in the second indented paragraph in the second line 
(page 5, line 25 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "between August 31, 1984 and" 
and insert the following: 'before' 
Amend the bill in section 14 in the first line (page 5, line 38 in L.D.) by striking out 
the following: "between August 31,1984 and" and insert the following: 'before' 
Amend the bill in section 14 in the third line (page 5, line 40 in L.D.) by striking out 
the following: "between August 31, 1984 and" and insert the following: 'before' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 15 and inserting the f01l0wing: 
'Sec. 15. Contingent effective date; construction. Those sections of this Act 
that enact the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 17851-A, subsection 1, paragraph 
N and amend Title 5, section 17851-A, subsections 2, 3, 4 and 5 do not take effect unless 
and until the contingency set out in section 14 of this Act is satisfied by the required 
certification. The full actuarial costs arising from the implementation of those sections 
must be adjusted upward, if necessary, based upon actuarial projections of the Maine 
State Retirement System. Those sections of this Act that enact Title 5, section 17851-A, 
subsection 1, paragraph N and amend Title 5, section 17851-A, subsections 2,3,4 and 5 
may not be construed to create any contractual claim or right or any other claim for any 
state employee.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment provides that the Corrections and Mental Health Workers Service 
Retirement Benefit Reserve is held by the Maine State Retirement System rather than in 
the General Fund. The amendment also provides for 1 % contributions to the reserve by 
affected classifications of corrections officers and mental health workers. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/06/07 MaC!. 
LD 1223 
LR 912(02) 
An Act To Provide a Uniform Retirement Plan for Corrections Officers and Mental Health Workers 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment '/4 " 
Committee: Labor 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Current biennium cost increase - General Fund 
Future biennium cost increase - Federal Expenditures Fund 
Future biennium cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Adding mental health workers to the 1998 Special Plan and providing that all service for corrections and mental health 
workers is to be considered as service earned in the 1998 Special Plan, regardless of when that service was earned will 
increase the normal cost component of the employer retirement rate resulting in increased employer contributions to 
the Maine State Retirement System and increase the unfunded liability of the Retirement System. 
Based on calculations performed by the System's actuary, the unfunded liability cost associated with the plan changes 
as of June 30, 2007 totals $31,040,512, of which $12,669,713 is attributable to Mental Health Workers and 
$18,370,799 is attributable to Corrections employees. The additional normal cost dol1ars for Mental Health Workers 
as a result of the increase in the rate from 5.75% to 6.50% is estimated to be $148,000 for fiscal year 2007-08 and 
$155,000 for fiscal year 2008-09. Because Correction employees already participate in the 1998 Special Plan, there is 
no increase in the normal cost for that group of employees. 
In order to address these costs, this legislation creates the Corrections and Mental Health Workers Service Retirement 
Benefit Reserve and proposes to divert funds from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund at the end of each 
fiscal year, beginning in fiscal year 2007-08, that would otherwise be transferred to the Retirement Allowance Fund, 
pursuant to 5 MRS A § 1536, sub-§ I (B), in order to reserve funds to meet the full actuarial costs of the provisions of 
this bill, including the normal cost rates for the 6 years following the effective date of the legislation. This legislation 
also states that the plan changes proposed in this bill do not become effective until full funding is available as certified 
by the Maine State Retirement System. 
The cost of this legislation, including the loss of potential savings as a result of diverting funds from the Retirement 
Allowance Fund that otherwise would be transferred from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund, if available 
at year-end, and applied to the unfunded liability can not be determined at this time. Information provided by the 
Maine State Retirement System indicates that the transfer of$13.1 million from the unappropriated surplus at the end 
LR0912(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of2 
of fiscal year 2004-05 resulted in cumulative savings of approximately $31.5 million over the 21 year amortization 
schedule. 
It is also unknown whether there will be sufficient funds available to transfer to the retirement benefit reserve to fu" 
fund this provision by fiscal year 2012-13 or to fund the normal cost component on an annual basis. The General 
Fund has had year-end surpluses over the past 4 consecutive fiscal years which allowed for a total of$63.7 million to 
be transferred to the Retirement Allowance Fund, with $17.5 million being transferred at the end of fiscal year 2005-
and, as stated above, $13.1 million at the end of fiscal year 2004-05. At the present time, it appears that there will 
not be any surplus funds available for this purpose at the end of fiscal year 2006-07. Public Law 2007, Chapter 1, Part 
L provides for the transfer of up to $82,000,000 from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund to the 
Department of Health and Human Services, Medical Care - Payments to Providers account as the first priority after the 
transfers required pursuant to 5 MRSA § 1507 and § 1511 and before the transfers required pursuant to 5 MRSA, 
§ 1536. 
LR0912(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 2 of2