An Act To Address an Inequity in the Judicial Retirement System
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0488
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 4 MRSA §1201

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAl E LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No. 488 
S.P.184 
In Senate, February 10, 2009 
An Act To Address an Inequity in the Judicial Retirement System 
Reported by Senator BLISS of Cumberland for the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary 
pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 4, section 1701, subsection 13. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
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JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §1201, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2007, c. 449, § 1 and affected 
by §3, is further amended to read: 
9. Earnable compensation. "Earnable compensation" means the annual salary as a 
judge. Any money paid by the State under an annuity contract for the future benefit of a 
judge must be considered part of the judge's earnable compensation. The earnable 
compensation of a member retired with a disability retirement allowance under section 
1353 must be assumed, for the purposes of determining benefits under this chapter, to be 
continued after the member's date of termination of service at the same rate as received 
immediately prior thereto, subject to the same percentage adjustments, if any, that may 
apply to the amount of retirement allowance of the beneficiary under section 1358. 
Begi11l1ing For a member who served as a judge any time between July 1, 2003 and June 
30, 2005, earnable compensation for a sitting judge as of June 30, 2005 includes the 
salary that would have been paid for a judge in the given year if the cost-of-living 
adjustments in fiscal year 2003-04 and fiscal year 2004-05 had been funded. 
Sec. 2. Calculation; implementation. The Maine Public Employees Retirement 
System shall recalculate the retirement benefits of those judges who retired between July 
1, 2003 and September 20, 2007. The retirement benefit must be recalculated based on 
the effective retirement date of each individual judge and must include the cost-of-living 
adjustments as set forth in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 4, section 1201, subsection 9, 
as amended by this Act. 
Sec. 3. Retroactivity. That section of tllls Act that amends the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 4, section 1201, subsection 9 applies retroactively to September 20, 2007. 
SUMMARY 
Public Law 2007, chapter 449 amended the judicial retirement laws to include in the 
calculation of retirement benefits the cost-of-living adjustments that were not paid to 
judges during fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05. It applied only to judges who retired on 
or after the effective date of chapter 449, which was September 20, 2007. Five justices or 
judges worked during the 2-year period in which COLAs were withheld, but retired 
before September 20, 2007. This bill amends the judicial retirement laws to provide that 
for any judge who served during the 2 fiscal years in which the COLAs were not paid, the 
earnable compensation for retirement benefit calculation purposes includes the COLAs 
that would have been paid. This revised definition of "eamable compensation" must be 
used for the recalculation of benefits, and is effective retroactively to September 20, 
2007. This bill directs the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to recalculate the 
retirement benefits of those judges who retired between July 1, 2003 and September 20, 
2007. The calculation must include benefits as of the effective retirement date of each 
individual judge. 
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