Bill > S1811

This bill amends the Massachusetts public safety officers' retirement system to allow public safety officers who have worked in other states or for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to purchase creditable service time in their current retirement system. Specifically, officers may pay into their current system's annuity savings fund the amount of regular deductions that would have been withheld had they been working in Massachusetts during that previous period. The bill limits this option to a maximum of five years of out-of-state or MBTA service, and prohibits purchasing credit for service periods that would already qualify for retirement benefits from another system. Officers must pay not only the deduction amounts but also interest to ensure the financial equivalence of their contributions. The bill includes safeguards to prevent double-counting of service credits, such as refunding payments if the out-of-state service exceeds the member's Massachusetts service at retirement. Each individual retirement system must separately accept this provision before it becomes applicable to their members, giving local systems discretion in implementing the new rule.

Labor and Employment

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S1811