MINUTES OF THE meeting

of the

ASSEMBLY Subcommittee on Government Affairs

 

Seventy-First Session

May 5, 2001

 

 

The Subcommittee on Government Affairswas called to order at 9:35 a.m., on Saturday, May 5, 2001.  Chairman Douglas Bache presided in Room 4401 of the Grant Sawyer Building, Las Vegas, Nevada.  Exhibit A is the Agenda.  Exhibit B is the Guest List.  All exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

 

 

SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Mr.                     Douglas Bache, Chairman

Ms.                     Merle Berman

Mr.                     Roy Neighbors

 

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Glenda Jacques, Committee Secretary

 

OTHERS PRESENT:

 

Joyce Woodhouse, Chairman, Public Employees’ Retirement System

George Pyne, Executive Officer, Public Employees’ Retirement System

John Chase, Vice President, Peace Officer’s Research Association of Nevada

Mark Malloy, Lieutenant, Nevada Highway Patrol

Chris Perry, Acting Captain, Las Vegas Highway Patrol

Tim Veit, President, Henderson Firefighters Association

Ray Ireland, President, Clark County Firefighters Association

Dean Fletcher, President, Las Vegas Firefighters No. 1285

Thomas Beatty, Executive Director, Service Employees International Union

Rick Umberger, Officer, Las Vegas Metro Police Department

Terri Yada, Vice President, Las Vegas Police Protective Association

Mike Gillins, Lobbyist, Las Vegas Police Protective Association

Phil Gervasi, President, Clark County School District Police Officers Association

Sue Strand, President, Clark County Education Association

Earl Johnson, Captain, Clark County Fire Department

Richard Ziser, Lobbyist, Coalition for the Protection of Marriage

Ronald Dreher, President, Police Officer’s Research Association of Nevada

Steven Turner, Treasurer, Police Officer’s Research Association of Nevada

Dan Holley, Detective, Las Vegas Metro

Rusty McAllister, Vice President, Professional Fire Fighters of Nevada

Andy Anderson, Executive Director, Nevada Conference Police and Sheriff

 

 

Senate Bill 349:  Makes various changes regarding public employees’ retirement system. (BDR 23-752)

 

Joyce Woodhouse, Chairman, Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), stated the bill was their proposed fiscal legislation.  The retirement board had worked diligently reviewing competing benefit enhancement recommendations and had adopted the benefit proposal in S.B. 349.  Interested employees and employers had developed an even-handed compromise that served the members and maintained benefit consistency between funds.  The fund gains within the evaluation period allowed benefits to be added without impacting contribution rates.  The bill strengthened the pension system and encouraged employment in the public sector.

 

George Pyne, Executive Officer, Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), reviewed the three main provisions of the bill.  Section 2 addressed the pre-retirement benefit for single members.  PERS was actively purging the retirement act of discriminatory provisions that related to benefit availability based upon marital status.  A recent member had contributed to the plan for 31 years; his divorced wife was named his optional benefit recipient.  The member had died while actively employed and when the former spouse of 27 years contacted PERS; she was told no benefit was available because she was not a spouse.  No benefits were paid to named beneficiaries before retirement.  The issue of equity needed to be corrected.  Section 7 provided for 25-year retirement at any age for police and fire members.  The benefit would help promote the public policy of maintaining a youthful and vigorous front-line public safety work force.  The benefit allowed early retirement for approximately 2,000 of 9,000 police and fire members and would indirectly impact several thousand more.  Section 8 modified the benefit multiplier from 2.5 percent to 2.67 percent for every future year of service.  Each year of service after July 1, 2001, would produce a retirement benefit of 2.67 times the highest amount of compensation.  Exhibit C showed how the increased multiplier helped provide members with replacement income to maintain self-sufficiency in retirement years.  Sections 9 through 12 provided support modification to expand the survivor benefit program.  Section 13 deleted obsolete language and Section 14 through 17 impacted the judges and legislators’ pay plan.

 

John Chase, Vice President, Peace Officer’s Research Association of Nevada, supported S.B. 349.  Longevity did not run in his family and he would like the early retirement option.  He commented the Boulder City police officers had not received the PERS survey.

 

Mark Malloy, Lieutenant, Nevada Highway Patrol, stated police and fire officers paid more into their retirement than nonpolice and fire employees.  He felt the “25-and-out” addressed equity in the retirement system.

 

Chris Perry, Acting Captain, Las Vegas Highway Patrol, stated S.B. 349 affected all state employees.  Police and firefighters could be affected adversely if the bill did not pass.  30 to 35 percent of the Nevada Highway Patrol would be able to retire between 46 and 49 years old.  Currently, an officer had to work 27.5 years before retirement.  The “25-and-out” allowed retirement 2.5 years earlier.  The bill was a three-fold benefit for police and fire employees.  The increased multiplier benefited new employees and future service, the unmarried survivor benefit affected all state employees, and “25-and-out” would be allowed.

 

Tim Veit, President, Henderson Firefighters Association, supported S.B. 349 without changes.

 

Ray Ireland, President, Clark County Firefighters Association, said the bill was a compromise.  The bill was good for firefighters who supported the community daily.

 

Ms. Berman questioned how many firefighters had chosen to leave after 25 years.

 

Mr. Ireland replied he did not know because penalties were applied if you left before the age of 50.

 

Dean Fletcher, President, Las Vegas Firefighters No. 1285, clarified a 48‑year‑old employee that retired with 27 years of service would receive a 4 percent retroactive penalty.  His pension would have an 8 percent penalty and prohibit him from being financially able to leave.  An early retirement option should be available for those that wanted it.

 

Chairman Bache commented the previous day’s testimony revealed most firefighters did not retire before 50 because they could not afford to.  The Chairman then read through the sign-up sheets and allowed the audience to state their support or nonsupport of the bill.

 

Thomas Beatty, Executive Director, Service Employees International Union, stated they supported the bill.  Their members preferred the higher multiplier.

 

Rick Umberger, Officer, Las Vegas Metro Police Department, read a prepared statement (Exhibit D).  The increased multiplier gave more money to retired police and fire employees.  The surviving beneficiary provision gave protection to children of unmarried employees.  The “25-and-out” was an option for those who wanted it.  Because of job related stress, only 68 of 2,297 commissioned officers in Las Vegas Metro had more than 25 years on the job.  The bill could fail if an attempt was made to raise the multiplier higher.

 

Terri Yada, Vice President, Las Vegas Police Protective Association, represented 1200 nonsworn members of the police department.  The civilian members overwhelmingly supported the higher multiplier.

 

Mike Gillins, Lobbyist, Las Vegas Police Protective Association, stated any benefit increase was good.  They wanted a benefit that was beneficial to all.  Every employee putting money into the fund should get an equal share back and not miss out on a benefit because you were hired later than someone else.  They felt the high multiplier was more equitable.

 

Phil Gervasi, President, Clark County School District Police Officers Association, said the current bill affected 14 percent of their membership.  They supported the increased multiplier of 2.75.

 

Sue Strand, President, Clark County Education Association, said the 13,000 teachers supported S.B. 349.  They felt the surviving beneficiary provision was necessary to address previous inequities.

 

Earl Johnson, Captain, Clark County Fire Department, stated he was older when he joined the fire department.  His increased physical problems had been difficult.  The penalty for early retirement did not allow him to have the quality of life he wanted.  Any civil service job was stressful and difficult to perform.

 

Richard Ziser, Lobbyist, Coalition for the Protection of Marriage, said they had opposed original language in the bill (Exhibit E).  The coalition was not against benefits but the vehicle and method with which it was done.  The current amendment addressed those issues and they were neutral on the bill.

Ronald Dreher, President, Police Officer’s Research Association of Nevada, clarified there were several surveys put out in opposition to the bill.  The Las Vegas Police Protective Association Metro survey (Exhibit F) portrayed the increased multiplier as being retroactive.  S.B. 349 was a prospective application of a compromise and took effect immediately on July 1, 2001.  The survey did not outline surviving beneficiary benefits or “25-and-out.”  On July 1, 2001, any police officer with 25 or more years of service could retire.  Any officer with 20 years would not benefit from the option.  The League of Cities, Unions, and PERS Board all supported S.B. 349.

 

Steven Turner, Treasurer, Police Officer’s Research Association of Nevada, added “25-and-out” would cost the system an additional .05 percent.  He thanked the PERS staff, Senator Mathews, the Nevada Senate, Governor Guinn, Las Vegas law enforcement officers, Professional Firefighters of Nevada, Nevada State Teacher’s Association, Nevada State Highway Patrol Association, Nevada Correctional Officers Association, Nevada Association of School Administrators, Assemblypersons Anderson, Oceguera, Gibbons, and Von Tobel who worked together to reach a compromise on S.B. 349. 

 

Dan Holley, Detective, Las Vegas Metro, said those who did not benefit from the “25-and-out” provision were willing to sacrifice the increased multiplier to grant the benefit to those who could use it.  He urged the committee to pass the bill.

 

Rusty McAllister, Vice President, Professional Firefighters of Nevada, said the audience showed solidarity and support for the bill.  The bill had created hard feelings.  He hoped police and firefighters would continue to work together to accomplish common goals of public safety.

 

Andy Anderson, Executive Director, Nevada Conference Police and Sheriff, stated the bill had been controversial.  They felt the higher multiplier gave more “bang” for the buck.  They did not oppose the pre-death benefit or “25-and-out.”  The original PERS bill had the multiplier at 2.5.  Police and civilian employees felt the multiplier should be increased to 2.75.  The 2.67 benefit was a compromise.  The ultimate goal was to get the multiplier to 3 percent so police and firefighters could afford to retire.  He thanked Chairman Bache for his support.

 

Ms. Berman thanked the audience for their testimony.  She favored any bill that increased benefits for public service employees.  With difficulties in recruiting and maintaining employees it was imperative to give benefits.  She would work with interested parties to increase the multiplier to 2.75.

 

Chairman Bache felt the 2.75 multiplier and indexing were more equitable solutions.  It was frustrating to try and get increased benefits for police and firemen who paid more for their benefits because the PERS board did not want to split benefits.  Employees with split funding were difficult to increase benefits for.

 

Chairman Bache closed the hearing on S.B. 349 and adjourned the meeting at 10:48 a.m.

 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

Glenda Jacques

Committee Secretary

 

 

APPROVED BY:

 

 

 

                       

Assemblyman Douglas Bache, Chairman

 

 

DATE: