RAC:cjs:rs
2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
August 9, 2005 - Introduced by Representatives Cullen, Turner, Staskunas and
Boyle, cosponsored by Senator Hansen. Referred to Joint Survey Committee
on Retirement Systems.
AB598,1,3
1An Act to create 20.515 (1) (bm) of the statutes;
relating to: death benefits
2provided under the Wisconsin Retirement System and making an
3appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, as the result of the enactment of
1999 Wisconsin Acts 11 and
12, a beneficiary of a participating employee in the Wisconsin Retirement System
(WRS) may receive a death benefit equal to the sum of the additional and
twice the
employee required contribution accumulations credited to the participant's account.
Before the enactment of
1999 Wisconsin Acts 11 and
12, however, the value of the
death benefit, with certain exceptions, was the sum of the additional and the
employee required contribution accumulations, not
twice the employee required
contribution accumulations.
This bill provides that any WRS participant who at the time of death was a
participating employee, who died between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 1999,
shall have his or her death benefit retroactively increased by an amount equal to the
participant's employee required contribution accumulations that were credited to
the participant's account on the beneficiary annuity effective date or, in the case of
a lump sum payment, on the first day of the month in which the Department of
Employee Trust Funds (DETF) approved the payment of the death benefit.
To qualify for the increased death benefit, the beneficiary must submit an
application to DETF, on a form provided by DETF, before the first day of the sixth
month beginning after the effective date of the bill.
This bill will be referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems
for a detailed analysis, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB598, s. 1
1Section
1. 20.515 (1) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:
AB598,2,42
20.515
(1) (bm)
Increased death benefits. A sum sufficient to pay the cost of any
3increased death benefits required under 2005 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 2
4(1) to (3
).
AB598,2,66
(1) In this
Section:
AB598,2,77
(a) "Beneficiary" has the meaning specified in section 40.02 (8) of the statutes.
AB598,2,98
(b) "Beneficiary annuity" has the meaning specified in section 40.02 (9) of the
9statutes.
AB598,2,1010
(c) "Department" has the meaning specified in section 40.02 (19) of the statutes.
AB598,2,1211
(d) "Employee required contribution" has the meaning specified in section
1240.02 (27) of the statutes.
AB598,2,1313
(e) "Participant" has the meaning specified in section 40.02 (45) of the statutes.
AB598,2,1514
(f) "Participating employee" has the meaning specified in section 40.02 (46) of
15the statutes.
AB598,3,416
(2) Notwithstanding section 40.73 (1) (a), 1999 stats., any participant who at
17the time of death was a participating employee, who died between January 1, 1999,
18and December 31, 1999, and who was not eligible for the death benefit provided
19under section 40.73 (1) (c), 1999 stats., shall have his or her death benefit
20retroactively increased by an amount equal to the participant's employee required
1contribution accumulations that were credited to the participant's account on the
2beneficiary annuity effective date, or, in the case of a lump sum payment, on the first
3day of the month in which the department approved the payment of the death
4benefit.
AB598,3,65
(3) An increased death benefit may be provided under this
Section only if all
6of the following conditions are satisfied:
AB598,3,87
(a) The beneficiary to whom the death benefit was payable must either have
8been a natural person or a trust in which a natural person had a beneficial interest.
AB598,3,119
(b) The beneficiary submits an application to the department, on a form
10provided by the department, before the first day of the 6th month beginning after the
11effective date of this paragraph.
AB598,3,1312
(c) The participant was not covered under section 40.73 (1) (a) 1., 1999 stats.,
13or section 40.73 (1) (a) 2., 1999 stats.
