SB2961 SD1 FA4

SENATE FLOOR AMENDMENT

 

FLOOR AMENDMENT NO. DATE:

TO: S.B. No. 2961, S.D. 1

 

SECTION 1. Senate Bill No. 2961, S.D. 1, is amended as follows:

1. By amending § -2 of section 2 of the bill to read as follows:

"§   -2 Establishment of the trust. An employee organization must meet the following requirements if it is to establish a voluntary employees' beneficiary association trust under this chapter and be exempt from chapter 87A:

(1) The employee organization shall establish a tax-exempt trust pursuant to section 501(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, known as a Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust;

(2) The trust may offer health benefits in accordance with section 501(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and related regulations;

(3) The trust shall provide for a plan of benefits it intends to provide for its members, and a summary plan description of the benefits and rules of the plan, which will meet the standards and requirements of the Employees Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. The trust shall furnish a copy of the summary plan description and its amendments to each employee covered under the plan with a copy to the department of human resources and development for the State of Hawaii, and to the department of education, University of Hawaii and the respective human resource departments of each county as their interest may appear;

(4) The trust shall have at least one member of its governing board who is a retiree and a member of the employee organization sponsoring the trust;

(5) The governing board of the trust shall notify its members of regularly scheduled meetings and shall determine the appropriate method by which such notice shall be made; and

(6) The employee organization has an applicable collective bargaining agreement with the employer."

2. By amending § -6 of section 2 of the bill to read as follows:

"§   -6 State and county contributions to trust; retired employees. (a) Any individual who becomes a retiree on or after the establishment of an employee organization sponsored trust pursuant to section    -2, and who is a member of that employee organization, shall be enrolled in that employee organization sponsored trust established pursuant to section  -2 and the applicable collective bargaining agreement under which the retiree was covered at the date of retirement.

(b) Any retiree, prior to an employee organization sponsored trust being established pursuant to section    -2, who is a member of that employee organization, and who was previously covered by a collective bargaining agreement, shall be given a one-time option to transfer participation from the Hawaii employer union health benefit trust to the corresponding employee organization VEBA trust once established pursuant to section    -2. For the purposes of this chapter and for providing retiree benefits, a collective bargaining agreement may include provisions specifying contributions and any process by which Medicare part B reimbursements may be ported from the employer-union health benefits trust fund established pursuant to chapter 87A for reimbursements to those retirees who are covered by the VEBA trust.

(c) Upon the establishment of a trust satisfying the requirements of section    -2 by an employee organization, the State, through the department of budget and finance and the several counties through their respective departments of finance, or the University of Hawaii, shall pay to the trust for each retiree who participates, a monthly contribution pursuant to the applicable collective bargaining agreement which shall not exceed the base monthly contributions or the specific contribution limits set forth in chapter 87A."

 

 

 

 

Offered by:	( ) Carried
	( ) Failed to Carry
	( ) Withdrawn