Title 19, Title 19

(1) This chapter does not apply to a temporary employee of the university system. (2) As used in this section, "temporary employee" means an employee of the university system who is hired into a position that is not permanent and who has negotiated an alternative benefits package…

Except as otherwise provided in chapter 3, part 21, of this title, none of the provisions of this part apply under the defined contribution plan.

(1) Beginning July 1, 2013, each employer shall contribute the amount specified in 19-3-316 and the state shall contribute the amount specified in 19-3-319 for retired members who return to work in a covered position but who, under the provisions of 19-3-1106(4), have not become …

(1) (a) The board shall establish an education fund to be used to educate and inform system members in a manner consistent with the provisions of this section. (b) For the ongoing educational services and communication services established pursuant to this section, from the emplo…

As soon as possible after the completion of each annual actuarial valuation for the public employees' retirement system, the board shall have its actuary present a detailed actuarial report in accordance with 5-11-210 to the legislative finance committee and to the state administ…

Upon receipt of a written application filed with the board by a designated beneficiary, the board shall grant a death payment to the designated beneficiary of any member who dies: (1) while in service; (2) while a recipient of a disability retirement benefit, if the benefit has b…

(1) The amount of death payment to be made to the designated beneficiary of a deceased member is the sum of subsections (1)(a), (1)(b), and (1)(c) as follows: (a) the member's accumulated contributions; (b) subject to subsection (2), an amount equal to one-twelfth of the compensa…

The designated beneficiary of a deceased member may elect, by filing a written application with the board, to have the death payment provided for in 19-3-1202 paid in an actuarially equivalent form, subject to rules that the board may adopt. The annuity payments are not subject t…

(1) A designated beneficiary eligible to receive a death payment may instead elect a survivorship benefit by filing a written application with the board, if all of the following conditions are met: (a) the deceased member on behalf of whom the death benefit is payable had complet…

(1) For a member hired prior to July 1, 2011, the survivorship benefit payable to the member's designated beneficiary is the actuarial equivalent of: (a) the accrued portion of the early retirement benefit pursuant to 19-3-906(1) that would have been payable to the member commenc…

(1) When a retired member receiving an option 1 retirement benefit under 19-3-1501 dies, the member's designated beneficiary or, if there is no surviving designated beneficiary, the member's estate must be paid the amount, if any, of the member's accumulated contributions calcula…

The accumulated contributions of a member who dies after becoming a member of any other system described in 19-3-403(6) and before receiving the member's accumulated contributions must be paid to the designated beneficiary.

Except as otherwise provided in chapter 3, part 21, of this title, none of the provisions of this part apply under the defined contribution plan.

(1) The retirement benefit of a member or the survivorship benefit of a designated beneficiary who so elects must be converted, in lieu of all other benefits under this chapter, into an optional retirement benefit that is the actuarial equivalent of the original benefit. If the m…

Except as otherwise provided in chapter 3, part 21, of this title, none of the provisions of this part apply under the defined contribution plan.

(1) Subject to subsection (2), on January 1 of each year, the permanent monthly benefit payable during the preceding January to each recipient who is eligible under subsection (3) must be increased by the applicable percentage provided in subsection (4). (2) (a) If a recipient's …

Unless otherwise explicitly provided in this part, none of the provisions of this part apply under the defined contribution plan.

(1) Any municipal corporation, county, or public agency in the state may become a contracting employer through a contract entered into between the board and the legislative body of the contracting employer. The contract must provide that all employees eligible under this chapter …

Any employee who has, for a continuous period of at least 2 years, been an employee of a municipal corporation, county, or other public agency of this state that is not a contracting employer may advise the legislative body of the employer, in writing, that the employee wishes to…

(1) If the legislative body of any city, county, or public agency having an existing retirement, pension, or annuity fund or system, referred to as the local system, desires to make the members of the local system members of the public employees' retirement system, it may enter i…

(1) If the required contributions to the retirement system exceed the funds available to a contracting employer from general revenue sources, the contracting employer may budget, levy, and collect annually a special tax upon the assessable property of the contracting employer in …

Unless the context requires otherwise, as used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Member" means a person with a retirement account in the defined contribution plan. (2) "Plan" or "defined contribution plan" means the defined contribution retirement plan. (3) "Uni…

(1) The board shall establish within the public employees' retirement system a defined contribution plan in accordance with the provisions of this part. The plan must be established as a pension plan for the exclusive benefit of members and their beneficiaries and as a "qualified…

It is the intent of the legislature that, in implementing and administering the defined contribution plan: (1) changes to current administrative processes and the impact of those changes on employers be minimized to the extent possible; (2) the administrative structure for the pl…

(1) The board has the powers and shall perform the duties regarding the defined contribution plan as provided in 19-2-403, as applicable. The board may also exercise the powers and shall perform the duties provided in this chapter. (2) The board shall, in accordance with the Mont…

(1) The board may establish a fund within the defined contribution plan for paying the plan's administrative expenses. (2) The board may: (a) assess fees to pay the reasonable administrative costs of the plan; and (b) negotiate with a vendor or vendors for vendor reimbursement of…

The statutory provisions governing the defined contribution plan and the university system retirement program are subject to amendment by the legislature. Employees choosing the defined contribution plan or the university system retirement program pursuant to this part do not hav…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this part: (a) a member who was an inactive member of the defined benefit plan on the effective date of the defined contribution plan and who is rehired into covered employment after the plan effective date may, within the 12-month period provi…

(1) If a member who is employed by the Montana university system is eligible to make an election under this part to transfer to the defined contribution plan, the employee may, instead of electing the defined contribution plan, elect to transfer membership to the university syste…

(1) (a) A member who terminates membership in the defined benefit plan, the defined contribution plan, or the university system retirement program after making an election pursuant to 19-3-2111 or 19-3-2112 and who returns to covered employment in less than 24 months is a member …

For an employee who elects to become a member of the plan, the board shall transfer from the defined benefit plan to the member's retirement account an amount equal to the amount that would have been allocated to the member's account pursuant to 19-3-2117 had the employee become …

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2), the board shall accept the rollover of contributions and the income on those contributions from another eligible retirement plan to the member's vested account as allowed under applicable federal law. (b) To transfer service credit fr…

(1) A member's contribution account includes the member's contributions and the income on those contributions and is vested from the date that the employee becomes a member of the plan. (2) A member's employer contribution account includes the employer's contributions and the inc…

(1) The member contributions made under 19-3-315 and additional contributions paid by the member for the purchase of service must be allocated to the plan member's retirement account. (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), of the employer contributions under 19-3-316 received: (…

(1) The board shall provide for at least eight investment alternatives within the defined contribution plan. In providing for the plan's investment alternatives, only a vendor or vendors offering suitable and well-managed investments, licensed to conduct business in Montana, and …

Except as provided in 19-3-2142, any time after termination of service, a member or the member's beneficiary may terminate plan membership by filing a written application with the board and removing the member's vested account balance from the plan through any combination of the …

(1) Subject to 19-3-2116, 19-3-2126, and 19-3-2142, a member may, after termination of service, leave the member's vested account balance in the plan, and the member is eligible for a distribution as provided in this section. (2) After termination of service and upon filing a wri…

A plan member's beneficiary must be determined as provided in chapter 2, part 8, of this title. Upon filing a written application with the board after the death of a plan member, the member's beneficiary is entitled to the member's vested account balance subject to this part.

(1) Before termination of service, a member may not receive a refund of any portion of the member's vested account balance. (2) Except as provided in 19-3-2142, a member who terminates service and whose vested account balance is less than $200 must be paid the vested account bala…

(1) The board shall create an employee investment advisory council. The advisory council shall meet at least four times a year to: (a) advise the board concerning the operation of the defined contribution plan, including the selection of the initial investment alternatives to be …

(1) For members hired prior to July 1, 2011: (a) except as provided in subsection (1)(b), a disabled member eligible under the provisions of this section is entitled to a disability benefit equal to one fifty-sixth of the member's highest average compensation, as defined in 19-3-…

A plan member who is receiving a disability benefit pursuant to 19-3-2141 remains a member of the retirement plan irrespective of employment status and may not receive a distribution from the member's retirement account.

(1) To implement the provisions of 19-3-2141, the board shall establish a self-insured long-term disability plan through which the disability benefits must be paid. (2) If the disability plan cannot be implemented as described in subsection (1), the board shall implement the prov…

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2), each member's contribution is 7.9% of the member's compensation. (b) The board shall annually review the required contributions and recommend future adjustments to the legislature as needed to maintain the amortization schedule set by…

(1) Each employer shall contribute to the system. Except as provided in subsection (2), the employer shall pay as employer contributions 6.9% of the compensation paid to all of the employer's employees plus any additional contribution under subsection (3), except for those employ…

Every state employer shall include in its budget and request for legislative appropriations an amount necessary to defray the state's part of the costs of this chapter for its employees to the end that the legislature may make definite appropriation for the cost incurred by each …