PRINTER'S NO. 1712
No. 1448 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY WALKO, DERMODY, LAUGHLIN, SOLOBAY, WOJNAROSKI,
ROBINSON, GIGLIOTTI, M. COHEN, SHANER AND HARHAI, MAY 5, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON URBAN AFFAIRS, MAY 5, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 22, 1935 (P.L.233, No.99), entitled "An
2 act creating and establishing a fund for the care,
3 maintenance, and relief of aged, retired, and disabled
4 employees of the Bureau of Police in cities of the second
5 class; providing a pension fund for said employees; and
6 providing for the payment of certain dues, fees, assessments,
7 fines, and appropriations thereto; regulating membership
8 therein; creating a board for the management thereof;
9 providing the amount, mode, and manner of payment to
10 beneficiaries thereof, and for the care and disposition of
11 said fund; providing for the payment into this fund by cities
12 of the second class of all monies heretofore payable into any
13 other funds, organizations, corporations, or associations
14 having the same or similar purposes, and of such additional
15 monies as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of
16 this act," further providing for pension payments to spouses.
17 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
18 hereby enacts as follows:
19 Section 1. Section 11 of the act of May 22, 1935 (P.L.233,
20 No.99), referred to as the Second Class City Policemen Relief
21 Law, amended November 9, 1965 (P.L.687, No.334), is amended to
22 read:
23 Section 11. When any member of the fund shall resign or be
24 dismissed from service, or shall die while in active service,
25 there shall be paid to him or to his widow, and if no widow
1 survive, to his executor or administrator, if his service has
2 been terminated by death, from the fund, all dues paid by him
3 into the fund without interest, and all monies which the fund
4 may have received under any assignment made by the said member
5 to the fund at the time of his admission to membership, under
6 the provisions of subsection (3) of section 8 hereof.
7 In addition, when any member of the fund shall die as a
8 result of injuries received while in the performance of his
9 duties, there shall be paid to his widow from the fund, monthly
10 sums in amounts which together with any payments received under
11 "The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act" or "The
12 Pennsylvania Occupational Disease Act," will be equal to fifty
13 per centum (50%) of his salary at the time of his death. Such
14 monthly payments shall continue [for five hundred (500) weeks,
15 or until the widow shall remarry, or] until her death[,
16 whichever shall first occur].
17 In the event there are surviving children but no widow, or
18 after the payments herein provided for the widow have been
19 discontinued by reason of [the end of the five hundred (500)
20 week period or] her [remarriage or] death, each [unmarried]
21 child of the deceased member under eighteen (18) years of age
22 shall thereafter receive payments equal to twenty-five per
23 centum (25%) of the payments above provided for the widow, but
24 in no case shall total payments to one family be more than fifty
25 per centum of his salary at the time of his death. Where there
26 is only one child, the minimum monthly payments shall be sixty
27 dollars ($60). Where the maximum amount is payable it shall be
28 divided equally among the children entitled thereto. The
29 payments for each child shall terminate upon his reaching the
30 age of eighteen (18) years[,] or his [marriage or] death:
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1 Provided, That the board may continue indefinitely payments to a
2 dependent incompetent child. The payments shall consist of any
3 payments received under "The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation
4 Act" or "The Pennsylvania Occupational Disease Act,"
5 supplemented by the necessary amount from the pension fund.
6 Payments to the widows and children of members killed while
7 on duty shall be made on and after July 1, 1959.
8 In the event there are no surviving children or no widow
9 entitled to receive the payments provided for in this act, any
10 dependent parents of the member shall receive the payments the
11 widow would have received had she survived [and not remarried].
12 Section 2. Section 11.1 of the act, amended November 9, 1965
13 (P.L.687, No.334) and July 8, 1970 (P.L.455, No.156), is amended
14 to read:
15 Section 11.1. Married Persons; Pension to Surviving Spouse
16 and Dependent Children.--
17 (a) Any married person who elects in writing to be governed
18 by the provisions of this amendment and who retires under the
19 provisions of this act shall, at the time of his retirement,
20 receive the pension provided by this act during his lifetime and
21 a pension after his death, payable to his surviving spouse at
22 the time of his death, equal to fifty per centum of his pension:
23 Provided, That such person so retiring shall have been married
24 to his spouse for not less than two years prior to the date of
25 death and the spouse was dependent upon such deceased employee
26 at the time of his death.
27 (a.1) Any retired member of the Police Pension Fund who
28 retired prior to August 27, 1963, may, within ninety days after
29 the effective date of this amendment, elect to be governed by
30 the provisions of this subsection, provided such election shall
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1 be in writing and that such writing shall be filed with the
2 Secretary of the Police Pension Fund. Each retired member who
3 elects to be governed under the provisions of this subsection
4 shall agree to contribute one-half of one percent of his monthly
5 pension to the Police Pension Fund. Upon the death of any
6 retired member who elected in the manner above prescribed to be
7 governed by this subsection, his widow and surviving children
8 shall receive the benefits otherwise provided by this act for
9 widows and children of deceased members who elected to be
10 governed by the amending act of August 27, 1963 (P.L.1297) and
11 any further amendments thereto.
12 (b) Such surviving spouse shall be entitled to receive
13 payments commencing the first day of the month in which the
14 death of the deceased spouse occurs, and shall continue [to],
15 even if she remarries, and terminate upon the death of such
16 surviving spouse[, unless such surviving spouse shall remarry,
17 in which event the board may allocate the pension to dependent
18 children or parents as provided in this act]: Provided, That in
19 no case shall total payments to a member or his survivors or his
20 estate be less than the deceased member's contribution into the
21 fund.
22 (c) In the event there is no surviving spouse, or the
23 surviving spouse dies [or remarries] while receiving payments
24 under this section, and where there are dependent children of
25 the deceased member of the fund, the board may pay to each such
26 dependent child twenty-five per centum of the pension earned by
27 the deceased member until the age of eighteen [or marriage] or
28 death: Provided, That the board may indefinitely continue
29 payments to a dependent incompetent child.
30 Where the sums payable to dependent children under this
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1 section are equal to the maximum pension to which the widow
2 would be entitled, it shall be divided equally among the
3 children entitled thereto.
4 In the event there are no surviving children or no widow
5 entitled to receive the payments provided for in this act, any
6 dependent parents of the deceased member shall receive the
7 monthly payments the widow would have received had she survived
8 [and not remarried].
9 (d) The word "pension" as used in this section shall be
10 construed to mean the sum of the pension provided by this act
11 plus the amount of service increment, if any, to which the
12 married person retiring shall be entitled.
13 Section 3. Section 14.6 of the act, added March 3, 1972
14 (P.L.96, No.34), is amended to read:
15 Section 14.6. In addition to the other benefits provided by
16 this act the city council is authorized by ordinance to adopt a
17 plan of paying to widows of deceased policemen[,] not otherwise
18 covered under this act, even if they have remarried, a monthly
19 award of such amount as the council may from time to time
20 determine and may further appropriate from the city's general
21 fund sufficient amounts to make such further awards.
22 Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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