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2023 SESSION

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SB 1289 Virginia Retirement System; return to employment, report.

Introduced by: R. Creigh Deeds | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Virginia Retirement System; return to work. Reduces from 12 to six the number of months for the required break in service for a teacher, bus driver, school administrator, or school security officer to return to work full time and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). The bill adds specialized student support positions to the list of employees that may return to work with a six-month break in service and specifies that the employer shall include such employees' compensation in membership payroll for purposes of the employer contributions to VRS. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2028, for the reduction of the required break in service for all classes of employees. Finally, the bill requires VRS to submit a report regarding options for employing certain enumerated positions part-time during the required six-month break in service period.

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

Virginia Retirement System; school bus drivers; return to employment. Provides that if a retired school bus driver was employed by a local school division and had a bona fide break in service of at least six months between retirement and employment as a school bus driver in a local school division that identifies and experiences a critical shortage of school bus drivers, such person is not required to establish a 12-month break in service that would otherwise be required by law. In addition, the employer of such a person must include the person's compensation in membership payroll subject to employer contributions. The bill also requires the Secretary of Education and Secretary of Transportation to convene a work group to identify specific strategies to address bus driver shortages across Virginia local school divisions. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Virginia Retirement System; school bus drivers; return to employment. Provides that if a retired school bus driver was employed by a local school division and had a bona fide break in service of at least three months between retirement and employment as a school bus driver in a local school division that identifies and experiences a critical shortage of school bus drivers reaching a vacancy rate that exceeds 20 percent, such person is not required to establish a 12-month break in service that would otherwise be required by law. The critical shortage and vacancy rate of school bus drivers in a local school division are subject to semi-annual reevaluation to determine whether a critical shortage continues to exist and whether the vacancy rate of school bus drivers in the local school division continues to exceed 20 percent. The bill requires an affected local school division to provide an annual report to the General Assembly identifying critical shortages, vacancy rates, and employment of school bus drivers, including those reemployed out of retirement, in the prior year. The bill also requires the Secretary of Education and Secretary of Transportation to convene a work group to identify specific strategies to address bus driver shortages across Virginia local school divisions.