The new law, passed within the Outside Sections of the FY’99 State Budget, grandfathers pre-1988 retirees under the “Pop-Up” provision contained within Section 12 of MGL Chapter 32. In 1987, the law was changed to provide future retirees with the benefit, but existing retirees were not included at that time. The Association had filed legislation to include pre-1988 retirees for the past 11 years.

In order to qualify for the “Pop-Up”, the member must have chosen Option C upon his retirement. Additionally, the Option C retiree’s named beneficiary would have to predecease them. Upon notification of the retirement board, the retirees pension will then be increased to the full Option A pension amount.

When a member retires under Option C, they take an average pension reduction of 20% to protect their benefactor in the event of their death. Once the benefactor is chosen and the member retires, the law does not allow for the Option or the named benefactor to be changed under any circumstances. The only exception is the “Pop-Up” upon the benefactors death.

Local Acceptance Underway

A continued obstacle facing nearly every change in our 104 local pension systems is the legal requirement that new benefits must receive local approval prior to being implemented. As was the case with the acceptance of Chapter 17 (COLA law), the legislative body of each local retirement system must vote to adopt the “Pop-Up” law, after acceptance by the local retirement board.

The city council in a city, town meeting or council in a town, the retirement board advisory council in a county, and the governing bodies of districts and authorities act as the legislative bodies for their prospective retirement systems. Essex County along with the cities of Cambridge, Fitchburg, Lynn, Malden, Salem, Taunton, and Woburn to name only a few, have already adopted the law.

In the county systems, the County Retirement Advisory Councils are expected take up the issue at their fall meetings. Most towns hold their town meetings in the spring, but a handful plan to take up the issue at their special town meetings in November.

“Due to the scheduling of town meetings, it is going to take several months to get everyone on board. Most of the cities will probably take up the issue this fall, if they have not done so already,” said Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. “The cost to the retirement systems is very small. In most cases, it will have no impact on the funding schedules.”