Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17760, sub-§2, ¶¶A and C, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 801, §§5 and 7, are amended to read:

A. On the date of retirement, the member must have at least 15 5 years of creditable service.

C. The member must have separated from the armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable, providing that the separation was not upgraded through a program of general amnesty.

Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §17760, sub-§2, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 801, §§5 and 7, is repealed.

Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §17760, sub-§2, ¶E, as amended by PL 1989, c. 907, §3, is repealed.

SUMMARY

This bill implements one of the recommendations of the Committee to Study Standardized Periods of Military Service and Other Matters Related to the Award of State of Maine Veterans' Benefits. This bill reduces from 15 to 5 the number of years of creditable service a state employee who is a member of the Maine State Retirement System must have before the employee is eligible to purchase service credits for service in the Armed Forces of the United States. It also removes a requirement that members joining after January 1, 1976 have served in a federally recognized period of conflict to be eligible to purchase military service credits.