Sponsor Statement for HB 206

PERS for Village Public Safety Officers

Throughout the State the Village Public Safety Officer Program has provided a very important means of maintaining peace and harmony in the villages. Most of these individuals were not covered by a retirement program. Now some of these former officers are working for other organizations that are covered by the State PERS program. The work experience these individuals obtained by participating in this program has proven to be an invaluable asset in their present endeavors.

This bill would allow them to obtain retirement credit for the service rendered under the VPSO program. The eligible participant could receive credit for up to 5 years of service in the VPSO. Once their service had been verified, an indebtedness would be determined, and the vested employee would have to arrange to buy this time back into the State PERS system. The provisions of this bill will help in the recruiting and the retention of participants of the VPSO program in the villages. Turnover and a lack of qualified applicants has been a historic problem for the VPSO program.