Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 36, Part 8 and Title 68, Chapter 140, Part 3.

This bill authorizes emergency medical service employees who have been retired for at least nine months from the Tennessee consolidated retirement system (TCRS), from any superseded system administered by the state, or from any local retirement fund to accept employment as an emergency medical service employee without loss or suspension of retirement benefits under the following conditions: (1) The retired member must possess a current, valid license from the department of health to provide emergency medical services; (2) Notification of, and submission of any information required by, the retirement division; (3) The employing emergency medical services agency certifies in writing to the retirement division that the retired member has the requisite experience and training for the position to be filled; (4) The retired member must not be eligible to accrue additional retirement benefits as a result of such employment; (5) The retired member must not receive automatic credit for years of experience in determining compensation; (6) The salary paid to the retired member for serving as an emergency medical services employee must not be less than the rate of compensation set by the employing emergency medical services agency for emergency medical services employees with no experience filling similar positions and must not exceed 85 percent of the rate of compensation set by the employing emergency medical services agency for emergency medical services employees with comparable training and years of experience filling similar positions.; and (7) The retired member's appointment to serve as an emergency medical services employee cannot exceed one year. The retired member may be reappointed to additional one-year periods; provided, that the conditions contained in (1)-(5) are met for each such reappointment. This bill requires that payments be made by appropriation of funds by the retired member's employing emergency medical services agency, in the case of a municipality or political subdivision, for the purpose of: (1) Making a payment equal to the amount the employer would have contributed had the retired member been a member of the retirement system for the position during the period of employment; or (2) Paying an additional amount as determined by the board of trustees of the Tennessee consolidated retirement system required to fund the liability created by this bill; provided, that such amount is not less than five percent of the retired member's pay rate. This bill will be repealed on July 1, 2023. ON MARCH 21, 2022, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2275, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 reduces from nine months to 60 days the amount of time the person must have been retired, changes this bill's repeal date from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2025, and rewrites the other conditions of reemployment and payment provisions to be as follows: (1) The retired member, as of the date of reemployment, must possess a current, valid license issued by the emergency medical services board through the department of health to provide emergency medical services; (2) During the reemployment, the retirement benefit payable to the retired member is reduced to 70 percent of the retirement allowance the member would have otherwise been entitled to receive; (3) The retired member's reemployment must not exceed one year; however, the retired member may be reemployed for additional one-year periods as long as the conditions contained in this section are met for each period of reemployment; (4) To fund the liability, the retired member's new employer must pay to TCRS during each period of reemployment the greater of: (A) A payment equal to the amount the employer would have contributed to the retirement system had the retired member been a member of the retirement system during the period of reemployment; or (B) An amount equal to 5 percent of the retired member's pay rate; (5) The retired member will not accrue additional retirement benefits as a result of the member's reemployment; and (6) The retiree must not be drawing disability retirement benefits.