HARRY HUGHES, Governor

2137

(13) [Any person appointed or elected to membership in
the General Assembly before January 1, 1971, may elect to
contribute 15 percent of his compensation on and after July
1, 1966, and, in such event,1 A FORMER MEMBER OF THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY WHO DID NOT SERVE ON OR AFTER JANUARY 13, 1971 AND
WHO CONTRIBUTES AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO 15 PERCENT OF HIS
COMPENSATION shall become a member or continue as a member
of the retirement system and be eligible to receive the
benefits enumerated in this subsection on account of his
service in the General Assembly. Anything in this article
to the contrary notwithstanding, the benefits payable to a
member under this subsection shall be in lieu of any and all
pension benefits which may be payable to such member under
any retirement system supported wholly or in part by the
state, or, in the alternative such member may at any time
prior to his retirement transfer his credit for service in
the General Assembly to any other retirement system,
supported wholly or in part by the State, of which he is or
may become a member. For the purposes of this subsection,
"service" shall mean service as an elected or appointed
member of the General Assembly and "year of service" shall
mean a year or any fraction thereof during which a member
serves in the General Assembly and for which he makes OR
MADE contributions under this subsection, and shall also
include all or part of such service rendered prior to his
commencement of contributions hereunder but not prior to
July 1, 1966, provided he CONTRIBUTES OR has contributed all
amounts (with interest thereon) he was eligible to
contribute hereunder with respect to such service. Service
rendered prior to July 1, 1966, shall also be credited
hereunder provided that the member shall have made or makes
up the contributions (with interest thereon to date of
payment) which he would have paid had he been a member of
the Employees' Retirement System during such service but
withdrew from the systems as of June 30, 1966.

(a)   Any such member who has completed sixteen
years of service or has attained the age of fifty—five (55)
and has completed eight (8) years of service may retire and
receive a retirement allowance which shall be equal to one
twentieth (1/20) of his highest annual earnable compensation
multiplied by the number of years of his service not in
excess of twenty (20) years.

(b)   Any such member whose service is terminated
after eight (8) years of service prior to the attainment of
age fifty—five (55) may, in lieu of the withdrawal of his
accumulated contributions, elect to receive a service
retirement allowance deferred to commence at age fifty—five
(55) and computed on the basis of his years of service and
earnable compensation to the date of his termination.

(c)   Any such member whose service is terminated
prior to the completion of eight (8) years of service and
who elects (i) to leave his accumulated contributions in the
Annuity Savings Fund and (ii) to make additional
contributions equal to the additional amounts which would