May 16, 2002

The Honorable Casper R. Taylor, Jr.
Speaker of the House
State House
Annapolis MD 21401

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed House Bill 749 - Retirement and Pensions - Service Retirement Benefit.

This bill allows active members of the Employees' Pension System or Teachers' Pension System to combine any such service with any service in the "old" Employees' Retirement System or Teachers' Retirement System if the member has a combined total of at least 30 years of service. The service is combined solely for the purpose of service retirement eligibility; benefit calculations would still be based on each component of the service and the applicable benefit formula, with the applicable average final compensation for each component.

Senate Bill 337, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by me, accomplishes the same purpose. Therefore, it is not necessary for me to sign House Bill 749.

Sincerely,
Parris N. Glendening
Governor