For the purposes of this chapter:

(a) “Covered under Social Security” means, with regard to a state employee, that the state is required to make contributions for the employee under the Social Security Agreement;

(b) “Federal Insurance Contributions Act” means the chapter of the federal Internal Revenue Code officially cited by that name, 26 USC (IRC 1939) § 1400 et seq., 26 USC (IRC 1986) § 3100 et seq., as originally enacted and as amended from time to time;

(c) “For retirement purposes” means for the purposes of the state employees retirement system;

(d) “Member” means a member of the state employees retirement system;

(e) “Retirement Commission” means the State Employees Retirement Commission;

(f) “Retirement contributions” means contributions made by, or deducted from the salary of, a member in accordance with part III or part IV of this chapter;

(g) “Retirement system” means the state employees retirement system;

(h) “Salary” means (1) any payment, including longevity payments and payments for accrued vacation time under § 5-252, for state service made from a payroll submitted to the Comptroller; and (2) the cash value of maintenance furnished by the state; and (3) fees received from the state in whole or in part in lieu of or in addition to item (1) above and established to the satisfaction of the Retirement Commission, to the extent that the employee has made retirement contributions on such fees; and (4) compensation paid by the United States to state employees who are employees of the United States Purchasing and Finance Office; and (5) compensation paid to employees of the Connecticut Institute for Municipal Studies. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 5-208a, any state employee who is employed by more than one state agency during any week shall, for compensation earned on and after January 1, 1983, have all such compensation recognized for all purposes of the retirement program;

(i) “Social Security” means the Old Age and Survivors Insurance System under Title II of the Social Security Act;

(j) “Social Security Act” means the federal act officially cited by that name, 42 USC § 301 et seq., as originally enacted and as amended from time to time;

(k) “Social Security Agreement” means the agreement between the state and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as modified from time to time, entered into under the terms of Section 218 of the Social Security Act;

(l) “State employee” means a person in state service, either appointive or elective;

(m) “State service” is service with the state, either appointive or elective, for which a salary is paid, subject to the following rules: (1) “State service” includes time lost from state service because of a disability incurred in the performance of state service; (2) “state service” includes service before September 1, 1939, of a member who began to make such member’s retirement contributions before September 1, 1941, and has made contributions for all such member’s salary received from September 1, 1939, to such member’s retirement date; (3) “state service” includes service as a member of the General Assembly or as an employee of the General Assembly or either branch thereof, or of any officer or committee thereof; (4) “state service” excludes any month of otherwise eligible service on or after September 1, 1939, for which the full required retirement contribution, including any required interest thereon, has not been made by or for the member; (5) “state service” excludes all periods of otherwise eligible service before the date on which a member elects to receive a return of such member’s retirement contributions, unless the member has thereafter returned such contributions with interest, as provided in subsection (a) of § 5-167; (6) “state service” includes a period equivalent to accrued vacation time for which payment is made under § 5-252; (7) any teacher, as defined in § 10-183b, in state service who is employed for a full academic year, equivalent to ten months’ credited service, shall be deemed to be employed for the entire year. Any such teacher who has completed the work obligations of such teacher’s appointment period and who retires after May first, but before September first, shall receive, upon retirement, credit for the entire appointment year and the remaining biweekly payments due for the entire appointment year, together with any amounts held back previously; (8) “state service” includes service as an employee of a state-aided institution as defined in § 5-175 and service as a vending stand operator as defined in § 5-175a; (9) “state service” includes service as an employee of the Connecticut Institute for Municipal Studies; (10) “state service” includes service on and after January 1, 1999, and on or before June 15, 2012, as an employee of the Capital City Economic Development Authority established by § 32-601; (11) “state service” includes service as an employee of the Capital Region Development Authority;

(n) “Year of state service” means any period of twelve consecutive calendar months of state service, but no month shall be counted in more than one such year;

(o) “Actuarial reserve basis” means a basis under which the liabilities of the retirement system are determined using actuarial assumptions, tables and methods and under which assets are accumulated under a program designed to achieve a balance between the accumulated assets and the liabilities of the system;

(p) “Funding” means the accumulation of assets in advance of the payment of retirement allowances in accordance with a definite actuarial program;

(q) “Normal cost” means the amount of contribution which the state is required to make into the retirement fund in order to meet the actuarial cost of current service;

(r) “Unfunded liability” means the actuarially determined value of the liability for service before the date of the actuarial valuation less the accumulated assets in the retirement fund;

(s) “Amortization of unfunded liabilities” means a systematic program of payment for the unfunded liabilities over a period of years in lieu of a payment in one sum;

(t) “Current service” means service rendered in the current fiscal year;

(u) “Alternate retirement program” means any retirement program authorized by the State Employees’ Retirement Commission pursuant to subsection (c) of § 5-155a;

(v) “Participant” means eligible employees in higher education who elect to participate in an alternate retirement program.

A citation in this chapter to a specific provision of the Social Security Act or other federal law includes a citation, where appropriate, to the same or similar provision as appearing in prior or successor law.