Attention ex-government workers: You've got one last chance to get back into the state's old -- and much more generous -- retirement system.

A deadline of June 30 is approaching for tens of thousands of former state, municipal and school district workers who cashed out their retirement accounts under the famed Tier 1 system, as well as the two retirement plans that followed.

If former workers land another job covered by the state retirement system by the deadline, and work or pay back the required number of years, they can tap into their original retirement plan with all its perks, including guaranteed pensions. The real golden egg? Health coverage for retirees.

Under the most desirable of the plans, Tier 1, someone who put in just five years as a public employee can get medical coverage with system-paid premiums at age 50, plus a small pension.

Public employees not in that plan "look at it real enviously," said Bruce Ludwig, business manager for the Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT.

And now those who left the system early are scrambling for a second chance.

People who left state jobs, but didn't cash out their retirement funds, aren't under any such deadline, said Kathy Lea, retirement manager for the state Division of Retirement and Benefits.

Alaska ramped up retirement benefits during the pipeline boom to hold onto workers tempted by better paying construction jobs, Ludwig said.

But since 1986, lawmakers have been scaling back. The biggest overhaul, intended to salvage a retirement system underfunded by billions, took effect in July 2006. The state Legislature did away with pensions and system-paid medical insurance for retirees.

The new retirement plan works more like private industry's 401K system. Individual employees and their employers contribute to the person's retirement fund, but all the risk is on the workers. If their investments tank, money available for retirement will be meager. But it could go the other way, too, note state officials who take exception to descriptions of the old plans as "golden."

Still retirees generally must work much longer to get medical care under the current system, and they must pay at least a portion of the premiums. That will eat away at whatever money they've put away.

"I don't know how a person could live on it," Ludwig said.

NEW URGENCY

The state is mailing a letter reminding the ex-workers of this last opportunity.

In the years since a similar letter went out in 2006, more than 2,000 former employees trickled back to public jobs in Alaska. There was no huge surge, state and municipal officials say.

But "now there's a sense of urgency for some folks who didn't really give it much thought until this year," said Robert Pearson, special assistant in the state Department of Administration.

The deadline nudged Tami Frank into doing what she always planned to do: Return to Alaska.

"It's just my home. I'm an Alaska girl. I missed it. Too crowded, too hot down there," Frank said. She worked for the state in two stints starting in 1993, cashed out her retirement, and moved Outside for six-and-a-half years.

She said she would have moved back anyway, but the deadline prompted her to do so now.

"Some of us younger ones were not really thinking about retirement," said Frank, now 42.

In July, she was hired as a Department of Transportation accounting technician in Juneau and now is covered by her original state retirement plan, which is more generous than what new hires get. She figures she'll repay what she cashed out, though that's not necessary, according to retirement manager Lea.

Frank doesn't expect to retire early, though.

"I'll be working 'til I croak," she joked.

A PLEA FOR STATE JOB

William Satterberg, a Fairbanks lawyer who worked nearly five years as an assistant attorney general starting in 1976, made no secret of his desire for a state job -- and the accompanying retirement perks, especially health coverage.

He made a pitch in the Alaska Bar Rag last year in his humor column. In a piece titled "Will Litigate for Retirement," Satterberg wrote about the coming deadline and his odyssey of trying to get back on as a state lawyer. He just needed another 10 more months of service to be vested under the most desirable plan.

"Little did I realize that, thirty years later, my hormones would become replaced by hemorrhoids, and issues other than freedom and income would loom in my future. Ultimately, I would learn that .8 of a year could make a critical difference in my life," Satterberg wrote.

In December, state Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, hired him as a legislative aide. For now, Satterberg is staying in Fairbanks -- Harris' district comes within 30 miles or so of the city -- but will travel to Juneau in March and stay through the end of the session, said John Bitney, another Harris aide.

"From our point of view. Bill is a good employee. He's obviously well qualified. We're just happy to have him," Bitney said. Satterberg has been analyzing Gov. Sean Parnell's crime package, working on a road issue near Glennallen, and researching effective sentencing for drunken driving, Bitney said.

Satterberg, who is part time, has been on unpaid leave the last couple of weeks while he attended to some other matters, Bitney said. His law office said he was in Saipan.

Other people in the same retirement boat have approached Harris for jobs, but didn't have the right skills or experience, Bitney said.

Another old-now-new legislative aide is Galen Cook, who began working in January as a staff attorney for state Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole. He was born and raised in Alaska, worked as a part-time legislative aide in the '80s, then moved Outside for graduate and law school. He's licensed as a lawyer in Washington state but not in Alaska at this point.

"We approached him about working. He didn't approach us," said Rick Vanderkolk, Wilson's policy director. Cook is sharp and was available. The vesting issue didn't even come up, Vanderkolk said.

Cook, who practiced civil law as a private attorney, said he wanted the chance to work in a public arena.

"That was basically my reason for coming back in. It had nothing to do with trying to get vested or gain benefits," Cook, 50, said. He was only alerted to the deadline when he read a column about it in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, he said.

He had always planned to come back to Alaska, and a recent death in the family hastened the move, he said. He's based in the Fairbanks area for now and plans to head to Juneau in March. He's been working on a Fairbanks annexation issue and going to community meetings about other hot local topics.

Cook figures working for the Legislature will be good training for taking the Alaska Bar exam. He's not sure of his vesting status since he only worked part-year as a legislative aide and isn't sure where he'll work after the session. But if he ends up with a nice state retirement plan, all the better.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.

Here's a snapshot of the numbers of former public employees and teachers who left and cashed out their retirement funds, whether they were already vested or not. The numbers represent how many the state has good addresses for. If they can find a public job in Alaska by June 30, they can rejoin their original, more generous retirement plan.

Former public employees

and teachers

Tier 1 48,731

Tier 2 17,812

Tier 3 11,727

Total 78,270

Tier 1

Covers employees on the payroll as of June 30, 1986.Pension and medical coverage.Vested at 5 years.Normal retirement at age 55, early retirement at age 50. Retirement system pays medical premiums even for early retirees.

Tier 2

Covers employees hired between June 30, 1986, and June 30, 1996. Pension and medical coverage. Vested at 5 years. Normal retirement at age 60, early retirement at age 55. Retirement system pays medical premiums at age 60.

Tier 3

Covers employees hired between June 30, 1996, and June 30, 2006. Pension and medical coverage. Vested at 5 years for pension and 10 years for medical plan. Normal retirement at age 60, early retirement at age 55. Retirement system pays medical premiums at age 60, provided employee has 10 years service.

Tier 4

Covers employees hired after June 30, 2006 No pension; employees and employers pay into investment fund. Vested in employee contributions immediately; fully vested in employer contributions after five years. Medical coverage after 10 years service if age 65; but retiree must pay part of premium. Must retire directly from job under state system. Younger retirees can get medical after 30 years service (25 years for police and firefighters) but must pay full premium if not Medicare eligible.

Source: State Division of Retirement and Benefits

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