(a) Any other provisions of this or any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, each member of the General Assembly serving as such on April 13, 1979, may elect to withdraw as a member of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia and become a member of the Georgia Legislative Retirement System or may elect not to be a member of either system. Such election must be made prior to January 12, 1981, and once made shall be irrevocable as long as such person is a member of the General Assembly. The Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out this Code section, including, but not limited to, providing for refunds for members who elect not to be members of either system and providing for the transferral of legislators' accounts from the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, the transferral of service credits, and such other transferrals as the Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia shall deem necessary to carry out the intention and provisions of this Code section.

(b) Each person who becomes a member of the General Assembly after April 13, 1979, but before July 1, 1984, shall elect either to become a member of the Georgia Legislative Retirement System or to become a member of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia. Such election must be made within 60 days from the date the person becomes a member of the General Assembly and once made shall be irrevocable as long as such person is a member of the General Assembly. Each person who becomes a member of the General Assembly on or after July 1, 1984, shall become a member of the Georgia Legislative Retirement System upon taking office as a member of the General Assembly and shall remain a member of said system as long as such person remains a member of the General Assembly.

(c) After April 13, 1979, the contributions of the state under this Code section to this system shall be determined by the board each year on the basis of the most recent actuarial valuation. The board shall certify to the legislative fiscal officer the amount of the state's contributions due to the system. The state's contributions shall be paid from funds appropriated to the legislative branch of government and shall be in an amount determined by the board to be necessary to cover the costs of financing and administering the system. The legislative fiscal officer is directed to pay to the board the contributions of the state together with an amount necessary to cover the required employer contributions for social security coverage.

(d) Any member of the General Assembly who elects to become a member of this retirement system pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall not thereby forfeit any rights or privileges possessed by such member under the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia at the time such election is made; and such rights and privileges shall continue to apply to such member.

(e)(1) Any other provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section to the contrary notwithstanding, any member of the General Assembly who was serving as such on April 13, 1979, and who, pursuant to said subsection (a) of this Code section, elected not to become a member of a public retirement system may at any time from July 1, 1988, until December 31, 1988, elect to become a member of this retirement system. Such election shall be made within such time limitation by written application to the board of trustees to become a member of this retirement system.

(2) Any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, any member of the General Assembly who elects to become a member of this retirement system pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection may obtain creditable service under this chapter for all or any part of prior service as a member of the General Assembly rendered after December 31, 1978, by paying to the board of trustees the employer and employee contributions which would have been paid to the retirement system by or on behalf of the member of the General Assembly if such member had been a member of the retirement system during the period for which creditable service is obtained, plus regular interest thereon compounded annually from the time the prior service was rendered until the date of payment.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection:

(A) The rate of the employer contribution shall be determined by the board of trustees on the basis of the state payments which were made to fund the retirement system during the period of prior service for which creditable service is obtained;

(B) The rate of the employee contribution shall be the rate specified in subsection (a) of Code Section 47-6-60, without any reduction because of subsection (d) of Code Section 47-6-60, plus the additional rate specified by subsection (f) of Code Section 47-6-60 for service after June 30, 1986; and

(C) Regular interest shall be at the rate determined by the board of trustees under subsection (g) of Code Section 47-6-22 which is in effect at the time the application for creditable service is filed with the board of trustees.

(4) A member of the General Assembly seeking to obtain creditable service authorized under paragraph (2) of this subsection shall apply therefor to the board of trustees at the time such member applies for membership in the retirement system under paragraph (1) of this subsection. The board of trustees shall certify to the applicant the amount of payments required under paragraph (2) of this subsection. Such payments must be made by December 31, 1988, and no creditable service may be obtained under this Code section after that date.