Senate retirement panel ranks pension bills for actuarial study, places cost-of-living adjustments first

The Senate Retirement Committee on an indicated date prioritized a slate of retirement-related bills for actuarial study and agreed to coordinate with the House to avoid duplicating costs.

The committee placed Senate Bill 339 — a measure by Senator O'Rourke proposing semiannual post‑retirement benefit adjustments for all beneficiaries of the Employees Retirement System of Georgia — as its top priority for an actuarial study. Senator Josh McLaren, a member of the committee, proposed prioritizing that bill and said, "I would respectfully submit that SB 339 be one of the prioritized bills that the chairman's looking for." The committee chairman then led a show-of-hands agreement; the chairman said, "That's unanimous, thank you, good move." The committee used raises of hands rather than a roll-call vote to record the priorities.

Why it matters: Committee members said actuarial studies will provide the cost estimates needed to assess the fiscal impact of proposed changes to retirement systems — including changes to cost‑of‑living adjustments, eligibility, and benefit multipliers. Members stressed they want to avoid paying twice for the same analysis and asked the House to indicate its priorities so the two chambers can coordinate.

What the…