Council committee advances bill lengthening retirement filing window for Class C and D members

The Baltimore City Council Labor and Workforce Committee voted to recommend favorable passage of Bill 25-0043 on March 24, 2025, a proposal to increase the time required between filing for and commencing receipt of service retirement benefits for Employees' Retirement System Class C and Class D members.

The measure matters to municipal employees covered by the city retirement system because it would change the timing rules for when eligible members may begin collecting service retirement. The committee’s law and finance advisers supported the bill and the committee voted to send it to second reader at the next council meeting.

Chair Jermaine Jones, chair of the Labor and Workforce Committee and representative of District 12, opened the meeting and introduced the bill, describing it as “for the purpose of increasing the time period required between filing for and commencing receipts of service retirement benefits by class c and class d members and providing a special effective date.”

Hillary Ruhle, speaking for the Law Department, said, “We approve the bill and the amendment for form and legal sufficiency.” Gabriel Stewart Sikowitz of the Department of Finance told the committee, “We support the bill and do not expect it to have any fiscal impact.” David Randall, executive director of the Employees’ Retirement System, said, “We definitely support the bill and the amendments.”

There was no public testimony. The committee then moved to procedural votes: committee members voted to recommend the amendment as favorable, and then to recommend the bill favorably. When asked for roll-call votes, Councilman Ryan Dorsey voted yes; Councilwoman Felicia Porter voted yes; and Chair Jermaine Jones voted yes. The committee recorded the motion as passed and the bill will move to second reader at the next Baltimore City Council meeting.

The record in the hearing notes that the bill was introduced on March 24, 2025, and the Department of Finance indicated it did not expect a fiscal impact. No changes to the bill’s text or alternative proposals were recorded during the committee discussion.

Next steps: Bill 25-0043 will appear on the council calendar for second reader consideration at the council’s next scheduled meeting.