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Committee advances bill to adjust legislative retirement benefits formula and governance
Summary
Senate Bill 198, proposing changes to the Legislative Retirement System's benefit multiplier and governance guardrails, was advanced by the committee; sponsors said the bill preserves the fund’s independence from state tax dollars and would automate benefit adjustments when the fund exceeds a funding threshold.
Senate Bill 198 (LC 560312), introduced by Sen. Albers during the same committee session, was approved for further consideration after the presenter described changes intended to equalize benefits for retirees and to create a solvency guardrail requiring the fund remain above a 120% funding level before benefit increases are automated.
Senator Albers told the committee the legislative retirement fund contains no state tax dollars and described the bill’s two primary objectives: (1) bring retirees who retired before a prior benefit increase up to the current benefit level; and (2) set an automatic governance trigger so adjustments are made only when the fund exceeds 120% funded status. “One of the things that was done several years ago, though, is because the fund was way overfunded, we increased that benefit amount up to $50 for everybody who was in the fund at that time moving forward, and we left behind everybody who retired before. I don't think that's the right thing to do. So the first thing this bill is going to do is it's going to make sure that we catch those folks up,” Albers said.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about whether the fund uses state dollars (Albers: “There are no state tax dollars in this fund”) and whether benefit adjustments would be subject to public referendum; the sponsor said automated adjustments would be handled by the retirement-system managers when funding exceeds the threshold. The committee voted to advance the bill out of committee for study/processing; the transcript records a voice vote with no roll-call tally.
Sponsors characterized the change as aimed at parity between retired and active legislators and as a way to keep the fund fully self-sustaining without state appropriations. The committee advanced the bill for further study and processing during the two-year legislative cycle.
