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Committee advances bill extending military credit to federal call‑ups for FEMA positions
Summary
House Bill 20 36 passed committee with a due‑pass recommendation to allow temporary personnel called to service by federal agencies such as FEMA to receive military service credit for retirement calculations under ASRS for up to five years.
The House Ways and Means Committee returned House Bill 20 36 with a due‑pass recommendation after staff and ASRS testified the measure clarifies retirement credit for personnel called to federal service by agencies other than the military.
Staff explained the bill modifies military service credit in the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) to include temporary personnel who are called to service by a federal agency. Representative Livingston, the sponsor, said the change implements protections similar to those already provided for military call‑ups under a 2021 federal statute commonly referred to in testimony as the “Cruz Act.”
Jessica Thomas, legislative liaison for ASRS, told the committee the bill clarifies eligibility for up to five years of retirement protection for personnel called into FEMA or similar federal activations. “This is saying folks who are not called up for military but are called up for FEMA have the same protections as military call up,” Thomas said.
Committee members asked no substantive technical questions and returned the bill with a due‑pass recommendation by an 8–0 committee vote with one member absent.
The bill is a statutory clarification; it does not change benefit formulas beyond extending credit‑eligibility definitions for specific federal call‑ups.
