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Committee reviews MPERA housekeeping bill to align pensions with federal rules
Summary
House Bill 62, the regular MPERA (public pensions) housekeeping bill, was presented to the Senate State Administration Committee by Representative Julie Darling and MPERA staff. The bill updates definitions, required minimum distribution ages and certain administrative rules to conform with federal tax law changes.
House Bill 62, carried in the House by Rep. Julie Darling (House District 84), is the biennial housekeeping bill for the Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration (MPERA). Agency staff described a package of technical and compliance changes intended to align state statutes with federal tax law and administrative practice.
William Hollahan, Executive Director of the public pension system, walked the committee through key changes, including clarifying that certain allowances and per diems are not pensionable compensation, increasing clarity on legislator participation and retirement elections, adjusting the deadline to apply for disability retirement from four months to one year post-termination, and bringing required minimum distribution (RMD) rules into alignment with federal Secure Act 2 changes.
Hollahan said the disability-application change narrows an open-ended statutory exposure that produced difficult-to-substantiate claims, and the RMD changes reflect the federal increase in distribution ages under the SECURE Act 2.0. The bill also makes consistent non-pensionability treatment across multiple retirement systems (PERS, highway patrol, sheriffs, municipal police, firefighters). No opponents appeared; the committee asked routine questions about the board process and approvals.
No committee vote was recorded at the hearing; MPERA staff said the legislation was recommended by the MPERA board and submitted for drafting with interim committee approval.
