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Panel Advances Bill Letting Catawba Nation Join State Police Retirement System
Summary
The Retirement Subcommittee for Finance voted to give a favorable report to S.127, which would admit the Catawba Nation to the Police Officers Retirement System upon application and waiver of sovereign immunity; committee testimony focused on recruitment needs, membership rules, and limited waiver terms.
The Retirement Subcommittee for Finance voted unanimously to give a favorable report to S.127, a bill that would allow the Catawba Nation, upon admission, to be treated as an employer under the Police Officers Retirement System.
Olivia (committee staff) told the subcommittee the bill "adds the Catawba nation upon its admission to the definition of an employer for the police officers retirement system" and sets application procedures under the statutes cited in the bill. The bill text requires the Nation to apply to the system board, specify a requested admission date, comply with board rules, and accept that disputes arising from participation would be resolved in state tribunals.
Senator Johnson, the bill sponsor, urged the committee to consider the measure as a recruitment and retention tool. "Imagine if you can for a second living in an area that every time you hire law enforcement because you can't give them benefits ... they can't get in any retirement system," Johnson said, adding the Nation asked only to "be allowed to join in so that they can attract and most importantly retain law enforcement."
A Catawba Nation representative said the Nation has about "4,200 members of the Catawba Nation as far as populous housed within the state of South Carolina," and described the limited waiver of sovereign immunity the Nation agreed to so it could participate in the retirement plan. The representative said the waiver is "siloed in this venue of the law" and does not remove sovereign immunity outside retirement-system matters.
Justin Warner, general counsel at the Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA), told the committee the Nation would join "like any other municipality" and that officers with prior service in the system could add that prior time toward vesting. Officers with no prior service would begin accruing service when the Nation elects to join.
Committee members asked practical questions about the Nation's footprint, cross-jurisdiction operations and staffing. The Catawba representative said the Nation operates two Kings casinos in North Carolina, employs officers in off-duty roles for casino protection, and currently has three officers with a fourth expected to be hired; he said participation in the state retirement system is key to competing for recruits.
The chair asked for and received a motion for a favorable report. The committee voted in favor, and the chair announced the bill would be reported favorably to the full committee, noting that Senators Gambrell and Hembry sent proxies in support.
The committee adjourned following the vote.
