Committee advances bill to let Catawba Nation join police retirement system after limited sovereign-immunity waiver

The Retirement Subcommittee for Finance voted to forward S.127, a bill that would allow the Catawba Nation to join the state Police Officers Retirement System if the Nation applies and meets the plan’s requirements.

Olivia, who summarized the measure for the committee, said the bill would add the Catawba Nation to the system’s definition of an employer upon admission, require the Nation to apply to the board under current law (section 9-11-40), comply with board rules and regulations, and name a requested admission date that meets statutory requirements. She said the bill also requires that any Catawba employee become a member only if “substantially all of the employee's time is devoted solely to the performance of governmental service as a police officer” and that the Nation agree to be subject to state laws, regulations and plan provisions for administration and enforcement; disputes arising from participation would be resolved in tribunal despite sovereign immunity. The act would take effect upon the governor’s approval.

Senator Johnson, sponsor of S.127, framed the bill 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, because they can't get in any retirement system," he said, arguing that access to retirement benefits helps keep officers from leaving for jurisdictions that can offer them.

A Catawba Nation representative told the committee the Nation has about 4,200 members in South Carolina and agreed to the bill’s conditions to allow its officers access to retirement benefits. "We have 4,200 members of the Catawba Nation as far as populous housed within the state of South Carolina," the representative said, and offered to provide exact land acreage later. The representative also said the Nation had to waive a limited form of sovereign immunity so the state retirement board could enforce contribution and participation rules: "If we still had the sovereign immunity intact in this bill, they could not do that. Therefore, we had to give them that so they could give us the ability to participate in the retirement system."

Justin Warner, general counsel at PEBA, told members that the Nation would join under the same rules as any other municipality. "If the officers had prior time in the system, they would start adding to that old time. If they had no prior service, they would be starting whenever they decide to join the system," Warner said, describing how service accrual and vesting would be handled under existing law.

Committee members asked about operational details including the Nation’s current police staffing (the representative said the Nation has three officers and is starting a fourth), jurisdictional cooperation with county and state law enforcement, and casino-related security operations (the representative said the Nation operates two Kings casinos in North Carolina and sometimes employs county officers off duty for casino security). The representative also said the Nation is building a courtroom and expects it to be finished later in the year to handle tribal matters locally.

With no recorded opposition on the transcript, the chair called for a motion for a favorable report. A motion and second were made on the record (movers not named in the transcript), and the committee approved the favorable report to the full committee by voice vote; the chair noted Senators Gambrell and Hembry had sent proxies. The bill now proceeds to the full committee for further consideration.

Authorities and program details referenced during the meeting were limited to the statutory sections read into the record and the PEBA participation rules; the committee did not adopt changes to benefit formulas or employer contribution rates during this session.