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Pensions and Labor committee advances SB14 and recommits SB10; SB14 approved unanimously
Summary
The Senate Pensions and Labor Committee on a unanimous vote approved SB14 (technical cleanups to retirement law) and, after accepting a technical amendment to ensure IRS compliance, recommitted SB10 (changes to the Retirement Medical Benefit Account) to Appropriations for further review. Both moves were presented as technical and budget-neutral by INPRS and Comptroller staff.
Chair State Senator Linda Rogers opened the session and described the day s agenda: four pension-related bills. The committee approved Senate Bill 14, a technical-cleanup measure crafted with the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS) and Legislative Services attorneys, and took an amendment by consent to Senate Bill 10 before recommitting that bill to the Appropriations Committee.
Tony Green, deputy director at INPRS, said SB14 makes administrative fixes and simplifies benefit calculations used to produce retirement checks. He told the committee the statute still contains a $2,000 severance cap "that was set in 1977 and has never been changed," and said replacing it with a percentage tied to W-2 earnings (staff recommended about 120%) would reduce employer and member confusion and speed processing.
Supporters at the table said the changes are largely technical and actuarially neutral. "We have lots of data ... to show that there is no fiscal impact or a negative fiscal impact with these two first requests," Green said. ISTA and retiree-group witnesses expressed general support for the cleanup language but asked for clearer wage-payment language around the proposed percentage rule so it cannot be misapplied.
On SB10, INPRS and the Comptroller—xplained a plan to create a second Retirement Medical Benefit Account (referred to in testimony as REMBA) trust for retirees and to give active employees a one-time choice to stay in REMBA or disenroll and have funds redirected to the state's deferred compensation plan (Hoosier Start). Presenters said the amendment adopted by consent clarifies that employees remaining in REMBA would be moved into a second trust and that the change is designed to comply with Internal Revenue Code requirements.
Committee members approved SB14 by voice and then a formal roll call; the committee recorded a 10-0 approval. The committee also moved SB10 with the instruction it be recommitted to Appropriations; that motion passed 10-0.
The chair thanked INPRS staff, the Comptroller's office and LSA attorneys for their work and said the bills will return for further action as required by procedure.
