Legislative Report #06-13

Report 06-13
July 21, 2006

NO ADJOURNMENT THIS WEEK

The General Assembly continue to work on a number of important bills dealing with legislative ethics and lobbying reform. Final agreement on these bills will take this session in to next week.

The General Assembly did consider several bills this week of interest to retired employees. Action on these bills is summarized below.

BILLS APPROVED THIS WEEK

Senate Bill 837: State Health Plan 20-Year Vesting

The Senate voted to concur in the amended version of this bill that was approved by the House last week. The bill has been ratified by the General Assembly and sent to the Governor for his signature.

The bill changes the vesting period for post-retirement State Health Plan benefits from the current 5 years of service to 50% vesting at 10 years and 100% vesting at 20 years of service. The changes apply to state employees first hired on or after October 1,2006 and to Legislators first elected on or after February 1, 2007. The bill does not affect the health benefits of anyone who is already retired or currently employed by the state.

House Bill 853: Optional Retirement Program Changes

The House concurred in the Senate-approved version of this bill. The bill has been ratified and presented to the Governor.

The bill allows members of the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System to purchase service time for periods in which the participated in the University’s Optional Retirement Program (ORP). To qualify, a member must not be drawing a benefit from ORP, must have at least 5 years of service in TSERS, and must pay full actuarial cost for the purchased service.

House Bill 1059: State Health Plan Changes

The Senate approved this bill which makes the following changes to the State Health Plan:

• The Executive Administrator and the Board of Trustees may authorize various cost saving measures, including coverage of over-the-counter drugs and healthy lifestyle incentives programs,
• Allows the Administrator and the Board to require prior approval of coverage for Bone Anchored Hearing Aids that are surgically implanted for the treatment of hearing loss,
• Makes technical changes in the prescription drug co-payment tiers.
• Authorizes up to 8 local governments to participate in the State Health Plan at the discretion of the Administrator and the Board.

The bill has been sent to the House for consideration.