The General Assembly remained in session today with the aim of adjourning on Saturday. Legislators worked through the week to pass a number of important bills including changes to the state ethics statutes and a ban on internet gambling parlors.
Among the bills approved this week were several of interest to retirees. These bills are summarized below.
House Bill 2066: Special Retirement Allowances
(sponsor – Rep. Angela Bryant)
Presently all State and local law enforcement officers are eligible to transfer the entire balance of the Supplemental Retirement Income Plan {401(k) Plan}to either the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) or the Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System (LGERS) and receive a life annuity based on their age. This bill allows for the transfer of any portion of the fund balance rather than the entire fund balance. Any State or local officer with five or more years of service as of June 30, 2010 will continue to have this benefit.
The bill also authorizes special retirement allowances for all members of TSERS and LGERS. This will allow all members of the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System or the Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System to transfer a portion of their fund balances in either the Supplemental Retirement Income Plan or the Public Employee Deferred Compensation Plan on a onetime election at any time at or after retirement and receive a special retirement allowance. This allowance amount will be based on the amount of funds and age of the member. The Board of Trustees of the Retirement Systems may establish a minimum amount that must be transferred.
On Wednesday, the House concurred in changes to House Bill 2066 that were made by the Senate. The bill now goes to the Governor for final approval.
Senate Bill 1392: State Health Plan/ Court-Ordered Guardianships
(sponsor – Sen. Floyd McKissick, Jr.)
The bill amends the definition of “Dependent child” under G.S. 135-45.1(10) to include a child for which an employee or retiree enrolled in the Plan is a court-appointed guardian and who is legally responsible for the child’s maintenance and support. The effect of the bill would be to allow a minor child under a court-ordered guardianship to be eligible for health benefit coverage under the Plan. This is an important change in light of the pending Dependent Verification Process that will be conducted by the State Health Plan this summer.
SB 1392 was ratified on July 8 and sent to the Governor for her signature.
We hope to provide an end-of-session summary in our next Legislative Report, covering all retirement-related legislation that was introduced this year. This, however, will not be our last Legislative Report for the year. Since as much as $139 million of the additional state funding for TSERS now is held in reserve pending action by the U.S. Congress to fund additional Medicaid assistance to the states, we intend to keep you informed with periodic editions of the Legislative Report tracking Congressional activity. We expect that the Congress may not resolve the issue until late November.
Although the General Assembly did not fully fund the Annual Required Contribution for the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System, we deeply appreciate the efforts of all of our members who contacted legislators on this critical issue. We believe that, at very least, your efforts raised the awareness of many state legislators as to the importance of maintaining the fiscal stability of our pension systems. This will be of benefit to us in the long term.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY SET TO ADJOURN
WRAPPING UP