Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee favorably reported Senate Bill 6 (Sen. Price), which would authorize a 2% permanent benefit increase (PBI) for eligible TRSL retirees, beneficiaries, and survivors calculated on the first $68,396 of their annual retirement benefit. The PBI would be payable on July 1, 2022.
If this legislation is enacted, individuals who meet the following criteria on July 1, 2022, would be granted a 2% monthly benefit increase:
- Regular retiree: Must have received a benefit for at least one year and be 60 years of age
- Disability retiree: Must have been retired at least one year regardless of age
- Beneficiary of retired member: Retiree or beneficiary (or both combined) must have received a benefit for at least one year, and the deceased retiree would have been 60 years of age at the time the PBI is payable
- Survivor of non-retired member: Must have received a benefit for at least one year and the benefits must have originated from the service of a deceased member who would have been 60 years of age at the time the PBI is payable
Senate Bill 6 now heads to the full House for final passage.
The Senate Retirement Committee amended and favorably reported House Bill 1021 (Rep. McFarland, DeVillier, Edmonds, Frieman, Harris, and Romero), which would make several changes to the 2010 Return-to-Work (RTW) Law as well as add new RTW provisions for retirees re-employed as adjunct nursing professors in postsecondary institutions. As amended, the bill would:
- make permanent changes to K-12 employer advertising and posting requirements that must occur before filling critical shortage vacancies, as follows: (1) post a statement in postsecondary career development offices within 120 miles that the employer is soliciting applications for future employment of certified teachers; (2) advertise same at least once per month in the official journal of the employer’s governing authority; and (3) prominently list unfilled positions or positions filled by retirees on the employer’s or their governing authority’s website;
- allow non-disability retirees subject to the 2010 RTW law, after a 12-month waiting period, to be directly re-employed without a suspension or reduction in retirement benefit through June 30, 2027, if: (1) the retiree is certified to teach mathematics, science, English language arts, or special education (excluding gifted/talented) and is re-employed to fill a position in the area of certification; or (2) the retiree is at least age 62 with 30 years of service and is re-employed to fill a vacancy created by maternity leave, military leave, sabbatical leave, or extended sick leave;
- provide that the 2010 RTW law is applicable to those who retired on/before June 30, 2020, and the 2020 RTW law is applicable to those who retired on or after July 1, 2020;
- allow retirees in the 2020 RTW Group who retired before July 1, 2020, to return to work under the 2010 RTW Law;
- authorize postsecondary employers to hire non-disability retirees, who retired on/before June 30, 2020 and meet certain criteria (retired 12 months, at least age 62, and have 30 years of service), as adjunct professors of nursing instruction where a critical shortage exists without a benefit suspension through June 30, 2027;
- require postsecondary employers to follow certain guidelines for certifying a critical shortage and posting critical shortage position vacancies as well as reporting certain information to TRSL;
- condition enactment of House Bill 1021 upon the passage of Senate Bill 377 (Sen. Peacock) of the 2022 Regular Legislative Session; and
- regardless of passage of SB 377, require the Louisiana Department of Education to conduct a study and make recommendations for policy changes, which address critical shortages at TRSL-participating and public non-participating schools without employing retirees.
House Bill 1021 now awaits consideration by the full Senate.
Additionally, the committee briefly discussed, but ultimately chose not to report House Bill 22 (Rep. Edmonds) at this time.
Other news:
On Monday, the full House amended and passed House Bill 30 (Rep. Frieman), which would increase the earnings limit per fiscal year to 100% of the retiree’s final average compensation (FAC) under Option 1 of the 2020 RTW law for retirees who retired before December 31, 2021.
As amended, the increased earnings would be limited to retirees hired to teach K-12 or hired by a postsecondary institution as an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor, any of whom is assigned the professional activity of instructing students or conducting research. Proposed changes to the 2020 RTW Law would be in effect from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2025, after which it would revert to the current 25% of FAC. House Bill 30 will now go to the Senate for consideration.
Last week, two other pieces of legislation that affect TRSL moved closer to final passage:
- The Senate Finance Committee reported House Bill 592 (Rep. Zeringue) favorably as amended. This bill would make a supplemental appropriation of $48.1 million to the TRSL initial unfunded accrued liability (IUAL) from a portion of the FY 2020-21 surplus funds in the state treasury as required by the Constitution. The amendments were unrelated to the TRSL appropriation. House Bill 592 now awaits final passage by the full Senate.
- The full Senate passed House Concurrent Resolution 11 (Rep. M. Johnson), which urges and requests state legislatures to ask Congress to review and eliminate or reduce the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) Social Security benefit reductions. The resolution also requests that the Louisiana Attorney General explore legal action to restore benefits lost to the GPO and WEP. House Concurrent Resolution 11 is now awaiting House concurrence before it is signed by the Speaker of the House and Senate President.
You can view all meeting schedules and agendas on the Louisiana State Legislature website.
Visit the Legislation page of this website to see all legislation impacting the retirement system. Stay tuned for future updates. |
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