Regular Session News #4: Proposed benefit increase to be heard Monday; House Retirement Committee to meet Thursday
Apr 1, 2022
Senate Bill 6 (Sen. Price) will be considered by the Senate Finance Committee at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 4 (agenda). Senate Bill 6 would authorize a 2% permanent benefit increase (PBI) to 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
The House Retirement Committee is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 7 (agenda). The committee will consider the following legislation that would affect TRSL members:
- House Bill 32 (Rep. Tarver), is a companion bill to House Bill 31 by the same author. House Bill 31, a constitutional amendment, would require that the lesser of $50 million or the balance of nonrecurring state revenue (after certain allocations) fund a one-time supplemental benefit to retirees, beneficiaries, and survivors of TRSL, Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS), Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System (LSERS), and Louisiana State Police Retirement System (LSPRS). House Bill 32 would require the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee to annually certify the number of system benefit recipients eligible for the one-time supplemental benefit.
- House Concurrent Resolution 11 (Rep. M. Johnson) urges and requests state legislatures to ask Congress to review and eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) Social Security benefit reductions. The resolution also requests that the Louisiana Attorney General seek legal action to restore benefits lost to the GPO and WEP.
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.