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OFA Bill Analysis
SB 377
AN ACT CONCERNING THE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT BOARD'S
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE TEACHERS'
RETIREMENT SYSTEM STATUTES.
SUMMARY:
The bill makes various changes to the statutes governing the
Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) that serve to clarify the
administration of benefits. These changes include: (1) clarifying the
definition of employer and public school by including dates for sunset
groups; (2) clarifying that a member's application for retirement is
irrevocable on the date the member retires; (3) allowing the return of a
members' accumulated contributions and credited interest to their
surviving spouse or children if no beneficiary was elected; (4) changing
the timing of a retiree member election to the Teachers' Retirement
Board (TRB) and (5) removing an outdated reference to the TRS.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2024, except Sections 1 -2 are effective
from passage.
ANALYSIS BY SECTION:
Section 1
Amends the definition of employer to clarify the Children's Center is
to sunset on 7/1/24 and the State Education Resource Center was sunset
on 7/1/22.
Section 2
Amends the definition of public school to clarify the Children's
Center is to sunset on 7/1/24 and the State Education Resource Center
is to sunset on 7/1/22.
Section 3 2024SB-00377-R000571-BA.DOCX
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Makes a technical change to the TRS benefit eligibility statutes that
clarifies the commencement of the benefit. Members may withdraw the
retirement applications up to the day before their retirement date.
Section 4
Amends the TRS death benefit statutes to create default beneficiaries
for the return of accumulated contributions and credited interest in the
absence of a designee or surviving spouse. In this event, the next default
designees are the surviving children, if none, then the funds are
awarded to the member's estate.
Section 5
Amends the month the TRB election is held for two retiree seats from
October to July and continuing quadrennially thereafter. PA 23-63
added two board seats for retired members of the TRS to the TRB via an
October 1, 2023 election.
Section 6
Removes outdated language from the statutes that allowed the
executive director of the Commission for Education Technology.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Appropriations Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 52 Nay 0