| 1 | 1 | | 23 LC 43 2708 |
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| 2 | 2 | | S. B. 308 |
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| 3 | 3 | | - 1 - |
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| 4 | 4 | | Senate Bill 308 |
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| 5 | 5 | | By: Senators Harbin of the 16th, Merritt of the 9th, Esteves of the 6th, Islam of the 7th, |
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| 6 | 6 | | Williams of the 25th and others |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | To amend Chapter 6 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the |
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| 10 | 10 | | 1 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Georgia Legislative Retirement System, so as to match the retirement benefit amounts2 |
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| 12 | 12 | | payable to former legislators upon retirement and to currently retired legislators in retirement3 |
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| 13 | 13 | | to those benefits which are payable upon retirement to legislators who are in office on or4 |
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| 14 | 14 | | after January 1, 2022; to provide for related matters; to provide conditions for an effective5 |
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| 15 | 15 | | date and automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.6 |
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| 16 | 16 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1.8 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Chapter 6 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia9 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Legislative Retirement System, is amended by revising Code Section 47-6-80, relating to10 |
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| 20 | 20 | | eligibility and application for a retirement allowance, early retirement, monthly retirement11 |
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| 21 | 21 | | allowance, amount of retirement allowance, compliance with federal tax laws, and increases12 |
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| 22 | 22 | | in retirement allowance, as follows:13 |
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| 23 | 23 | | "47-6-80.14 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (a) Upon the written application to the board, any member of the system who (1) has15 |
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| 25 | 25 | | attained age 65 and has completed eight or more years of creditable service or (2) has16 |
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| 26 | 26 | | attained age 62 and has completed eight or more years of membership service shall be17 23 LC 43 2708 |
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| 27 | 27 | | S. B. 308 |
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| 28 | 28 | | - 2 - |
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| 29 | 29 | | retired by the board on a retirement allowance and shall thereupon become a beneficiary |
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| 30 | 30 | | 18 |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the system, provided that he or she |
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| 32 | 32 | | is no longer in the service of the state, whether as a19 |
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| 33 | 33 | | member of the General Assembly or otherwise. In lieu of eight years of service, a member20 |
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| 34 | 34 | | may substitute four terms of office in the General Assembly.21 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (b) The effective date of retirement shall be the first day of the month in which the22 |
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| 36 | 36 | | application is received by the board, but such effective date shall not, in any case, be earlier23 |
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| 37 | 37 | | than the first day of the month following the final month of the applicant's employment.24 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Applications for retirement shall not be accepted more than 90 days in advance of the25 |
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| 39 | 39 | | effective date of retirement.26 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (c) Normal retirement age for a member with at least eight years of membership service27 |
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| 41 | 41 | | shall be the date the member has reached 62 years of age. Normal retirement age for a28 |
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| 42 | 42 | | member with less than eight years of membership service but with at least eight years of29 |
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| 43 | 43 | | creditable service shall be the date the member has reached 65 years of age. Any member30 |
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| 44 | 44 | | of the system who has completed eight or more years of membership service and who has31 |
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| 45 | 45 | | attained age 60 may elect to retire prior to age 62, provided that in such event, the32 |
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| 46 | 46 | | member's retirement allowance shall be reduced by 5 percent for each year below age 62.33 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (c.1) In lieu of the monthly service retirement allowance provided in subsection (d) of this34 |
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| 48 | 48 | | Code section, for any person who was a contributing member on January 1, 2022, or who35 |
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| 49 | 49 | | first becomes a contributing member after January 1, 2022, upon retirement under36 |
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| 50 | 50 | | subsection (a) of this Code section such member shall receive a monthly service retirement37 |
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| 51 | 51 | | allowance equal to the sum of $50.00 for each year of such member's creditable service and38 |
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| 52 | 52 | | an additional $200.00 for each year of such member's presiding creditable service. Any39 |
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| 53 | 53 | | inactive or retired member who was not a contributing member on January 1, 2022, and40 |
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| 54 | 54 | | who becomes a contributing member again after January 1, 2022, shall be eligible for the41 |
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| 55 | 55 | | monthly service retirement allowance provided in this subsection for his or her membership42 |
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| 56 | 56 | | service earned after January 1, 2022.43 23 LC 43 2708 |
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| 57 | 57 | | S. B. 308 |
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| 58 | 58 | | - 3 - |
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| 59 | 59 | | (d) Upon such retirement under subsection (a) of this Code section, the retired member |
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| 60 | 60 | | 44 |
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| 61 | 61 | | shall receive a monthly service retirement allowance which shall be equal to $28.00 |
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| 62 | 62 | | $50.0045 |
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| 63 | 63 | | multiplied by the number of years of the member's creditable service and an additional46 |
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| 64 | 64 | | $200.00 for each year of such member's presiding creditable service.47 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (d.1) The board of trustees is authorized to provide for the payment of benefits to members48 |
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| 66 | 66 | | or beneficiaries of the retirement system at a time and under circumstances not provided49 |
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| 67 | 67 | | for in this chapter to the extent that such payment is required to maintain the retirement50 |
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| 68 | 68 | | system as a qualified retirement plan for purposes of federal income tax laws and51 |
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| 69 | 69 | | regulations.52 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (e) Any increase in benefits payable under the retirement system which becomes effective53 |
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| 71 | 71 | | as a result of a change in the benefit formula provided for by subsection (d) of this Code54 |
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| 72 | 72 | | section shall be applicable to beneficiaries of the system who are receiving benefits at the55 |
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| 73 | 73 | | time the increase becomes effective.56 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (f) Subject to the terms and limitations of this Code section, the board of trustees is57 |
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| 75 | 75 | | authorized to adopt from time to time a method or methods of providing for increases in58 |
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| 76 | 76 | | the retirement allowance provided in subsection (d) of this Code section for persons59 |
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| 77 | 77 | | theretofore or thereafter retiring under this article. Such method shall be based upon:60 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (1) The recommendation of the actuary of the board of trustees;61 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (2) The maintenance of the actuarial soundness of the fund in accordance with the62 |
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| 80 | 80 | | standards provided in Code Section 47-20-10 or such higher standards as may be adopted63 |
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| 81 | 81 | | by the board; and64 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (3) Such other factors as the board deems relevant; 65 |
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| 83 | 83 | | provided, however, that any such increase shall be uniform and shall apply equally to all66 |
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| 84 | 84 | | members of this retirement system.67 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section, no member who becomes68 |
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| 86 | 86 | | a member of this retirement system on or after July 1, 2009, shall be entitled to receive any69 |
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| 87 | 87 | | postretirement benefit adjustment."70 23 LC 43 2708 |
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| 88 | 88 | | S. B. 308 |
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| 89 | 89 | | - 4 - |
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| 90 | 90 | | SECTION 2. |
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| 91 | 91 | | 71 |
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| 92 | 92 | | This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2024, only if it is determined to have been72 |
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| 93 | 93 | | concurrently funded as provided in Chapter 20 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia73 |
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| 94 | 94 | | Annotated, the "Public Retirement Systems Standards Law"; otherwise, this Act shall not74 |
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| 95 | 95 | | become effective and shall be automatically repealed in its entirety on July 1, 2024, as75 |
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| 96 | 96 | | required by subsection (a) of Code Section 47-20-50.76 |
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| 97 | 97 | | SECTION 3.77 |
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| 98 | 98 | | All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.78 |
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