SOUTH CAROLINA REVENUE AND FISCAL AFFAIRS OFFICE
S
TATEMENT OF ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT
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This fiscal impact statement is produced in compliance with the South Carolina Code of Laws and House and Senate rules. The focus of
the analysis is on governmental expenditure and revenue impacts and may not provide a comprehensive summary of the legislation.
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H. 4055
Fiscal Impact Summary
This bill defines the Attorney General (AG) as a solicitor of the state and specifies that the AG
may elect to become a member of the Judges and Solicitors Retirement System (JSRS).
Additionally, for purposes of calculating a retirement or other benefits, the salary used is the
higher of the salary provided by law for the AG or a circuit solicitor.
This bill will result in a increase in expenses for the Attorney General’s Office by approximately
$98,000 beginning in FY 2025-26 for the increase in employer contribution to JSRS. The
Attorney General’s Office anticipates requesting an additional General Fund appropriation to
cover this expense. Additionally, the actuarial report provided by the Public Employment Benefit
Authority (PEBA) indicates the one-time expense to offset the unfunded liability resulting from
this bill is estimated to be approximately $1,270,000 in FY 2025-26. Also, the funded ratio of the
system of 48.7 percent that will decrease to 48.6 percent if the change is not funded.
Explanation of Fiscal Impact
Introduced on February 19, 2025
State Expenditure
This bill defines the AG as a solicitor of the state and specifies that the AG may elect to become
a member of JSRS. Additionally, for purposes of calculating retirement or other benefits, the
AG’s salary is the higher of the salary provided by law for the AG or a circuit solicitor.
Currently, the AG is a member of the SC Retirement System (SCRS) as established under
Section 9-1-20. This bill allows the AG to transition from SCRS to JSRS. For purposes of this
analysis, the actuarial report provided by PEBA anticipates the AG will choose to become a
member of JSRS and transfer prior years of service to JSRS. Section 9-8-50(B) allows members
in JSRS who have earned service in SCRS, the Police Officers Retirement System (PORS), or
the General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) to transfer that service to JSRS by making a
payment to JSRS equal to the current required member contribution for each year of serviced
transferred. Currently the member contribution requirement is 10 percent of pay for each year of
service. However, the increase in the value of the member’s benefit, or actuarial cost, in JSRS is
three to five times greater than the member’s contribution requirement to transfer service from
the other system.
Bill Number: H. 4055 Introduced on Februar
y 19, 2025
Subject: Attorne y General Retirement
Requestor: House Wa ys and Means
RFA Analyst(s): Welsh
Impact Date: March 19, 2025
__________________________________
Frank A. Rainwater, Executive Director
DISCLAIMER: THIS FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REPRESENTS THE OPINION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE
AGENCY OFFICIAL WHO APPROVED AND SIGNED THIS DOCUMENT. IT IS PROVIDED AS INFORMATION TO
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AS AN EXPRESSION OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT.
Page 2 of 2
H. 4055
The calculations to determine the AG’s retirement benefits under this bill are based on a
solicitor’s salary, which is $217,575, rather than the AG’s salary of $208,000. The following
estimates are based on the assumption of 28 years of service credited and may vary depending on
actual service.
Comparison of Retirement Benefits for the AG
SCRS
Salary Base
$208,000
JSRS
Salary Base
$217,575
Increase
Employee
Contribution
Employer
Contribution
Employee
Contribution
Employer
Contribution
Employee
Increase
Employer
Increase
9.00% 18.56% 10.00% 62.94% 1.00% 44.38%
$19,000 $39,000 $22,000 $137,000 $3,000 $98,000
This bill will result in an increase in expenses totaling approximately $98,000 beginning in FY
2025-26 for the Attorney General’s Office to cover the difference in the employer contribution to
the different retirement fund. The Attorney General’s Office anticipates requesting an additional
General Fund appropriation to cover this increase in expenses.
Additionally, the AG will also have to increase annual employee contributions by $3,000.
However, this will have no expenditure impact on the agency. The change will result in an
increase of annual retirement benefits for the AG of $72,000.
Further, based on the actuarial report provided by PEBA, this bill will result in an increase in the
unfunded liability of $1,270,000. According to the actuarial report provided by PEBA, the
funded ratio of 48.7 percent that will decrease to 48.6 percent due to this bill. If the General
Assembly chooses to fund the increase, this bill will result in an additional one-time expenditure
increase of $1,270,000 in FY 2025-26.
State Revenue
N/A
Local Expenditure
N/A
Local Revenue
N/A