Legislative update, 2020 February 7

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Collection:
Georgia Government Publications
Serial:
Legislative update (Employees' Retirement System of Georgia)
Title:
Legislative update, 2020 February 7
Creator:
Employees' Retirement System of Georgia
Contributor to Resource:
Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, issuing body.
Publisher:
Atlanta, Ga. : Employees' Retirement System of Georgia
Date of Original:
2020-02-07
Subject:
Labor laws and legislation--Georgia--Periodicals
Location:
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
Medium:
periodicals
Type:
Text
Format:
application/pdf
Description:
Began with: January 11-15, 2010.
Description based on: January 11-15, 2010 (harvested from www.ers.ga.gov); title from PDF masthead (Georgia Government Publications database, viewed July 26, 2016).
Latest issue consulted: March 21-25, 2016 (Georgia Government Publications database, viewed July 26, 2016).
External Identifiers:
Call Number GA E400 .P1 L4 2020/2-7
Metadata URL:
https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-be400-b-pp1-bl4-b2020-s2-h7-belec-p-btext
Digital Object URL:
https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-be400-b-pp1-bl4-b2020-s2-h7-belec-p-btext
Language:
eng
Holding Institution:
University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
Rights:
In Copyright

Serving those who serve Georgia

E RSGA
Employees' Retirement System of Georgia

For the Week of: February 3 - 7, 2020 Legislative Days: 10 - 12

Employees' Retirement System of Georgia
Legislative Update

February 7, 2020
Inside This Update
1-4 Legislative Log
5 Adjournment Schedule
For More Information on Legislation, please visit: www.ers.ga.gov
Contact Us
Jim Potvin Executive Director, ERSGA 404-603-5602 jim.potvin@ers.ga.gov
Kelly L. Moody Director, Legislative Affairs Division, ERSGA 404-603-5646 kelly.moody@ers.ga.gov
Ashley Waller Legal and Policy Research Analyst, ERSGA 404-603-5694 ashley.waller@ers.ga.gov

Legislative Log
Monday, February 3, 2020 No retirement bills were considered.

Page 1

Tuesday, February 4, 2020 HB 663 Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership for certain persons employed in certain full time positions requiring admission to the State Bar of Georgia as a condition of employment; require
Beginning 7/1/2020, this bill specifies that individuals employed full-time as a judge in new Georgia Business Court are eligible for Judicial Retirement System (JRS) membership, while other Georgia Business Court employees are eligible for Employees' Retirement System (ERS) membership.
HB 663 received a DO PASS from the House Rules Committee was placed on the House debate calendar for 2/5/2020.
HB 664 Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership for certain persons employed in certain full time positions requiring admission to the State Bar of Georgia as a condition of employment; require

This legislation requires new members of Legislative Counsel to elect membership in the Judicial Retirement System (JRS) and allows current members to opt into JRS or remain in Employees' Retirement System (ERS) beginning 7/1/2020.

HB 664 received a DO PASS by Committee Substitute from the House Retirement Committee.

February 7, 2020
Legislative Log (continued)

Page 2

HB 659 Retirement and pensions; age of eligibility for retirement benefits for appellate court judges; decrease
Effective 7/1/2020, this bill changes the normal retirement age for Appellate Court Judges from age 65 to 60 and allows a surviving spouse to receive benefit without regard to whether such judge reached age 60.
HB 659 received a DO PASS from the House Retirement Committee.
HB 821 Retirement and pensions; granting post-retirement benefit adjustments to certain individuals; provisions
This bill would allow all members of the Employees' Retirement System (ERS), the Judicial Retirement System (JRS), and the Legislative Retirement System (LRS) to be eligible to receive any post-retirement benefit adjustments granted on or after 7/1/2020 by their respective Boards, while still maintaining that no members with membership dates on and after 7/1/2009 receive any post-retirement adjustments that were granted before 7/1/2020.
HB 821 was received a DO PASS from the House Retirement Committee.
SB 26 Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; prior service as a member of Georgia Defined Contribution Plan; creditable service; provide
Effective 7/1/2020, Employees' Retirement System (ERS) members with at least five years of service who were members of the Georgia Defined Contribution Plan (GDCP) immediately prior to becoming members of ERS may obtain credit for all such prior GDCP service. Members must pay full actuarial cost for the service and will have the ability to pay for such service with a payment plan option.
SB 26 received a DO PASS from the Senate Rules Committee and was placed on the Senate debate calendar for 2/5/2020.
SB 47 Retirement Benefits; creditable service for certain military service; provide
Beginning 7/1/2020, the legislation allows an Employees' Retirement System (ERS) member with at least two years of service to purchase up to three years of creditable service for military service performed on or after 1/1/1990. Members must pay full actuarial cost for such service and will have the ability to pay for such with a payment plan.
SB 47 received a DO PASS from the Senate Rules Committee and was placed on the Senate debate calendar for 2/5/2020.

February 7, 2020

Page 3

SB 262 Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; eligibility of beneficiary to make new retirement election; provide
Effective for all retirement allowances due on or after January 1, 2021, this bill allows Employees' Retirement System (ERS) retirees who have selected Options 2, 3, or 4 and whose designated individual(s) set to receive a lifetime retirement allowance predeceases them to either reelect their original Option with a new individual(s) or begin receiving the maximum plan benefit. A few conditions must be met in order to be eligible:
If multiple beneficiaries are named for benefit, all must predecease the member in order to reelect Option or receive max plan benefit; Reelection of Option with new individual(s) must take place within one year of death of original beneficiary(ies); and (Only Option 4) If reelecting Option, must select the same variant of Option 4 originally chosen.
This bill also removes the ability for retirees to select Option 5 on or after January 1, 2021, as it is redundant and no longer necessary with the changes to the other Options.
SB 262 received a DO PASS by the Senate Rules Committee and was placed on the Senate debate calendar for 2/5/2020.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

HB 663 Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership for certain persons employed in certain full time positions requiring admission to the State Bar of Georgia as a condition of employment; require
Beginning 7/1/2020, this bill specifies that individuals employed full-time as a judge in new Georgia Business Court are eligible for Judicial Retirement System (JRS) membership, while other Georgia Business Court employees are eligible for Employees' Retirement System (ERS) membership.
HB 663 received a DO PASS from the full House by a vote of 164 - 7.
SB 26 Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; prior service as a member of Georgia Defined Contribution Plan; creditable service; provide
Effective 7/1/2020, Employees' Retirement System (ERS) members with at least five years of service who were members of the Georgia Defined Contribution Plan (GDCP) immediately prior to becoming members of ERS may obtain credit for all such prior GDCP service. Members must pay full actuarial cost for the service and will have the ability to pay for such service with a payment plan option.
SB 26 received a DO PASS from the full Senate by a vote of 51 - 0.

February 7, 2020

Page 4

SB 47 Retirement Benefits; creditable service for certain military service; provide
Beginning 7/1/2020, the legislation allows an Employees' Retirement System (ERS) member with at least two years of service to purchase up to three years of creditable service for military service performed on or after 1/1/1990. Members must pay full actuarial cost for such service and will have the ability to pay for such with a payment plan.
SB 47 received a DO PASS from the full Senate by a vote of 51 - 0.
SB 262 Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; eligibility of beneficiary to make new retirement election; provide
Effective for all retirement allowances due on or after January 1, 2021, this bill allows Employees' Retirement System (ERS) retirees who have selected Options 2, 3, or 4 and whose designated individual(s) set to receive a lifetime retirement allowance predeceases them to either reelect their original Option with a new individual(s) or begin receiving the maximum plan benefit. A few conditions must be met in order to be eligible:
If multiple beneficiaries are named for benefit, all must predecease the member in order to reelect Option or receive max plan benefit; Reelection of Option with new individual(s) must take place within one year of death of original beneficiary(ies); and (Only Option 4) If reelecting Option, must select the same variant of Option 4 originally chosen.
This bill also removes the ability for retirees to select Option 5 on or after January 1, 2021, as it is redundant and no longer necessary with the changes to the other Options.
SB 262 received a DO PASS from the full Senate by a vote of 52 - 0.

Thursday, February 6 - Friday, February 7, 2020 No retirement bills were considered.

February 7, 2020

Page 5

Legislative Adjournment Schedule Announced through March 12th

February 6 - 17 February 18 February 19 February 20 February 21 February 22 - 23 February 24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 February 29 - March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 March 5 March 6 - 8 March 9 March 10 March 11 March 12

Recess Legislative Day 13 Legislative Day 14 Legislative Day 15 Legislative Day 16 Recess Legislative Day 17 Legislative Day 18 Legislative Day 19 Legislative Day 20 Legislative Day 21 Recess Legislative Day 22 Legislative Day 23 Legislative Day 24 Legislative Day 25 Recess Legislative Day 26 Legislative Day 27 Recess Legislative Day 28 (Crossover Day)