SB 279 Summary

• Repeals and reenacts 25 sections of Missouri law governing state employee retirement benefits across the Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System and Missouri State Employees' Retirement System

• Expands definition of "beneficiary" to include "persons or entities" rather than just individual persons, and changes "guardian" to "conservator" in provisions regarding child benefits

• Modifies "normal annuity starting date" terminology and clarifies that benefits for children under 18 may be paid to surviving parents or conservators until age 18, then to children until age 21

• Updates provisions for division of retirement benefits in dissolution of marriage cases, including replacing "Social Security number" with "date of birth" in beneficiary identification requirements

• Makes technical updates to provisions regarding service transfers, error correction limitations (10-year window), retiree reemployment, and annuity payment procedures across both retirement systems