Session Law 2012-178 (Senate Bill 803) Summary

• Excludes tax records and tax-related documents from the Fiscal Research Division's online read-only access to retirement systems member information.

• Grants the Board of Trustees discretion to determine whether sufficient investment gains exist to fund post-retirement cost-of-living increases, considering inflation rates and investment performance over the preceding three years.

• Authorizes the Board of Trustees to fund cost-of-living increases up to 4% using only investment gains, independent of the Consumer Price Index linkage requirement.

• Allows individual accrued liability contribution payment periods to vary by employer based on actuarial valuations rather than requiring uniform periods across all employers.

• Expands payroll deduction authorizations to include State Health Plan contributions for beneficiaries and their dependents, plus supplemental voluntary insurance premiums in addition to employee/retiree association dues.

• Modifies long-term disability provisions for members who joined on or after August 1, 2011, allowing noncontributory creditable service during disability to count toward the 10-year membership requirement for retirement eligibility.

• Includes the Retiree Health Benefit Fund in the asset investment authorities for the retirement systems.

• Effective July 1, 2012.