Senate Bill 2044 Summary

• Clarifies required beginning dates for retirement benefit distributions, establishing age 70½ as the trigger for members who reached that age before January 1, 2020, and age 72 for members who reached it after December 31, 2019, with distributions to begin by April 1st of the following calendar year.

• Reduces the confidentiality threshold for disclosing missing members from two years to one year, allowing the board to release only the member's name and the fact that the board has been unable to locate them.

• Expands retiree health insurance credit eligibility to cover any health insurance program and any dental, vision, and long-term care insurance program, removing previous restrictions to "uniform group" coverage.

• Clarifies that unpaid benefit payments owed to a member, surviving spouse, or alternate beneficiary must be paid to the named beneficiary or estate if the recipient dies before receiving the full distribution.

• Establishes that members who first enrolled before January 1, 2020 are eligible for retiree health insurance credits under the public employees retirement system and defined contribution retirement plan.