This bill pertains to the Retirement Systems of Alabama and establishes a procedure for providing annual benefit increases to retirees of the Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement System. The bill stipulates that starting from the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2024, any benefit increase for retirees must be granted by a separate legislative act, which will define the amount of the increase and the class of eligible retirees and beneficiaries. The bill also requires that the annual cost of the increase, as estimated by the system's actuary, must be included and appropriated in the State General Fund appropriation act or the Education Trust Fund appropriation act for that fiscal year by a separate employer rate. If the required separate employer rate is not appropriated, the increase will not be paid in that fiscal year but may be resumed in subsequent fiscal years if included in that year's appropriation act.

The bill includes legislative findings that declare any benefit increase provided under this act shall not increase the unfunded liability of the retirement systems due to the annual authorization and full annual funding required by the act. It also states that any accounting standards that do not recognize the language of this act and imply future liability should be disregarded. The bill is not applicable to any previous cost-of-living increases or one-time bonuses provided to retirees by previous legislative acts. The act is set to become effective on June 1, 2024. There are no insertions or deletions marked in the provided text of the bill.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 36-27-6, 36-27-7, 36-27-7, 36-27-6, 36-27-7, 36-27-7
Engrossed: 36-27-6, 36-27-7, 36-27-7, 36-27-6, 36-27-7, 36-27-7, 36-27-6, 36-27-7, 36-27-7