This bill amends Section 28-30-18 of the General Laws concerning additional benefits for retired judges of the Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court, as well as their surviving spouses and domestic partners. It modifies the criteria for cost-of-living retirement adjustments, changing the threshold for the benefit adjustment from eighty percent (80%) to seventy-five percent (75%) effective July 1, 2024. The bill specifies that the funded ratio of the employees' retirement system of Rhode Island, the judicial retirement benefits trust, and the state police retirement benefits trust, calculated by the systems actuary on an aggregate basis, must exceed seventy-five percent (75%) for the benefit adjustment to be reinstated for all members for that plan year.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions for judges who retired before January 31, 1980, to be considered as having retired on January 1, 1980, for the purposes of this section. It outlines specific provisions for judges not eligible to retire as of September 30, 2009, and includes a one-time benefit adjustment for justices who retired on or before June 30, 2012. The bill also introduces a one-time stipend of five hundred dollars ($500) for retired members or beneficiaries who have retired on or before July 1, 2015, to be paid within sixty days of the legislation's enactment. This act aims to enhance the financial security of retired judges and their beneficiaries by ensuring regular cost-of-living adjustments and providing additional stipends.

Statutes affected:
5737: 28-30-18