The bill amends Section 28-30-18 of the General Laws to enhance retirement benefits for judges of the Workers’ Compensation Court and their surviving spouses or domestic partners. It introduces a cost-of-living retirement adjustment of three percent (3%) for judges who retire after January 1, 1970, starting on the first day of January following the third anniversary of their retirement, with annual increases thereafter. Judges who retired before January 31, 1980, will be treated as having retired on January 1, 1980, for these adjustments. Additionally, the bill limits cost-of-living adjustments for judges not eligible to retire as of September 30, 2009, to the first $35,000 of their retirement allowance, which will be indexed annually. A one-time benefit adjustment of two percent (2%) is also provided for justices who retired on or before June 30, 2012.

Moreover, the bill lowers the threshold for cost-of-living adjustments from eighty percent (80%) to seventy-five percent (75%) of the funded ratio for the retirement systems. It includes a one-time stipend of five hundred dollars ($500) for retirees and beneficiaries who retired on or before July 1, 2015, with a second stipend in the following year. The calculation of benefit adjustments will be based on a five-year average investment return and the Consumer Price Index, ensuring total adjustments do not exceed three and a half percent (3.5%) or fall below zero percent (0%). Adjustments will be suspended if the funded ratio does not meet the specified threshold, but a benefit adjustment will be calculated every fourth plan year, with certain retirees' amounts increased to thirty-one thousand and twenty-six dollars ($31,026) until the new threshold is met. The act will take effect upon passage.