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 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 will be calculated by the systems actuary on an aggregate basis.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions for a one-time benefit adjustment for justices who retired on or before June 30, 2012, and introduces a one-time stipend of five hundred dollars ($500) for eligible retired members or beneficiaries, payable within sixty days of the legislation's enactment, with a second stipend of the same amount in the following year. The act is set to take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
459: 28-30-18