This bill amends Section 28-30-18 of the General Laws concerning additional benefits for retired judges of the Workers' Compensation Court, as well as their surviving spouses and domestic partners. It introduces a cost-of-living retirement adjustment that will be applicable when the funded ratio of the employees' retirement system, the judicial retirement benefits trust, and the state police retirement benefits trust reaches seventy-five percent (75%), effective July 1, 2024.

The bill specifies that judges who retired before January 31, 1980, will be considered to have retired on January 1, 1980, for the purposes of this section. It also establishes a limit on the cost-of-living adjustment for judges not eligible to retire as of September 30, 2009, and their beneficiaries, which will only apply to the first $35,000 of retirement allowance, indexed annually.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions for one-time stipends of $500 for retired members or beneficiaries who have retired on or before July 1, 2015, to be paid within a specified timeframe. Overall, the bill aims to enhance the retirement benefits for judges of the Workers' Compensation Court and align them with those of other judicial officers in Rhode Island.

Statutes affected:
459: 28-30-18