Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB267: SB267 State's Employee Benefit Plan Council; establish health savings accounts and to continually provide for education or salary reductions for such accounts; require

Last action February 27, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred

Senate Bill 267 would require the state's Employee Benefit Plan Council to offer health savings accounts to state employees, teachers, and public school staff starting January 1, 2026.

In plain language

Georgia's Employee Benefit Plan Council currently has discretion over which benefits, such as insurance and spending accounts, it offers through payroll deductions or salary reductions in the state's flexible employee benefit plan. This bill changes that discretion for one specific benefit: health savings accounts. The bill rewrites part of the law governing the council (O.C.G.A. § 45-18-52) to explicitly authorize health savings accounts as authorized under Section 223 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, alongside existing benefits like group life insurance and health care spending accounts. It then adds a new requirement that, starting January 1, 2026, the flexible employee benefit plan must continually offer deductions or salary reductions for health savings accounts, removing the council's discretion on that particular benefit. The bill also repeals any conflicting laws.

What the bill does

Adds health savings accounts under Section 223 of the federal tax code as an explicitly authorized benefit option in the state's flexible employee benefit plan.
Removes the council's discretion over whether to offer health savings account deductions, requiring it to continually provide them starting January 1, 2026.
Keeps the council's existing discretion over whether to offer other benefits like life insurance, disability insurance, and spending accounts.
Updates outdated wording in the law, changing 'public schoolteachers' to 'public school teachers' as a technical correction.
Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with the new requirement.

Who it affects

State employees, public school teachers, and public school employees who participate in the state's flexible employee benefit plan; the Employee Benefit Plan Council, which administers the plan; and local school boards that opt into the plan for their staff.

Why it matters

State and school employees who want to set aside pretax money for medical expenses through a health savings account would be guaranteed that option starting in 2026, rather than depending on the council's discretion, giving them a consistent way to save for health costs alongside their existing insurance benefits.

Key provisions

Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 45-18-52 to explicitly list health savings accounts under Section 223 of the federal Internal Revenue Code as an authorized benefit.
Section 1 adds a new rule that beginning January 1, 2026, the flexible employee benefit plan must continually provide deductions or salary reductions for health savings accounts.
Section 1 preserves the council's discretion over other benefits, such as disability and life insurance, which remain optional parts of the plan.
Section 1 retains the council's authority to set minimum participation requirements for local school boards that join the plan.
Section 2 repeals any laws or parts of laws that conflict with the bill.

Status timeline

2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

health savings accounts
state employee benefits
public school employees
teacher benefits
health insurance