SB342: SB342 Emergency Communications Authority; increase in the percentage of all 9-1-1 charges to be remitted to the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund; provide

This bill changes how Georgia funds retirement benefits for police officers and firefighters. It raises the share of 9-1-1 phone charges sent to the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund and creates a new share for the Georgia Firefighters' Pension Fund. It also raises the monthly 9-1-1 charge, wireless 9-1-1 charge, and prepaid wireless 9-1-1 charge by $1.00 each (to $2.50), adds a $9.11 fee to vehicle registrations partly dedicated to the two pension funds, and raises the cigarette tax from 37 cents to 57 cents per pack. The bill also shifts pension dues for firefighters and peace officers from members to their employers, raises those dues, allows a one-time bigger benefit increase for both funds between 2027 and 2028, and bars refunding employer-paid dues. Because it dedicates state funds under a specific constitutional provision, the bill is automatically repealed if it fails to get a two-thirds vote in both chambers or if it isn't certified as properly funded by July 1, 2026.

• Increases the share of 9-1-1 charge revenue sent to the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund and creates a new share for the Georgia Firefighters' Pension Fund.
• Raises the monthly 9-1-1 charge, wireless enhanced 9-1-1 charge, and prepaid wireless 9-1-1 charge each by $1.00, to $2.50, starting July 1, 2026.
• Adds a $9.11 assessment to vehicle registration fees, with part of the money dedicated to the two pension funds through fiscal year 2034.
• Raises the cigarette excise tax from 37 cents to 57 cents per pack and states legislative intent that 20 cents of that increase fund the two pension programs.
• Shifts monthly dues for Georgia Firefighters' Pension Fund and Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund members from the employee to the employer, and raises the dues amounts.
• Allows both pension funds' boards to approve a one-time retirement benefit increase between July 2027 and July 2028 that exceeds the usual annual increase limits.

The bill affects Georgia telephone and wireless subscribers who pay 9-1-1 charges, vehicle owners who pay registration fees, cigarette buyers, fire departments and their employees, police departments and their employees, and the state's Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund and Georgia Firefighters' Pension Fund.

Georgians would pay more for phone service, vehicle registration, and cigarettes, with the added money funneled into retirement funds for police officers and firefighters. Fire departments and law enforcement agencies would take over paying dues previously charged to individual members, changing how those pension systems are financed.

• Section 1 raises the Department of Revenue's remittance from 9-1-1 charges to the Peace Officers' Fund from 0.75 percent to 20.75 percent and adds a new 20 percent share for the Firefighters' Pension Fund (O.C.G.A. § 38-3-188).
• Section 2 adds a $9.11 assessment to vehicle registration fees, dedicating $5.00 to the Peace Officers' Fund and $4.11 to the Firefighters' Fund from July 2026 through June 2034.
• Sections 3 and 4 raise the monthly 9-1-1 charge, wireless 9-1-1 charge, and prepaid wireless 9-1-1 charge from $1.50 to $2.50, effective July 1, 2026.
• Section 5 and Section 9 let the Firefighters' Pension Fund and Peace Officers' Fund boards approve a one-time benefit increase above normal limits between July 2027 and July 2028.
• Section 6 raises firefighter pension dues from $25 to $100 per month and shifts payment responsibility from the member to the fire department.
• Section 10 requires employers of Peace Officers' Fund members to pay $100 per month in dues per member, on top of member dues.
• Section 12 raises the cigarette tax from 37 cents to 57 cents per pack and states that 20 cents of that increase is intended to fund the two pension programs.
• Section 13 makes the whole Act automatically repealed if it doesn't get a two-thirds vote in both chambers or if the dedicated funding would exceed 1 percent of the prior year's state revenue.

1. 2025-03-20Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-18Senate Hopper (Senate)

• John Albers (R, SD-056)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)

• 9-1-1 fees
• police and firefighter pensions
• cigarette tax
• vehicle registration fees
• public safety funding