HB873: HB873 Education, Department of; employ beneficiaries of Teachers Retirement System of Georgia; allow

Under current Georgia law, a retired teacher (a beneficiary of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia) who goes back to work as a teacher generally must either stop collecting retirement pay and rejoin the system, or have their pension paused while working. This bill creates a new option specifically for the Department of Education. The bill lets the Department of Education employ a retirement system beneficiary while that person keeps receiving their monthly retirement allowance and any cost-of-living increases, without pausing benefits. In exchange, the time worked would not count as creditable service, meaning it could not be used to increase the person's future pension. This option would not apply to someone who becomes an employee of an actual school run by the Department of Education, and the arrangement would not be considered part of an employment contract. The change would only take effect July 1, 2026, and only if state officials certify it is funded under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law; otherwise it is automatically repealed that same date.

• Creates a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 47-3-127.2) letting the Department of Education employ retired teachers who are Teachers Retirement System beneficiaries.
• Allows those employees to keep receiving their retirement allowance and cost-of-living adjustments while working for the Department.
• Bars such employment from counting as creditable service, so it cannot be used to boost the employee's future pension.
• Excludes beneficiaries who become employees of an actual school operated by the Department of Education from this new option.
• States the arrangement is not part of an employment contract and can be changed by future legislation.
• Makes the change effective July 1, 2026 only if funding is certified under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, or else it is automatically repealed that date.

Retired Georgia public school teachers who receive pensions through the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Education as an employer, and indirectly the retirement system's funding structure, which must be certified before the change can take effect.

Retired teachers could take certain Department of Education jobs without giving up their pension checks, potentially making it easier for the Department to draw on experienced retirees, though those workers would not build additional pension credit from that work.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 47-3-127 to note exceptions for beneficiaries covered by two new or existing special provisions when restored to service.
• Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 47-3-127.2, allowing the Department of Education to employ a beneficiary while that person keeps receiving retirement pay and benefit adjustments.
• Section 2 specifies the employment does not count as creditable service and does not lead to a recomputed pension after the work ends.
• Section 2 excludes beneficiaries who become employees of a school operated by the Department of Education from this option.
• Section 2 states the arrangement is not part of the employment contract and remains subject to future legislative change.
• Section 3 ties the law's effective date (July 1, 2026) to certification of funding under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, with automatic repeal otherwise.

1. 2025-03-31House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-27House Hopper (House)

• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)Primary sponsor

• teacher retirement
• Teachers Retirement System
• Department of Education
• public pensions
• education workforce