HB 1349: Fulton County; Board of Education; pension board; revise membership

Fulton County runs a separate pension and retirement system for teachers and employees of the Fulton County Board of Education, created by a 1945 state law and amended several times since. This bill changes one detail of that system: how the pension board's at-large member is chosen. Under the revised rule, that member must still be an active or retired participant in the pension plan, but now the pension board itself nominates the person, and the Fulton County Board of Education appoints them. The bill does not touch benefit levels, funding, or other pension board seats. It only rewrites paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of Section 12.01 of the underlying 1945 Act, as previously amended in 2017 and 2018. It then repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision in Georgia local legislation.

• Rewrites paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of Section 12.01 of the 1945 Fulton County teacher pension Act to change how the at-large pension board member is selected.
• Requires the pension board to nominate the at-large member, rather than some other selection method used before.
• Keeps the appointment authority with the Fulton County Board of Education, so the school board still finalizes the choice.
• Keeps the existing requirement that the at-large member be an active or retired participant in the pension plan.
• Repeals any other laws that conflict with this change, a standard closing clause in Georgia local bills.

Current and retired teachers and staff who participate in the Fulton County Board of Education's pension plan, the pension board itself, and the Fulton County Board of Education, which appoints board members under this system.

The change affects who gets a voice on the body overseeing Fulton County teachers' pension fund by shifting how one board seat is filled. It does not change benefits or funding, but it does adjust the process by which plan participants are represented in pension governance.

• Section 1 amends paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of Section 12.01 of the 1945 Act, as amended in 2017 and 2018, to revise the at-large pension board seat.
• The revised language requires the pension board to nominate the at-large member, who is then appointed by the Fulton County Board of Education.
• The at-large member must be an active or retired participant in the pension plan, unchanged from prior law.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision with no independent substantive effect.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 558
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-19Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-19Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2026-03-12Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-03-10House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)Primary sponsor
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
• Robert Dawson (D, HD-065)
• Esther Panitch (D, HD-051)
• Debra Bazemore (D, HD-069)
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 10, 2026

   159 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 12 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #693

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 19, 2026

   49 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 2 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #745

• Fulton County
• teacher pensions
• local legislation
• school board governance