--- title: HB 891. Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings; increase the benefits payable for service after July 1, 2026 collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb891 cite_as: HB 891, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb891 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb891.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb891/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71921 date: 2025-04-04 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb890.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb892.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb891.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 891 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-31 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Noel Williams - James Hatchett - John Carson - Steven Meeks - Trey Rhodes - Lehman Franklin text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB891/2025 upstream_id: 2017630 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - state employee pensions - retirement benefits - public employee contributions - Georgia state government workforce --- # HB 891. Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings; increase the benefits payable for service after July 1, 2026 ## Text 25 LC 56 0413 House Bill 891 By: Representatives Williams of the 148th, Hatchett of the 155th, Carson of the 46th, Meeks of the 178th, Rhodes of the 124th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 10 of Chapter 2 of Title 47 of the Official Co de of Georgia Annotated,1 relating to the Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings Pl an, so as to increase the2 benefits payable for service after July 1, 2026; to provide for an increase to employee3 contributions; to provide for related matters; to provide conditions for an effective date and4 automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 Article 10 of Chapter 2 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the8 Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings Plan, is amended by revising Code Section9 47-2-352, relating to employee and employer contributions, as follows:10 "47-2-352.11 (a) Every member subject to this article shall contribute empl oyee membership12 contributions in an amount equal to 1 1/4 percent of earnable c ompensation for service13 prior to July 1, 2026, and 3 percent of earnable compensation for service on or after July14 1, 2026; provided, however, that the board of trustees is authorized to set the contribution15 rate at a level not less than 3 percent of earnable compensation nor more than 4 percent of16 H. B. 891 - 1 - 25 LC 56 0413 earnable compensation for service on or after July 1, 2026, which shall be deducted by each17 employer from the earnable compensation of each member for each and every payroll18 period and paid monthly to the board of trustees. Such amount shall be credited to the19 individual accounts of the members in the annuity savings fund.20 (b) From and after January 1, 2009, each employer shall pay mo nthly to the board of21 trustees, on behalf of each member subject to this article, the aggregate of employer and22 employee contributions required by this chapter. With respect to members subject to this23 article, no employer contributions shall be considered as accumulated contributions of the24 member and none shall be eligible for withdrawal by the member upon cessation of state25 service. Such amount shall be credited to the pension accumulation fund."26 SECTION 2.27 Said article is further amended by revising Code Section 47-2-3 53, relating to service28 retirement allowance, as follows:29 "47-2-353.30 Every member subject to this article shall, upon becoming eligible under the provisions of31 this chapter, be entitled to a service retirement allowance, which shall consist of:32 (1) An annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated33 contributions at the time of retirement; and34 (2) A monthly pension which, together with the annuity, shall provide a total retirement35 allowance equal to the sum of 1 percent, or such future amount up to 2 percent to be set36 by the board of trustees in direct relation to any increased appropriations provided by the37 General Assembly expressly for such increase, of the member's highest average monthly38 earnable compensation during a period of 24 consecutive calenda r months while a39 member of the retirement system, multiplied by the number for each of the member's40 years of creditable service earned before July 1, 2026, of the member's highest average41 monthly earnable compensation during a period of 24 consecutive calendar months while42 H. B. 891 - 2 - 25 LC 56 0413 a member of the retirement system, and 1 1/2 percent for each of the member's years of43 creditable service earned on or after July 1, 2026, of the memb er's highest average44 monthly earnable compensation during a period of 24 consecutive calendar months while45 a member of the retirement system; provided, however, that for members employed on46 or after July 1, 2009, no salary increase by adjustment in comp ensation in any manner47 during the last 12 months, which increase is in excess of 5 percent, shall be included in48 such computation."49 SECTION 3.50 This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026, only if it is determined to have been51 concurrently funded as provided in Chapter 20 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia52 Annotated, the "Public Retirement Systems Standards Law"; other wise, this Act shall not53 become effective and shall be automatically repealed in its ent irety on July 1, 2026, as54 required by subsection (a) of Code Section 47-20-50.55 SECTION 4.56 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.57 H. B. 891 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. House Bill 891 would raise the pension benefit multiplier for Georgia state employees hired under the state's pension and savings plan and increase how much they must contribute from their paychecks, starting July 1, 2026. ### Plain-language summary Georgia state employees covered by the Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings Plan (O.C.G.A. § 47-2-352 and § 47-2-353) currently contribute 1.25% of their pay toward the pension and earn a 1% benefit multiplier per year of service, calculated on their highest average pay over 24 months. This bill raises the employee contribution rate to 3% of pay for service performed on or after July 1, 2026, and lets the pension board's trustees set that rate anywhere between 3% and 4%. In exchange, employees would earn a higher pension benefit, 1.5% per year of creditable service instead of 1%, for service performed on or after that date. Service performed before July 1, 2026 keeps the old 1.25% contribution rate and 1% multiplier (with room to grow to 2% if the legislature adds funding). The change only takes effect if state actuaries certify it is 'concurrently funded' under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 20 of Title 47); if not, the bill automatically repeals itself on July 1, 2026. ### What it does - Raises the employee contribution rate for the Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings Plan from 1.25% to 3% of pay for service on or after July 1, 2026. - Lets the pension board of trustees set the contribution rate anywhere from 3% to 4% of pay for service after that date. - Increases the pension benefit multiplier used to calculate retirement pay from 1% to 1.5% per year of creditable service earned on or after July 1, 2026. - Keeps the older, lower 1.25% contribution rate and 1% benefit multiplier in place for service performed before July 1, 2026. - Makes the whole Act contingent on state actuaries certifying the change is 'concurrently funded' under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, with automatic repeal if it is not. ### Who it affects Georgia state government employees enrolled in the Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings Plan, their state employers who deduct and remit contributions, and the plan's board of trustees, which gains authority to set the exact contribution rate within a set range. ### Why it matters State employees would see a bigger chunk of their paycheck go toward retirement starting in mid-2026, but would build a larger pension for that later service. Whether any of this happens depends on a funding certification, so employees and agencies will not know the final outcome until that determination is made. ### Key provisions - Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 47-2-352 to raise employee contributions from 1.25% to 3% of earnable compensation for service on or after July 1, 2026, and authorizes the board of trustees to set the rate between 3% and 4%. - Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 47-2-353 to raise the pension benefit multiplier from 1% to 1.5% per year of creditable service earned on or after July 1, 2026, while keeping the 1% (up to 2%) multiplier for earlier service. - Section 3 makes the Act effective July 1, 2026 only if certified as 'concurrently funded' under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 20 of Title 47); otherwise it is automatically repealed that same date. - Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-31) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Noel Williams, James Hatchett, John Carson, Steven Meeks, Trey Rhodes, Lehman Franklin - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71921 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb891.md?full=1