---
title: HB 895. Legislative Retirement System; increase retirement benefit amounts payable to certain legislators upon retirement
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb895
cite_as: HB 895, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb895
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb895.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb895/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71939
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.
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next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb896.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb895.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 895
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:
  - Patty Stinson
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB895/2025
upstream_id: 2017652
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - legislative retirement
  - state pensions
  - lawmaker benefits
  - public retirement systems
---

# HB 895. Legislative Retirement System; increase retirement benefit amounts payable to certain legislators upon retirement

## Text

25 LC 56 0408
House Bill 895
By: Representative Stinson of the 150th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 6 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the1
Georgia Legislative Retirement System, so as to increase the re tirement benefit amounts2
payable to certain legislators upon retirement; to provide for related matters; to provide3
conditions for an effective date and automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other4
purposes.5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6
SECTION 1.7
Chapter 6 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated , relating to the Georgia8
Legislative Retirement System, is amended in Code Section 47-6-80, relating to eligibility9
and application for a retirement allowance, early retirement, monthly retirement allowance,10
amount of retirement allowance, compliance with federal tax law s, and increases in11
retirement allowance, by revising subsection (c.1) and by adding a new subsection to read12
as follows:13
"(c.1) In lieu of the monthly service retirement allowance prov ided in subsection (c.2)14
or (d) of this Code section, for any person who was a contributing member on January 1,15
2022, or who first becomes a contributing member after January 1, 2022, upon retirement16
H. B. 895
- 1 -
25 LC 56 0408
under subsection (a) of this Code section such member shall rec eive a monthly service17
retirement allowance equal to the sum of $50.00 for each year of such member's creditable18
service and an additional $200.00 for each year of such member' s presiding creditable19
service. Any inactive or retired member who was not a contributing member on January 1,20
2022, and who becomes a contributing member again after January 1, 2022, shall be21
eligible for the monthly service retirement allowance provided in this subsection for his or22
her membership service earned after January 1, 2022.23
(c.2) In lieu of the monthly service retirement allowance provided in subsection (c.1) or (d)24
of this Code section, for any person who was a contributing member on January 1, 2026,25
or who first becomes a contributing member after January 1, 2026, upon retirement under26
subsection (a) of this Code section such member shall receive a monthly service retirement27
allowance equal to the sum of $75.00 for each year of such member's creditable service and28
an additional $300.00 for each year of such member's presiding creditable service. Any29
inactive or retired member who was not a contributing member on January 1, 2026, and30
who becomes a contributing member again after January 1, 2026, shall be eligible for the31
monthly service retirement allowance provided in this subsection for his or her membership32
service earned after January 1, 2026."33
SECTION 2.34
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026, only if it is determined to have been35
concurrently funded as provided in Chapter 20 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia36
Annotated, the "Public Retirement Systems Standards Law"; other wise, this Act shall not37
become effective and shall be automatically repealed in its ent irety on July 1, 2026, as38
required by subsection (a) of Code Section 47-20-50.39
SECTION 3.40
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.41
H. B. 895
- 2 -

## 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 895 would raise the monthly pension amounts paid to retired Georgia legislators who were serving on or after January 1, 2026, boosting per-year-of-service payments in the Georgia Legislative Retirement System.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia lawmakers earn a retirement benefit through the Georgia Legislative Retirement System, calculated using set dollar amounts for each year they served, with a higher rate for years spent presiding over a chamber (such as Speaker or President of the Senate). Currently, members who joined after January 1, 2022 receive $50 per year of service plus $200 per year of presiding service.
This bill adds a new tier: for anyone who was a contributing member on or after January 1, 2026, the monthly retirement allowance would instead be calculated at $75 per year of creditable service plus $300 per year of presiding creditable service. Members who left and rejoined after that date would get the higher rate only for service earned after January 1, 2026.
The increase would only take effect July 1, 2026, and only if state actuaries certify it is 'concurrently funded' under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law; otherwise the bill automatically repeals itself on that date.

### What it does

- Adds a new subsection (c.2) to Georgia's legislative retirement law (O.C.G.A. § 47-6-80) setting a higher monthly pension formula for members contributing on or after January 1, 2026.
- Raises the per-year-of-service pension rate from $50 to $75 for eligible members under the new tier.
- Raises the per-year-of-presiding-service pension rate from $200 to $300 for eligible members under the new tier.
- Extends the higher rate to members who rejoin the retirement system after a break in service, but only for the portion of service earned after January 1, 2026.
- Makes the entire law contingent on a funding certification, automatically repealing itself on July 1, 2026 if that certification does not happen.

### Who it affects

Current and future members of the Georgia General Assembly who contribute to the Georgia Legislative Retirement System, especially those serving on or after January 1, 2026, and those who have held or will hold a presiding officer role such as Speaker of the House or President of the Senate.

### Why it matters

If it takes effect, legislators retiring under the new tier would receive noticeably larger monthly pension checks, particularly those who served as presiding officers, since that portion of the benefit would jump from $200 to $300 per year of such service. The change depends on a state funding certification before it can take effect.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 revises subsection (c.1) of O.C.G.A. § 47-6-80 and adds new subsection (c.2), which sets the new $75-per-year and $300-per-presiding-year benefit formula.
- Section 1 limits eligibility for the new (c.2) formula to members contributing on or after January 1, 2026, and to returning members only for service earned after that date.
- Section 2 makes the entire Act effective July 1, 2026 only if certified as concurrently funded under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 20 of Title 47).
- Section 2 automatically repeals the Act in full on July 1, 2026 if that funding certification is not obtained.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-03-31)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-04-04)
- Sponsors: Patty Stinson
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71939

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb895.md?full=1