Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB 339: Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; semiannual postretirement benefit adjustments for all beneficiaries; provide

Last action February 26, 2026 · Senate Read Second Time

A Georgia Senate bill would guarantee retirees in the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia an automatic 1.5% cost-of-living raise every six months starting July 1, 2026, with limited power for the Governor to pause it during revenue shortfalls.

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The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Under current law, the board of trustees of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia has discretion to adopt postretirement benefit adjustments (cost-of-living increases) for retirees, and members who joined on or after July 1, 2009 have been excluded from receiving them. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 47-2-29) to make these adjustments automatic and semiannual for all beneficiaries, including those who joined after July 1, 2009, who would become eligible for adjustments granted on or after July 1, 2026. Starting July 1, 2026, and every six months after that, each beneficiary would get a 1.5 percent increase to their retirement allowance. If state revenue drops sharply, either falling 3 percent or more below estimates for the past fiscal year or declining for three straight months in the current year, the Governor could suspend the next two scheduled increases by executive order, but not more than two years in a row or three times in any ten-year span. The General Assembly could revoke or revise any such executive order within a year. The law only takes effect if state actuaries certify it is properly funded under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law; otherwise it repeals itself automatically on July 1, 2026.

What the bill does

Rewrites Georgia's retirement law (O.C.G.A. § 47-2-29) to require automatic postretirement benefit adjustments instead of leaving them to the board of trustees' discretion.
Extends eligibility for these adjustments to members who joined the Employees' Retirement System on or after July 1, 2009, starting with adjustments granted on or after July 1, 2026.
Sets a fixed 1.5 percent increase to retirement allowances every six months beginning July 1, 2026.
Gives the Governor limited authority to suspend up to two upcoming increases by executive order if state revenue drops significantly, with restrictions on how often this can happen.
Allows the General Assembly to revoke, revise, or extend any such suspension order within one year through a joint resolution.
Makes the entire Act contingent on certification that it is funded under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, with automatic repeal on July 1, 2026 if not certified.

Who it affects

Retired members and beneficiaries of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, including those who joined on or after July 1, 2009 who currently cannot receive these adjustments, the Governor's office, the General Assembly, and the system's board of trustees and actuaries.

Why it matters

Retirees would get a predictable, guaranteed raise twice a year instead of relying on the board's discretion, which could help their benefits keep pace with living costs. The bill's actual start depends on funding certification, and a revenue downturn could delay increases for some retirees.

Key provisions

Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 47-2-29 to replace discretionary postretirement adjustments with a required semiannual 1.5 percent increase for all beneficiaries starting July 1, 2026.
Subsection (b) removes the prior exclusion for members who joined on or after July 1, 2009, making them eligible for adjustments granted starting July 1, 2026.
Subsection (c)(2) lets the Governor suspend up to two upcoming adjustments by executive order during significant revenue declines, capped at two consecutive years or three times in ten years.
Subsection (c)(3) allows the General Assembly to revoke, revise, or extend a suspension executive order within one calendar year.
Section 2 makes the Act's effective date, July 1, 2026, contingent on funding certification under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law (Chapter 20 of Title 47), with automatic repeal if not certified.

From the bill

“on July 1, 2026, and every six months thereafter, each beneficiary shall receive a postretirement benefit adjustment that increases his or her retirement allowance by 1.5 percent”
This is the bill's core rule guaranteeing a 1.5 percent raise to retirees twice a year.

“such an executive order may not be issued in more than two consecutive calendar years or more than three times in any period of ten consecutive calendar years”
This limits how often the Governor can suspend the scheduled benefit increases.

Discussed in meetings (3)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

Senate Retirement Committee, February 24, 2026
From 0:49:50 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 339 would restore cost-of-living increases for state retirees, arguing that retirees had expected 3% increases and had faced shrinking purchasing power since those increases stopped in 2008. A witness representing state retirees welcomed recent funding but said recurring increases were needed. The witness estimated that forgone increases for roughly 54,000 retirees exceeded $3 billion and described retirees struggling with basic expenses. The Employees’ Retirement System director acknowledged the hardship but opposed mandatory increases that would limit the board’s ability to protect the system. The director said one 3% increase would add about $400 million in unfunded obligations and cited an actuarial estimate exceeding $4 billion for the bill. The director said the system now received $150 million annually toward future increases and favored improving a funding model tied to financial health, investment performance and inflation. A committee member supported passage as a commitment to retirees while acknowledging that the committee could not provide $4 billion. The committee approved the bill by a show of hands, with the chair indicating no opposition.

Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 25, 2026 (legislative day 24), 0:34:06
Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 26, 2026 (legislative day 25), 0:28:41

Status timeline

2026-02-26Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
2026-02-25Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
2025-03-18Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2025-03-13Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

public pensions
retirement benefits
state employees
cost of living adjustments
state budget

Ask about this bill

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb339.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp