Comité Retirement del Senado, 3 de febrero de 2026

Transcripción

289 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:20:31

   Biennial session. I'd like to ask Senator Russ Goodman if he'll lead us in a word of prayer as we get started, and your number is what?

2. 0:20:39

   Uh, number five, Mr. Chairman.

3. 0:20:41

   Okay. Thank you.

4. 0:20:43

   All right. Pray with me, please. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for today, Lord. We thank you for loving us. We thank you for the gift of salvation. We thank you for the opportunity to be able to come here, Lord, and make decisions, uh, on behalf of the people that we represent across this great state. And as we go about that business, Lord, throughout this meeting, we just ask that you grant us wisdom and discernment. And Lord, we just ask that you be with all our first responders and, uh, Lord, all of our active duty military that deployed across the world, and, uh, we thank you Lord for all your many blessings. In Jesus' name we pray.

5. 0:21:13

   Amen.

6. 0:21:14

   Amen. Amen. Thank you. Amen. All right. Uh, Senator Albers, Senate Bill 143, if you'll come take the table please, and we're gonna get some microphones turned on. And the floor is yours, sir.

7. 0:21:29

   Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If it's okay, I brought Mr. Morgan Wurst, who's in charge of the Firefighter Pension Fund, if, uh, that's acceptable to you and the committee.

8. 0:21:35

   Yes, sir.

9. 0:21:36

   Uh, first I want to thank you, uh, for allowing us to present today in this august committee, and I, if I could take a moment of personal privilege and, uh, thank, uh, Ms. Tarica, who helps you as well, for all your assistance in this.

10. 0:21:46

    Ms. Tarica is one of the best-

11. 0:21:48

    I-

12. 0:21:48

    ... and I'm fortunate to have her, and I appreciate that.

13. 0:21:51

    I agree. Uh, we, uh, dropped this bill last year, uh, Senate Bill 143, and you were gracious enough to let it pass out for actuary study, as most of your bills do. Uh, and we worked closely with, uh, our folks, uh, to get that report done, and working closely with Mr. Morgan Wurst here to measure it. And I'll talk about the bill very, uh, briefly as well, but, uh, the report did come back and, uh, he will attest to it not having a negative, uh, or concerning impact on the pension fund. Uh, and today is Firefighter Day, which I mentioned in the Senate chamber, and behind me we have my brothers and sisters in the fire service, which I know the Senate so, uh, graciously and often supports.

14. 0:22:30

    Uh, so it's very apropos for us to be here today. But this does, it really solves a key problem that we as a Senate have done already to help out for our law enforcement officers, as well as our teachers, which is to allow them to be able to, uh, retire and come back to work because of critical staffing needs. Uh, and then, you know, we, we struggle sometimes to keep, uh, our most experienced teachers and law enforcement officers. Well, we have the same exact challenge in the fire service. So what this bill in summary is going to be, before I talk about the sections, is allow them to do just that.

15. 0:23:04

    Now, they can't double-dip. They can't pay into a retiring system and get it at the same time, but allows them to retire and then to be able to come back to work, uh, and still help us again at that critical experience level when we need those in the fire service the most. So, uh, the, the high level parts of this that are starting in section one just says, uh, eligible member is somebody who's at least 50 years old.

16. 0:23:27

    What, uh-

17. 0:23:28

    Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Chairman.

18. 0:23:29

    What, what-

19. 0:23:29

    Uh, section 1.1.

20. 0:23:32

    Okay. What line is that?

21. 0:23:33

    All right. I will pull it up here.

22. 0:23:36

    And we're t- we're working off LC56-0297.

23. 0:23:41

    That is-

24. 0:23:41

    Is that correct?

25. 0:23:41

    That is correct, sir. Thank you so much.

26. 0:23:43

    Okay.

27. 0:23:43

    I'm gonna begin, uh, in section one, which is, uh, page two of the bill beginning on lines s- uh, well, the section begins on line 16, but actually on 27 is where it talks about an eligible member has to be at least 50 years old, and then they have to have, uh, credible service, which takes your age and the years you've been in the plan and merges those together, which equals 80. So 30 years of service, 50 years of age, uh, in order to make kind of that magic number, if you will.

28. 0:24:15

    So that's where we begin. Uh, and then it allows folks, and I wanna be clear here, you can be in the Firefighter Pension Fund by being a full-time employee, by being a part-time employee, or being a volunteer. There's no state top, tax dollars that go into that fund. It is funded by the members and premiums from insurance. Uh, as you continue down this bill, once you go through kind of the definitions of, of what they are to vest, it also talks about, if you'll flip the page to line 45, uh, anybody who ends their service before they get to 15 years, uh, they can be eligible for their benefit as well, because you have to vest in a retirement plan.

29. 0:25:00

    Mm-hmm.

30. 0:25:00

    Pretty straightforward stuff. Uh, as we continue through the bill, there is one area in the back that we actually passed on another piece of legislation that I would just like to ask you to strike because we already did that. Uh, and that is, uh, toward the end of the bill.

31. 0:25:20

    Huh?

32. 0:25:21

    Uh, a end of the bill on, uh, line 192, section four. That entire section we ended up passing last year on a separate piece of legislation, which this committee was kind enough to help us pass out. Uh, so when we are done with this bill, Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to ask we strike that because it's already law, if that's okay.

33. 0:25:41

    We'll ask for a friendly amendment-

34. 0:25:43

    Okay

35. 0:25:43

    ... to this bill.

36. 0:25:44

    And I appreciate that. And then-

37. 0:25:45

    I have a-

38. 0:25:46

    Oh

39. 0:25:46

    ... let me stop you. I have a question now from-

40. 0:25:48

    Section four

41. 0:25:49

    ... Senator McLaurin.

42. 0:25:50

    Certainly.

43. 0:25:50

    Yes, sir.

44. 0:25:50

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, can we just get a quick opinion from counsel? Have you already run the trap sign if we amend this post-actuarial study, whether that creates any problems?

45. 0:25:58

    Uh, it does not. We do have updated actuary study that was already done, and because the part that's being struck is the amount we added to allow them to do higher alternative investments percentage, it has no impact on the bill and we have that already done.

46. 0:26:12

    Okay. I just wanna make sure procedurally-

47. 0:26:13

    That's a great question

48. 0:26:14

    ... we're fine passing it out if there's an amendment post-actuarial study.

49. 0:26:17

    But who's counsel? Who's counsel for the committee?

50. 0:26:18

    Okay.

51. 0:26:19

    That's counsel right there.

52. 0:26:20

    You can confirm that's the case?

53. 0:26:22

    In hut.

54. 0:26:22

    Okay. We got the nod of approval for the record of people watching at home. Thank you.

55. 0:26:25

    A, a very important nod it is. Thank you.

56. 0:26:27

    So we're good to go? Yes, we have it. Okay.

57. 0:26:31

    Thank you. Um, if, if I could ask, uh, Mr. Wurth if he has any comments, uh, as he runs, uh, one of the best funded and maintained pension systems we have.

58. 0:26:40

    Oh, thank you, Senator Albers. Um, yeah, you know, normally, um, me being in the pension industry and, uh, you know, a board, uh, with a board of fiduciaries, uh, giving sort of one of these ad hoc, uh, benefit increases outside of the normal COLAs that were allowed, uh, gives me pause. But, um, in this instance, the fire service, it is a real, it's a real need out there. So, um, you know, w- a lot of our revenue is tied to premium tax on property and casualty insurance, which as we all know, has gone up greatly.

59. 0:27:21

    And, uh, you know, the fire service has wanted this bill for a number of years. But I think we're finally to the point where we're well-funded enough to handle one of these. Uh, we have one of the lowest assumed rate of returns in Georgia in the country, uh, or is at 5.75%, and we're about 90% funded and more than meeting our, um, actuar- actuarially determined contribution. So we, we feel we can handle this.

60. 0:27:52

    Do you ... Pardon me. Do you have ... Excuse me. Do you have guardrails set up so if your fund starts being depleted faster than it should, that it would alert you, your board, so that you could make changes?

61. 0:28:10

    Yeah, we have a funding policy. So, uh, to this point, um, the only real benefit increases that I've dealt with, and I've been at the fire, you know, I've been at the fund now for over 16 years, are, are these COLAs. And we, we do, we treat this as sort of like a, a big COLA, and the, the standard procedure for us is we have to, before the board can vote yes on a COLA, we have to make sure that we're at least 80% funded after the COLA is done, and that we are still meeting our, uh, annual, uh, required contribution.

62. 0:28:48

    And so we meet those standards in both these cases. But once it's done, it's done, but we'll s- continue to put those guardrails with every decision we make going forward.

63. 0:28:59

    Okay. Anybody else have any questions?

64. 0:29:04

    What's the will of the committee?

65. 0:29:10

    Mr. Chairman, uh, provided that as a student of politics, I'm especially impressed by the senator moving this bill through committee on the day when the fire chiefs were at the Capitol. If we, if we had even thought about questioning this bill, I think we're, we're intimidated by the sea of faces. So with that urgency, I move do pass on the bill.

66. 0:29:28

    All right. Well, you are recognized, and I do appreciate it.

67. 0:29:31

    Thank you.

68. 0:29:32

    And we're going to, uh, we're-

69. 0:29:34

    I didn't hear the second

70. 0:29:35

    ... I need the amendment, if you will do pass-

71. 0:29:38

    And my understanding is somebody at this point can move the amendment, so I just want to get the do pass motion out, out of the way-

72. 0:29:44

    Okay

73. 0:29:44

    ... so that we can get the friendly amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

74. 0:29:46

    I need a second on the do pass and then we'll go to amendment.

75. 0:29:49

    Okay. And you-

76. 0:29:51

    I, I would love to do the do pass, and I guess I can ask my question later. I, I did have a question about the investment of the 20% in assets in alternative investments, but I guess I can do that offline-

77. 0:30:04

    Okay

78. 0:30:04

    ... uh, because, uh, I don't want to slow down, um, distinguished senator and the-

79. 0:30:09

    Thank you so much, Senator

80. 0:30:10

    ... so I second it.

81. 0:30:12

    So we have a second now.

82. 0:30:14

    Now.

83. 0:30:15

    Senator Goodman, you, you'll be recognized.

84. 0:30:17

    Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, now that, uh, we're into I think the time that it's appropriate to do it, um, based on, uh, uh, what, uh, Chairman Albers has asked us, I would like to, uh, make an amendment to this bill to strike all of section four. Is that not correct, Chairman?

85. 0:30:37

    That, that was exactly what I said as well, was maybe on lines, uh, 212 and 215 we change the date to 2027 too, just to bring it up to date.

86. 0:30:47

    Okay. 2012, okay. Lines-

87. 0:30:51

    Line 212-

88. 0:30:53

    And-

89. 0:30:53

    ... July 1, 2027

90. 0:30:55

    ... '27. That was, that was 26 of last year. Oh, no, I'm sorry.

91. 0:30:59

    No, you're right.

92. 0:30:59

    No, 26 is fine.

93. 0:31:00

    That's what I had.

94. 0:31:00

    I'm sorry. Just, just do section four.

95. 0:31:01

    Yeah.

96. 0:31:02

    My bad. Just section four. The folks behind us are expecting 26.

97. 0:31:05

    Okay. My bad.

98. 0:31:05

    Okay.

99. 0:31:06

    So, uh, we'll, we, we will leave that alone and then-

100. 0:31:09

     Thank you

101. 0:31:09

     ... we will, um, merely just to make sure we got it right, we're just gonna strike section four.

102. 0:31:13

     Thank you.

103. 0:31:13

     So that is, that is the motion I'd like to make, Mr. Chairman.

104. 0:31:17

     All right. I have a motion-

105. 0:31:19

     Second

106. 0:31:19

     ... and a second from Senator Echols. Any discussion? All in favor say aye.

107. 0:31:26

     Aye.

108. 0:31:27

     Any opposed? So carried. Now back to the Senate Bill 143, LC 56-0297 as amended.

109. 0:31:40

     Make a motion do pass.

110. 0:31:42

     Have a motion do pass by Senator Goodman, and a second by Senator McLaren. All in favor say aye.

111. 0:31:52

     Aye.

112. 0:31:53

     Any opposed? So carried. Thank you.

113. 0:31:57

     Mr. Chairman, committee members, you made Georgia safe today. Thank you so much. God bless you.

114. 0:32:00

     Thank you. Thank you for all of you being here today.

115. 0:32:02

     Thank y'all.

116. 0:32:03

     Thank you for coming.

117. 0:32:04

     My brother is a fireman.

118. 0:32:07

     Good. Thank y'all. Thank you.

119. 0:32:13

     Retired. We're just so appreciative.

120. 0:32:15

     How you doing?

121. 0:32:15

     Thank you for your service.

122. 0:32:16

     Thank you.

123. 0:32:17

     Thank you.

124. 0:32:17

     Thank you, sir. Thank you.

125. 0:32:21

     My little brother is going-

126. 0:32:23

     Little what?

127. 0:32:23

     Little brother went into a fire and he

128. 0:32:30

     retired.

129. 0:32:31

     All right, uh, next on the agenda, Senator Hickman, Senate Bill 150 Do you have anyone, uh, that you're bringing up to- Well- -sit with you? With you, yes.

130. 0:32:50

     All right, Senator Hickman, we're, um...

131. 0:32:57

     This is Senate Bill 150, and we're working off LC 56-0522s. Is that correct?

132. 0:33:07

     That is correct. That is correct, sir.

133. 0:33:07

     All right. Yes, sir. The floor is yours, sir.

134. 0:33:10

     Yeah. Thank you, sir. Um, thank you, committee. Thank y'all for meeting with us, and thank you for meeting with us so timely. Um, I'm gonna go back and give a little bit of history of this thing. And I, you know, uh, as we all know in, in our very early stages of, um, being a senator, sometimes we get kind of hard-headed and don't listen to the people that we should listen to. And so I want to say that, uh, and, and, uh, Mr. Evans, um, both these guys, Jason Branch and, uh, Mr. Evans, have been tremendous helpers on this bill. We started out with a very aggressive approach on this, and I, when we, when we got the very aggressive approach to what y'all voted on last year, Senate, just strictly Senate Bill 150, was, um, was a little bit too much.

135. 0:33:50

     When we did the actual, when you had an actual study done, the cost said it was too, too high. So we went back during the summer and amended the bill. And so what we've got now is the LC 56-0522s. And I'll go through why we changed it, and, and, and I think you'll, uh, hopefully you'll like it 'cause it's, it's a very, very good bill. I cannot overstate and reiterate the emphasis of teacher shortages that we have in Georgia. Um, and I want to read a, read, read a quote that actually came out of, um, uh, Jody Barrow's, um, Senate Resolution 237.

136. 0:34:28

     It says, "Georgia cannot deliver on its commitment to students without a strong, stable workforce. Educators are the only workforce whose performance determines the quality and size of all future workforces." That's pretty profound. So let me give you just kind of back of where I'm coming from. Evans County, one of the counties that I represent, um, started out in August of this year when school started in K through five with six vacancies in K through five.

137. 0:35:01

     Um, Brad Anderson, who is the superintendent over there, I talked to him two weeks ago, two Sundays ago, and in those six vacancies, they, they still had three vacancies. Three classrooms at Evans County K through five, the highest level person in that classroom had a high school diploma. So you got kids that have now gone to school for seven months with the person in the classroom with a high school diploma. We got a severe teacher shortage. So, so we, we were very, very happy that y'all passed Senate Bill 150 and sent it on.

138. 0:35:36

     Um, we are currently working under a House Bill 385 that actually expired June 30th of this year. And if y'all recall, House Bill 385, a very effective bill and very timely bill, but it drew more attention to what I'm talking about today. But it only applied to the bottom 25% schools. If you remember, the bottom 25% is 180 or 81-

139. 0:35:59

     81

140. 0:35:59

     ... 181 school districts in Georgia. And so you line them up one to 181, the bottom 25% is the bottom 25% from the bottom. Um, Evans County, as I mentioned to you a few minutes ago, is in that bottom 25%. Well, House Bill 585 only applied to that bottom 25%. But what I'm here to tell you today, teacher shortage is throughout Georgia. It's not only the bottom 25%, it's in all schools in Georgia. That bill was very effective. In 2023, uh, it brought back 242 teachers.

141. 0:36:31

     '24 brought, it brought back 382 teachers. '25, it brought back 471 teachers, and '26, it brought back 430 teachers. Well, all that, you, you know, that sounds very incredible, and it sounds, and it, we are very fortunate those teachers came back. But let me tell you what Jody Barrow, who is the, um, head of Professional Standards Commission, has told us the real teacher shortage in Georgia is. And, and I've shared these numbers with you last year, but I have an update for you. In '23, '24, there was 6,000 vacancies in Georgia for teachers, unfilled slot.

142. 0:37:08

     In '24, '25, there was 5,300. So we've made some headway there. The problem is, in '26, we got 5,358 vacancies in Georgia for teachers. Now, three of those vacancies are in Evans County, as I told you earlier. 5,358 classrooms in Georgia. That sounds almost unbelievable, but those are directly from Jody Barrow, head of Professional Standards Commission. So, so our bill, um, it, along with the help of, um, of Mr.

143. 0:37:43

     Butler Edmunds and Jason Branch, said we need to expand that. We need to not only look at the 25% schools, we need to look at all schools in Georgia. So our, our bill, Return to Work bill, has a provision that most teachers, as I've been told by TRS, are now retiring at the end of 25 years. So our bill allows teachers to come back at the end of 25 years and come back in the classroom. What we were very aggressive on, and I'd say I was very aggressive on, I wanted them to, I wanted them to almost be able to come back immediately upon retirement.

144. 0:38:18

     And of course, when we ran the actual numbers on that, it was, the numbers were just prohibitive. So the bill now has been amended that they will come back after one year. So a teacher retires, they can still go into that 49% mode.

145. 0:38:33

     Yes, sir.

146. 0:38:34

     They can still go in that 49% mode and, and work 49% for that first year, and then enter the end of first year, then come back full-time as a full-time teacher in the classroom and draw the retirement and draw the teacher pay. Okay? So- Our bill also is in every public school in Georgia is, um, uh, has, has a right to do this, not just the 25% schools. Even though 25% was good, this applies to all of Georgia. Um,

147. 0:39:06

     we have also looked at, looked at which classes this applies to, and this applies to English language arts, ELA. I'll come refer to ELA, English language arts, science, social studies, special education, mathematics, career technical agricultural education. Those are the subjects these teachers can come back to. Our bill has a six, it has, excuse me, has a eight-year sunset.

148. 0:39:38

     It will sunset June the 3rd of '24. And if we do what we should in the general assembly, we should be f- we should be able to fill that gap of those teachers in eight years. I know we're working real hard. I know the Senate has made a big priority for literacy this year, and I know the House has, and the governor has followed. Um, but also along with that, any of these teachers that come back into English language arts, they do have to have the training and the endorsement in dyslexia training, and they also have to have the, have to be trained in science for reading.

149. 0:40:14

     Most important part about, one of the most important part about this is that there is no cost, and you have it in your folder. There is no cost to the TRS sy- system, the program, for this, for the, the Senate Bill 150.

150. 0:40:31

     So I would ask y'all to vote yes on this. Vote for our teachers, and vote most of all for our students. This is a vote for our students. This is a vote to have qualified, more qualified teachers in each classroom so that do not have teachers, and we would open it for, for questions.

151. 0:40:49

     Senator Clark.

152. 0:40:51

     Senator, thanks for bringing the bill. Um, just want to commend you on your work on literacy in general. I think you do a fantastic job of it. I think you're one of the foremost leaders in the state on this issue, and for good reason. And, uh, and, and, you know, just to highlight for the committee that you faced a, a financial challenge in the off-season. You had to make a decision about how to proceed with the bill, and to me, it seems like you've targeted the very utmost need for the bill.

153. 0:41:14

     Right.

154. 0:41:14

     That, that you have targeted the focus on what we absolutely can't do without. And so I just, I think it's good government, and I appreciate your work on it. Thank you.

155. 0:41:22

     Well, sir, you know, give all credit, I will give all my credit to Mr. Branch and Mr. Evans.

156. 0:41:28

     Well, thank you.

157. 0:41:31

     Senator Orrock.

158. 0:41:34

     Thank you very much, uh, uh, Mr., uh, Mr. Chair. And, uh, to the au- author, uh, I would, uh, echo my colleague's comments on the leading role that you have played and the, the, uh, uh, r- really critical role that you've played in, in, in, in m- move- moving the needle on, uh, our K through 12, uh, education system. And, uh, I, I had a question about the, the current dyslexia or reading endorsement.

159. 0:42:05

     Um, is that, is that something that is obtained by the, by the teacher that wishing to return? The, the, the... How do, how do they get that, that, uh, qualification, uh, established?

160. 0:42:20

     Well, first of all, in, in all of our literacy, the la- literacy, uh, bills last year or so, you know, dyslexia, we recognize l- dyslexia is a, is a real problem. 20% of people experience some form of dyslexia. And then we've also went from, we've, we've now adopted the science of reading.

161. 0:42:38

     Uh-huh.

162. 0:42:38

     So, um, I would have to defer that as how they get those endorsements through, uh-

163. 0:42:45

     Sure.

164. 0:42:45

     Yes, sir.

165. 0:42:45

     There's, there's, uh, training opportunities through RESAs, the Regional Educational Service Agencies, and then many school systems will offer the training through that in partnership. So many of the different schools or teachers that would wanna do that would have lots of options to do that.

166. 0:43:01

     And is that, is that true, uh, in our more rural, uh, school systems as, as well as... You know, I'm up here in Atlanta.

167. 0:43:09

     Yes, ma'am.

168. 0:43:09

     And, uh, that's, that's a big difference of, of, a lot of times of what, of the availability in, uh, um, a more rural areas of the state. What, do you have any reflections on that?

169. 0:43:19

     Yeah. To my knowledge, they're, they're offered through all the different RESAs-

170. 0:43:22

     Uh-huh

171. 0:43:23

     ... uh, throughout our state. So there's opportunities for that training and-

172. 0:43:26

     Right. Right. Uh, well, I'm ready for a motion when the chair's ready to accept one.

173. 0:43:33

     We got a few people wanting-

174. 0:43:34

     Certainly. Thank you.

175. 0:43:35

     Yeah. We got a few people who want to speak on this, so we'll get there in a minute.

176. 0:43:39

     Mm-hmm.

177. 0:43:40

     Senator Goodman.

178. 0:43:41

     Well, first off, Mr. Chairman, I, uh, s- support your bill, um, 100%. I carried, uh, s- Senate Bill 88, I think in my freshman year for the governor, the teacher, uh, pipeline-

179. 0:43:52

     Right

180. 0:43:52

     ... package bill. Um, but just a question for y'all, 'cause I'm married to a third-generation-

181. 0:43:57

     I remember that

182. 0:43:58

     ... school teacher.

183. 0:43:59

     I know her. I know her.

184. 0:43:59

     And, uh, she's this-

185. 0:44:00

     She's 10 feet.

186. 0:44:00

     That's right. You know, she's a CTA director.

187. 0:44:03

     Oh, really?

188. 0:44:03

     Um, and so, and I was an ag econ major at Georgia, so I'm a little bit of a numbers guy. Uh, and I'm all about anything that gives teachers flexibility and that, you know, make sure that we have qualified people in the classrooms. Um, but why would somebody, when you retire at 25 years, you, you, you get 50%, and you go to 30 years, you get 60%. And when you think about the COLAs that are involved in it, and, you know, W- Warren Buffett said that compounding interest is the eighth wonder of the world.

189. 0:44:30

     Yeah.

190. 0:44:30

     If somebody's gonna go back into teaching-

191. 0:44:33

     Mm-hmm

192. 0:44:33

     ... you know, and I love the fact that you, they can, that you actually mentioned that they can still go back in, because I'm like you. I would've wanted to make it where they could do it immediately, but then come in at 49%.

193. 0:44:43

     Uh, right.

194. 0:44:43

     Mm-hmm.

195. 0:44:43

     But, you know, I've had these conversations with my wife, too.

196. 0:44:48

     Sure.

197. 0:44:48

     So I guess that's, you know. But, uh, if somebody's gonna continue teaching, why not stay on and get the 60%, and then it compounds for the rest of their life? What, well, just curious.

198. 0:44:58

     Well, you know, it, I, I kind of relate it a little bit like when people drawing Social Security. Some people start at, uh, start at 66 and a half, whatever it is, uh, and as opposed to waiting till 70. And if they wait till 70, they get so many more, so much more dollars. I think it's just a matter of a mental thing. I just ready to get out of it and start drawing my retirement. Now, I'm sure he's got a better answer than I got.

199. 0:45:21

     Yeah, if I may. Um, the 25 years is a representation of what our average retiree looks like. Our average retiree retires at 60. Their average years of service are 25.5 years of service. So this bill seeks to capture the average retiree and make them available for return to work. Currently, it's 30 years, and so you are missing out on some of your average retirees by that years of service.

200. 0:45:52

     The majority of individuals, like you said, would go for 30. They would retire, then they would come back after that year of, of waiting out and return to service. And, uh, the audit actually reflected that they return after about four, four and a half years. So it, most of are not, you know, the, the average is, is taking a little bit more time before they return. But they're, they're not retiring early to take advantage of this, and that's what the, the, uh, audit showed.

201. 0:46:23

     Senator, I, I'd be surprised if, if every member of this committee hadn't received calls on this bill wanting to know the status of it, wanting to know when it's gonna get passed. They're so, I know it, they're so excited all- ... from, from the mountains of North Georgia to the s- to the beaches of Sou- of- They're so-

202. 0:46:43

     I can party, I can promise.

203. 0:46:43

     Yeah.

204. 0:46:44

     That, that almost sounds like a patriotic song.

205. 0:46:48

     Could be.

206. 0:46:48

     Let's see. Senator Mangham.

207. 0:46:51

     Yes, thank you, uh, Senator-

208. 0:46:52

     Yes, sir

209. 0:46:52

     ... for bringing this bill. I have heard some people talk about it, and that's why I wanted to try to get a little clarity. Uh, you mentioned several categories of, uh, areas of study, and I ment- and you mentioned that, uh, in 2026, we have 5,358 vacancies. Are those, English, language arts, are those divided by areas? For example, science teachers, math teachers, or what, arts teachers.

210. 0:47:25

     How is that divided? And, and of that 5,358, how many of those different categories are impacted by this bill? Because I guess the previous bill was gonna cost too much because it was gonna cover too many people. Is that what, what the situation was?

211. 0:47:41

     No, sir. The, it, so the previous bill was just the bottom 25% schools.

212. 0:47:46

     Oh, okay.

213. 0:47:47

     Okay. But if you look at the... And I, and I was looking at a report on the previous bill last night, and the majority of the people came back for special ed.

214. 0:47:56

     Uh-huh.

215. 0:47:57

     Okay.

216. 0:47:58

     Sure did. I mean, a huge amount of people came back for special ed.

217. 0:48:03

     Okay.

218. 0:48:04

     Okay, thank you. Anyone else have any questions?

219. 0:48:07

     I do.

220. 0:48:08

     Okay.

221. 0:48:09

     Uh, th- th- thank you. And not, not to prolong things, but I come from a family of educators, and, uh, uh, the, the life circumstances, n- none of us can ever roll the dice and predict. Uh, my, my sister took an earlier retirement because my mother was in a battle with terminal cancer, and she m- made her priorities and, and, uh, acted accordingly, and so I, I, I just think that's, that's part of the answer. Uh, uh, you can have a personal health issue. You can have a, a, that's either mental or physical.

222. 0:48:39

     You can have a family member in need. Um, and, um, uh, uh, the, this, this, this gives flexibility-

223. 0:48:47

     It does

224. 0:48:47

     ... to take all of those things into account and to, uh, you know, continue to build our, our, our, uh, pipeline, uh, of bringing teachers in. And I would add that the, uh, the governor's response to, uh, uh, needs-based financial aid, uh, uh, to, to help more students who have financial issues-

225. 0:49:11

     Mm

226. 0:49:11

     ... getting, uh, p- paying for college costs, um, uh, a- and setting up this endowment that's gonna grow-

227. 0:49:18

     Mm-hmm

228. 0:49:18

     ... so that more, we- we're, we're bringing more students out, out of high school into, uh, post-secondary education. Uh, translation of, of growing more teachers.

229. 0:49:30

     That's right.

230. 0:49:30

     Uh, and, and I think that that's gonna, that's gonna be an important step forward, uh, for our state. 40 other, 48 other states do it already. So it's, it's, it's a good thing, and it's, it's, l- let's, let's, uh, y- you know, invest in growing that population of students that, uh, get through college and, uh, are, are dying to teach.

231. 0:49:53

     Well, I think this, this might be a little bit premature, but it's not pr- premature now. We have been working, the House and the Senate education committees have been working on a major literacy bill for probably about, about three months, and we just got the blue backing on it this morning.

232. 0:50:09

     Mm-hmm.

233. 0:50:09

     And so we will be sharing that in the next couple of days. But I think we all are finally... And, and, and really it's come about, I, I really believe it's come about because people understand the numbers.

234. 0:50:20

     Yeah.

235. 0:50:20

     The numbers. You know, it's one thing to say our children c- so we, we need teachers, and everybody thinks it's in, in somebody else's county. But when I tell you the county right next door to me, uh, 20, uh, about 20 miles from my house, has got three vacancies and these children have been in that classroom for seven months, seven months now-

236. 0:50:39

     Mm-hmm

237. 0:50:39

     ... with only a high school diploma in the classroom.

238. 0:50:40

     That's un- that's, that's remarkable. Yeah.

239. 0:50:43

     Yeah.

240. 0:50:43

     Yeah.

241. 0:50:44

     Thank you. Thank you.

242. 0:50:44

     Time to change.

243. 0:50:45

     Thank you, Senator.

244. 0:50:46

     Senator Goodman.

245. 0:50:47

     Uh, Mr. Chairman, at the appropriate time, I'd like to make a motion do pass.

246. 0:50:52

     Well, we have, uh, three speakers. Do y'all wanna speak, or you wanna just pass the bill?

247. 0:51:02

     Isn't that a funny thing?

248. 0:51:10

     We have a motion and a-

249. 0:51:12

     We have to second

250. 0:51:12

     ... second. I'll say the school superintendent.

251. 0:51:14

     And I'm head over.

252. 0:51:16

     I thought I might save you a little time, Commissioner. Oh, it was the, we'll get the formalities.

253. 0:51:20

     Nope.

254. 0:51:21

     Any other, uh, any other discussion? We have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye.

255. 0:51:29

     Aye.

256. 0:51:30

     Any opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Your bill is passed. Thank you, Committee. Thank y'all. Commissioner Woods, I hope that was, uh, suitable with you, sir. Hey, you got the bill passed. That was a happy dance. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

257. 0:51:44

     There's no different port in the, uh, amendments.

258. 0:51:47

     Yes. All right. We, uh, got another bill here. Let's see.

259. 0:51:57

     Senator Harbin, Senate Bill 261.

260. 0:52:02

     Yes, Chair Senator.

261. 0:52:03

     And I see you have the vice governor with you today.

262. 0:52:07

     Yes, vice governor here. He's the executive director of, of funds. Brought the big guns.

263. 0:52:15

     All right. Thank you. We're, uh, Senate Bill 261, LC 56-0520S.

264. 0:52:25

     Yes, correct.

265. 0:52:26

     The floor is yours.

266. 0:52:27

     Thank you, sir. Thank you. I think it's interesting that we are dealing with retirement as we see people getting older. And I think that one of the things that we've seen happen is that people have failed, many times, to prepare for retirement, and that creates problems as we see it. And I think all the bills that we've talked about already are really people being responsible, which is really good. And for us especially, uh, in that respect, we have teachers, we have firemen, we have magistrate judges that are there.

267. 0:52:57

     And I think that's a good part of what this bill's about. We- we, uh, presented it last year, the- the first version, uh, of it. And of course it was the actuarial studies. And then we made some small changes to that. And we did another actuarial study, so that's already been done, uh, from that standpoint. Uh, the bill is fairly simple, I would say, as far as that portion. Um, and- and I'll just- I'm gonna brief, then I'm gonna let Homer talk about those specifically, or Mr. Bison. And he is, um, the executive director of the, uh, Retirement Funds of Georgia.

268. 0:53:28

     So he's qualified to, uh, to tell us about that. But there's gonna be an inc- they're requesting a, a membership increase, increasing the dues, uh, from, uh, three point, um, 3.42 to 4%, uh, with a salary cap. There's gonna be a, a, a early retirement, uh, option that's gonna be offered that will offer 55, but there's also a penalty for doing that as well that reduces it by 3%. And then basically the, uh, multiplier there is, uh, that- that being changed, and then the increase in compensation.

269. 0:54:01

     But give me a... Give us, if you will, 'cause what you gave me as we walked through this, it's really not that... They're paying their own way is what they're doing, and it's not affecting any of the solvency of the plan.

270. 0:54:14

     That's correct. I think this is, uh, one of the few times that, uh, people will sit in front of a committee, and thank you for your time today, and, uh, to say we're not asking for any state dollars. We don't receive any state dollars. And the changes that are envisioned within this bill will be funded within the current structure of our fund. We're a relatively small fund, uh, with limited membership. It's well-funded, well over 100% funded. The changes that we're making are more operational, sort of like with the teachers to build in some flexibility because as you get older things change.

271. 0:54:52

     And so that's really what this is about. In fact, one of those is when this, uh, uh, retirement fund was first established, uh, one of the other changes that we're requesting is the composition of the board membership.

272. 0:55:04

     Mm-hmm.

273. 0:55:05

     Uh, currently it requires five active members, judges, on the board. But most retirement funds allow for one retired member of the fund to be on it. So we're requesting that change. In addition, that was a substitute. That's the only other change. But the senator has spoken to the other changes. And be glad to answer any questions.

274. 0:55:30

     But we're not asking for money, and that's a good thing.

275. 0:55:32

     Right. I saw on the, uh, report from the Department of Audits and Accounts, it had zero impact. And, uh, so are there any questions from any committee member?

276. 0:55:50

     No questions. So- Should we ask the lawyer to make the motion or no?

277. 0:55:57

     So moved.

278. 0:55:58

     Yeah, one of us. So we have a- have a motion from Senator Mangham.

279. 0:56:07

     Over here.

280. 0:56:08

     Second. And a second from Senator Goodman. And, uh, did you have something to say? Okay. I was, I was gonna say. Okay. All right. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye.

281. 0:56:23

     Aye.

282. 0:56:23

     Any opposed? So carried unanimous. Thank you.

283. 0:56:26

     Thank you, sir.

284. 0:56:27

     Very much. Thank you, Senator Harbin, and thanks to the committee. And we do notice, uh, Mr. Potvin, uh, y'all here and the others, uh, from- Oh, he's back- ... PRS. Back row. Yeah. He was hiding. He was in there in need to.

285. 0:56:40

     I want to go to the back row.

286. 0:56:41

     But, uh- Hmm ... did you have anything, uh, you wanted to address us, Mr. Potvin, uh, while you got us together?

287. 0:56:51

     Uh, no, sir.

288. 0:56:51

     Okay. Well, thank you very much. Didn't want to put you on the spot, but, uh, we'll stand adjourned.

289. 0:57:32

     Thank you.