Comité Retirement del Senado, 10 de marzo de 2026

Transcripción

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1. 0:14:42

   Thank you. I appreciate your, that. But, uh, we're gonna get started. This is a hearing only, as I understand it, on, uh... And, but, um, before we start, I'm gonna let my good friend from, uh, the, the, the South Georgia, from Homer, Homerville, Georgia, uh, say a, a prayer for us. Okay?

2. 0:14:59

   I'd be glad to.

3. 0:15:00

   Thank you, sir.

4. 0:15:00

   Would y'all pray with me please. 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 great blessing that it is to call ourselves Americans and Georgians. And Lord, as we, uh, we go about this meeting, Lord, we just ask that you bless it. We ask that you grant us wisdom and discernment, Lord, so that we can make the best decisions on behalf of the 11 million Georgians we represent, Lord. And we thank you for the honor, Lord. And thank you again, Lord, for all your many blessings. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

5. 0:15:30

   Amen.

6. 0:15:31

   Amen. All right. Let's see. It looks like we have, and it says, um, HB 372 Ballard.

7. 0:15:41

   Yep.

8. 0:15:41

   Oh. Very good.

9. 0:15:46

   And if you will tell us, we know who you are, tell us what you're about. Good to see you. Thank you and welcome to, uh, retirement. I'm sorry you, oops. I'm sorry you didn't get to, to, uh, have, uh, Mr. Rick Williams. He's my, he's one of my favorites. He's the one that says it's always good to see you, and always says, "Yeah, better to be seen than viewed by you." That's my, uh, my nor-

10. 0:16:07

    Absolutely

11. 0:16:07

    ... my normal, uh, that. But, uh-

12. 0:16:09

    Thanks

13. 0:16:09

    ... tell us, tell us about, uh, HB 72.

14. 0:16:15

    Okay. Um, I've got-

15. 0:16:16

    72 or 73?

16. 0:16:17

    372.

17. 0:16:18

    372. Okay.

18. 0:16:19

    And it's LC 56-0420S.

19. 0:16:22

    Okay.

20. 0:16:23

    Um, in the 2022 session, the House created a teacher return to work program that simply allows retired teachers to return to the classroom. Um, and that program set, sunsets in June. So it's imperative that we, um, continue this program. So what House Bill 372 does, it moves out the sunset of the program to 2030. It continues to allow teachers with 30 years of creditable service to return to the classroom in a high-need subject area after being retired for one year.

21. 0:16:57

    Uh, the districts over the years of this program have asked for a little bit more local control. The original program, the high-needs area was set by the RESAs. And so in, um, in this new bill, I have changed that a little bit and let each individual school district pick their areas of high needs. Because our RESAs are so diverse now, um, it's just a little bit easier for them if they have a little of that measure of local control. Um, the other change that I made, which was a suggestion of Pro Tem Jones, um, now that the program has been in effect and, um...

22. 0:17:36

    Like, let's say you're a math teacher, but you, you've been hired back and you're doing great, but math is not, is no longer a high needs area. Under the current program, you would have to be let go. Um, so I've proposed in this bill that even if m- if your subject area is no longer considered high needs, your school district does not have to let you go. They can retain you as a teacher, because we wanna keep those good teachers in the classroom and keep our class sizes low, as low as we can.

23. 0:18:09

    Um, so that is the bill. I would welcome any, uh, questions as we go forward.

24. 0:18:15

    I, I have a few. Just sh- this, this, uh, we're having to fix the sunset on this so that it will extend, correct?

25. 0:18:20

    Yes, yes.

26. 0:18:21

    Okay. And we've got teacher, a teacher with 30 years of experience means you've got some teachers that are there that have experience, things of that nature-

27. 0:18:31

    Mm-hmm

28. 0:18:31

    ... that can work and receive their retirement at the same time-

29. 0:18:34

    Yes

30. 0:18:34

    ... correct? Um, and I think that's great as far as that portion, and I hope they bring their discipline and other things that, from long ago with them from that standpoint. So that, that, that, that's really the purpose, is to fill the gap of our shortage of teachers with teachers that have experience, and they can still get their retirement and get a salary as well.

31. 0:18:53

    Yes.

32. 0:18:54

    I'm gonna ask this, are they subject to benefits as well when they, for instance, if a teacher's worked, started at 25, they're 55 years old, are they allowed to have benefits as well from that standpoint?

33. 0:19:05

    So they will not gain more years of creditable service.

34. 0:19:10

    Okay.

35. 0:19:10

    And as far as their health benefits go, it would be just like an, uh, a regular teacher-

36. 0:19:14

    Mm-hmm

37. 0:19:14

    ... where they'd pay percent and the, and the school district would.

38. 0:19:17

    Okay.

39. 0:19:17

    But, uh, back to the, um, the, the point you brought up about the teacher vacancies, we have 5,300 teacher vacancies currently, um, in the State of Georgia. Um, so this program, it, it's not needed everywhere, but the districts that need this program really need it.

40. 0:19:38

    The, you mentioned that. I'm gonna ask this question 'cause I'm not sure. If these are people who are teaching students, not administrative k- issues, this is a teacher that's teaching a student-

41. 0:19:47

    Yes

42. 0:19:47

    ... rather than an administrator.

43. 0:19:48

    These are not administrators.

44. 0:19:49

    Okay. Okay. Um, anybody else committee-wise? We got any questions?

45. 0:19:55

    I've just got one question. Uh, sorry I was-

46. 0:19:57

    There you go

47. 0:19:58

    ... getting a text from Commissioner of Agriculture there. Um-

48. 0:20:03

    We hear the phone rings

49. 0:20:03

    ... I think, I carried Senate Bill 88 back in '22 for the governor.

50. 0:20:07

    Okay.

51. 0:20:07

    And I think that's, that's where this started at. I was just curious, um, because, uh, Senator Hickman has a bill, but, uh, his bill is, you know, they can retire at 25 years a- and come back after a year. But I was just wondering how that's gonna work with your two bills or if y'all have talked.

52. 0:20:27

    Um, we are, we are talking and, and my goal, um, is to get this done for the teachers, and hopefully Senator Hickman and I can take the best parts of, of each bill. Um, the one thing with h- with his, uh, with the 25 years, they can retire, but it is not a full retirement, and we need to make sure that we are educating our teachers that even if they choose not to return after 25 years, they are still gonna get that penalty.

53. 0:20:54

    Yeah.

54. 0:20:55

    Um-

55. 0:20:55

    It goes from 60 to 50.

56. 0:20:56

    Yeah. So we need to just... There, there might be m- some education that needs to be done, 'cause we don't want them to think that they, um, get full retirement at 25 years, because that's not the case.

57. 0:21:11

    There he is.

58. 0:21:14

    Any other questions?

59. 0:21:17

    Mr. Chairman, I want to get a little more clarity on that.

60. 0:21:19

    Yes, sir.

61. 0:21:19

    The difference between the 25 years, what benefits at 25 years versus 30 years, 'cause they don't get full. Is it a 55%? I, I forgot what it-

62. 0:21:30

    I think it's a percentage off per year. Um, I think I wanna say 7% between 25 and, and, and 30. But it- they definitely take a big penalty if they choose to do at 25.

63. 0:21:44

    My understanding. Sorry, Mr. Chairman. I'm, uh, my understanding is, my wife's a schoolteacher. I'm, I'm, I'm pretty sure on this. It's 60% at 30 years, and at 25 years it's 50% of your salary. Um, what I'm not sure of, and Representative Ballard, y- y- you may know, um, Jason, is, uh, between 25 and 30, how that works. I'm ... Do you know, um, Representative Ballard? I, I don't.

64. 0:22:13

    Um, I j- I just know that it's a penalty, um, and that, you know, I think that that was, uh, in the original legislation from several years ago. I think that's why it was set at 30, is so that we would encourage teachers to stay and get their full retirement.

65. 0:22:31

    D- Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask Jason just, just-

66. 0:22:35

    Yeah, go ahead

67. 0:22:35

    ... w- what is it? 'Cause I don't know between, like, what if you retire at 27 years or 28?

68. 0:22:45

    So the, uh, penalty for, uh, early retirement is 7% per year. So it would be 7% penalty for any year adding. So if you retired at 25 years, you'd have a 7% penalty for those five years e- each year. So the 25.5 was the average teacher's re- the average teacher retires at 60 years of age with 25.5 years of service.

69. 0:23:17

    So the early, as, uh, Representative Ballard said, this is not, um, about retiring earlier in 25 years. It was about, in the other bill, it was about capturing, uh, the average retiree so that more teachers may be able to return to work. There is a lot of confusion out there currently as it relates to that, and I know that, uh, we've worked with TRS and Paige and other groups to try to clarify that for our members.

70. 0:23:50

    Somebody did a TikTok putting out that misinformation that, uh, the 25 years would be the new retirement age.

71. 0:23:57

    Uh-huh.

72. 0:23:57

    And our boring facts cannot counteract a fun TikTok.

73. 0:24:02

    So but just d- where I understand it, though, it is, I've, I've been told this by, I guess if I'm wrong, then I've sure heard it in a lot of places. It's 50% at 25 years and, uh, 60% at 30 years.

74. 0:24:16

    If you're age 60 and you have 10 years or more, you can retire with any number of years, and it is 2% per year. So, uh, that would be correct. If you were 60 years old and you wanted to retire with 25 years of experience, then you would retire with 50% versus 60. If you were not 60 years old, then you would have to have the penalty or hold off to receive benefits.

75. 0:24:43

    All right. Who's number 12?

76. 0:24:45

    That's me.

77. 0:24:45

    All right.

78. 0:24:46

    Representative Ballard. You may or may not can answer the question, but as I'm looking at this, we're bringing teachers that have been or that are retired back into the system, and they are, they're able to receive their retirement, and then they're going also to be paid, I'm assuming, a full salary-

79. 0:25:04

    Yes

80. 0:25:04

    ... just like anybody else would. But still, because we're not having to fund their retirement, 'cause we're not refunding far- retirement anymore becau- uh, because they've already retired, the financial issue is that I've got a teacher that's experienced and doesn't need to be trained versus a new person coming into the system that I've got to get trained and up to speed from that standpoint. Is there any kinda number that, of, of savings, because you've got some issues there. My question is, this seems to be a more economical way to fill the gap than just even bringing new, and we're having a problem bringing new.

81. 0:25:42

    Am I correct on that?

82. 0:25:43

    Well, with 5,300 teacher vacancies, I'd say we're having a problem-

83. 0:25:47

    Right

84. 0:25:48

    ... bringing new people in.

85. 0:25:50

    But is it financially for the st- for, for the state to bring in a, an experienced teacher, it would seem like, over bringing in even a new one. Is, is there any kinda number as far as the difference between the two of those? I have no idea. I guess if you've got 30 years, you're gonna be at a higher pay ro- rate than a new person coming in, but I think it's a great way to, to fill the gap from that standpoint. Okay.

86. 0:26:16

    It's kinda confusing to me what you said then. If someone retires, while they're working and retirement is being withdrawn from their paycheck, and is that, is that how that retirement fund is set up? That you're actually the employee that's making a contribution to their retirement, and is the school system matching that contribution?

87. 0:26:47

    Yes, sir. So the employee pays 6% in, um, and the employer pay in 22, uh, .32%.

88. 0:26:57

    Okay. Now, when that person comes back to work, they're not, they're not, you're not contributing to retirement, so they will actually make 6% more than they were making before because it won't be deducted?

89. 0:27:18

    The, the employer is still responsible for both the, uh, 6% and the 22.32%. So, yeah

90. 0:27:26

    So even when they come back after they've retired, then that 22% is still going in and 6% is being deducted from that employee's salary?

91. 0:27:38

    Not from the employee. The employer is required to pay both.

92. 0:27:43

    Okay. So there's no benefit actually to the school system at all. It's still costing you the same.

93. 0:27:56

    Well, I suppose the benefit would be that you have a teacher in the classroom, um, whereas you had none-

94. 0:28:03

    Right

95. 0:28:03

    ... before.

96. 0:28:04

    No, I, I understand that, yeah, and that shortage of teachers. It was just starting to kind of get convoluted on the figuring of how that salary and stuff was going. Let's see there, um, number five.

97. 0:28:17

    Yeah, that, y- you were hitting on it, but, um, if the school system will pay the 6% and the 22%, and I thought that you, Representative Bell, you said that they didn't get any creditable, any more credit. When will they receive 100% retirement? I guess I need to ask that. Under what circumstances do you get 100% retirement, and what per- and, and why, and what is this 22% and this 6% going to after they return?

98. 0:28:48

    Is it building up anything, or where does it go? When do you get 100%? Under what circumstances? Retirement.

99. 0:28:57

    Yeah.

100. 0:28:57

     I'll take that.

101. 0:28:57

     Yeah.

102. 0:28:58

     Uh, so they would be qualified for 60% of retirement at, uh, 30 years of service. If they return, they would continue to redraw their retirement as if they were not working, but they return to work. The employer continues to pay both the employee, employee, employer portion, and what that does is continue to fund the system in the same manner which, uh, it would be funded if it was not a return to work employee.

103. 0:29:28

     Okay.

104. 0:29:29

     Uh, and therefore, uh, s- helping assist solve the problem of the vacancies, but at the same time, also continuing to, uh-

105. 0:29:37

     Fund the program

106. 0:29:37

     ... fund the, the program. Yes.

107. 0:29:38

     Well, well, my most important question is, when do they get 100%? Under what, under what circumstance does a teacher, she gotta teach how many years and be how old to get 100%?

108. 0:29:52

     So, uh, under the current program, you could teach 40 years and receive 80%, but-

109. 0:29:58

     Ooh

110. 0:29:58

     ... but you could not receive 100%.

111. 0:30:01

     Holy crap. Is that all? Well, 40 years, we gotta do our teachers better than that, don't we? Or should we, Mr. Chairman? 40 years, and you can be 65 years old, and you're only gonna get 80%?

112. 0:30:19

     It's, it's 2% per year for credible service, yes, sir.

113. 0:30:23

     2%.

114. 0:30:24

     Yeah.

115. 0:30:24

     So I gotta do 50 years to get 100... Okay, thank you.

116. 0:30:33

     Thank you.

117. 0:30:33

     Yes, sir. I, I apologize. I came in late like the chairman because we were in Rules Committee, and I'm, I'm hopeful the vice chairman didn't pass out a gold bill while we were gone. But, um, anyway, uh, I'm trying to catch up here. So we've got 30-year retirement. We got 40-year retirement. If you retire at 25 years, is, is that not allowed now, or I'm, what am I missing here? What, what, what are we doing new here?

118. 0:31:05

     What, do you mean what the, is the change in this bill over the current program?

119. 0:31:09

     Right.

120. 0:31:10

     Um, the, under the current program, you have to be, have 30 years of service and sit out for a year. I kept that the same in this bill. The change that I made is, um, letting the individual school districts pick the high needs subject areas rather than the RESA leadership.

121. 0:31:29

     Mm-hmm.

122. 0:31:29

     And, um, the, the other change that was made in this bill, if, um, if your subject area is no longer high needs, like let's say a, a district has plenty of science teachers, that, but they don't need a sci- that's not high needs anymore, they don't have to let you go. Um, under the current plan, they would have to not renew your contract, um, because your subject area fell off the high needs list. Um, now they can keep you if they choose to.

123. 0:31:59

     So, so you're not, you're not waiting a year. What, um-

124. 0:32:02

     You do have to still wait a year.

125. 0:32:04

     You still wait a year.

126. 0:32:05

     Mm-hmm.

127. 0:32:07

     Okay, so they're not high needs, and right now when they retire you just wouldn't hire them back even if they waited a year. Is that what you're saying? I, I'm, I'm not-

128. 0:32:16

     No, under, under the current plan, like let's say you've been hired back-

129. 0:32:20

     Mm-hmm

130. 0:32:20

     ... because they needed a math teacher or a science teacher. Under the current program, the way we have it structured now, if that area fell off the list-

131. 0:32:30

     Mm-hmm

132. 0:32:30

     ... they would have to n- like just not renew your contract.

133. 0:32:33

     Okay.

134. 0:32:34

     Under this bill, um, the school district could keep you even if your subject area was not high needs.

135. 0:32:41

     All right.

136. 0:32:42

     Um, it just lets, you know, good teachers stay in the classroom if they want to.

137. 0:32:46

     And so if they retire and come back to work, they're not contributing, so that, that, do those years count for, those don't count for, towards retirement. It's, they're locked in at whatever-

138. 0:32:57

     Yeah

139. 0:32:57

     ... their retirement is.

140. 0:32:58

     Yes, sir.

141. 0:32:58

     But then they're, they're earning pay, and I guess like was mentioned, a 6% pay raise in essence, too. Okay. I'm, I'm trying to catch up where we are here, 'cause I know, um, you know, we seem to be doing a lot of early retirement, and yet people are living longer. Um, the federal government's increased Social Security from 65 to 68, so it seems to a little bit go counter to the- To what, you know, is going on in the private market, I guess

142. 0:33:34

     Is that a question?

143. 0:33:35

     Uh, yeah, I mean, uh, it does seem to be-

144. 0:33:37

     Or is that a statement?

145. 0:33:38

     I, I, I guess-

146. 0:33:38

     I don't know if you're waiting for an answer or if I can go ahead

147. 0:33:40

     Well, I don't, I don't know, uh, wh- why are we doing ... I guess, yeah, why are we doing the early retirement when that seems to be the opposite of what's going on in everything else?

148. 0:33:49

     Well, it seems to me, why wouldn't you retire at 25 years and go back to work? Wouldn't you make more money than staying and working 40 years and then drawing 80%?

149. 0:34:07

     I mean, I'm not a mathma- I wasn't a math school teacher, you can tell.

150. 0:34:10

     Well, I was an English teacher, so-

151. 0:34:12

     Mm

152. 0:34:12

     Me too.

153. 0:34:13

     Um

154. 0:34:14

     No

155. 0:34:14

     But, but stop and think about it. If I work 25 years and I retire, and then I go back to work, and I'm making full salary,

156. 0:34:28

     at ... And I don't know what the average teacher salary is. Can you give me an idea what that would be?

157. 0:34:37

     The average is around 70,000. Georgia-

158. 0:34:39

     70,000

159. 0:34:39

     ... we're looking at appropriations, yeah.

160. 0:34:41

     All right, so 50% of 70,000, 35,000. And then they s- go back and there's ... What are they gonna start at? 70,000 again? So they'll be making $105,000 a year salary?

161. 0:34:59

     Mm-hmm.

162. 0:35:01

     If I may, Chairman, I ... If they retire with 25 years of experience and they are not yet 60 years old, then they're gonna have a 7% penalty per year for each year that they retired earlier than 30.

163. 0:35:18

     Okay.

164. 0:35:18

     Earlier than 30 years.

165. 0:35:19

     Earlier than 30 years. They would also have to wait out under, under current law, and, uh, both, uh, bills that are being introduced, they would have to wait a year to return to work.

166. 0:35:32

     Mm-hmm.

167. 0:35:32

     So they would have that 7% penalty per year, and then they would also have to wait out a year prior to being able to return to work.

168. 0:35:40

     Has anybody got a calculator they can bring to him so he can ... I mean, I, I, instead of hearing percentages-

169. 0:35:47

     Yeah

170. 0:35:47

     ... I'd like to hear dollars.

171. 0:35:49

     But, but I would also-

172. 0:35:49

     I'm not being, I'm not being f- facetious. Please don't get me wrong.

173. 0:35:53

     No.

174. 0:35:53

     But ... Go ahead. I-

175. 0:35:56

     I, I was just gonna tell you the average is, is 70, but I would think those retiring would be on the upper end of things, so it's probably a, a number greater than that.

176. 0:36:04

     Well, they don't ... At a certain point, they stop getting the increases.

177. 0:36:09

     Yes.

178. 0:36:09

     Is it, uh, what, at 20 years, is it?

179. 0:36:11

     Pull your mic around.

180. 0:36:13

     Oh, I'm sorry.

181. 0:36:15

     Just taken with the idea. There's no step after 20? 21? Yeah. Maybe explain that.

182. 0:36:19

     I believe it's 21.

183. 0:36:20

     21.

184. 0:36:20

     Yes.

185. 0:36:20

     There's no step increase after. No, see, they, they, they, they, they, they freeze out at tw- at 21 years, so they're not ...

186. 0:36:32

     Which is a whole other conversation.

187. 0:36:37

     Anybody else have any questions?

188. 0:36:40

     Just, just one other if I could about the-

189. 0:36:42

     Please

190. 0:36:42

     ... the year wait out. Is that to discourage people from just immediately starting back or what? 'Cause I mean, I guess if you're in a border county like mine of Floyd, you go work in Alabama for a year and then come back. Is that what they do or?

191. 0:36:58

     Um, I, I am not sure. The original legislation that was in, uh, 2022 had that provision. I kept it in mine.

192. 0:37:05

     Mm.

193. 0:37:05

     And I know that the bill that, uh, Senator Hickman has introduced, um, in the Senate also has that provision.

194. 0:37:12

     Okay.

195. 0:37:12

     So ...

196. 0:37:15

     Mm-hmm.

197. 0:37:16

     Um, Mr. Chairman, I think, if I remember correctly, that that was because I carried SB88, which is, the governor called it the teacher pipeline package. But, uh, um, it was, had to do with actuarial study of teacher retirement, if I remember correctly, and that's why-

198. 0:37:31

     Mm-hmm

199. 0:37:31

     ... they wanted you, wanted to be out a year.

200. 0:37:34

     Okay.

201. 0:37:37

     That's correct. It's to de-incentivize early retirement.

202. 0:37:44

     Anybody else have any questions?

203. 0:37:48

     Apparently not, but thank y'all. Thank you. Uh-

204. 0:37:51

     Thank you

205. 0:37:51

     ... I think we had some good questions, some good discussion. We'll get back with you.

206. 0:37:57

     Thank you very much.

207. 0:37:58

     Thank y'all.

208. 0:37:58

     Mm-hmm. Thank you.

209. 0:37:59

     Thank you. Okay.

210. 0:38:02

     Mr. Chairman?

211. 0:38:04

     Mm-hmm.

212. 0:38:06

     Mm-hmm. Representative Taylor, if you'll come up front and center, please, and if you wanna ... Is there anybody with you to testify anything or?

213. 0:38:16

     Um, I'm all by myself unless Margaret wants to come up.

214. 0:38:21

     No.

215. 0:38:21

     Okay.

216. 0:38:21

     Then I'm all by myself.

217. 0:38:22

     Well, you can do just fine.

218. 0:38:24

     All right. Thank you.

219. 0:38:25

     That was nice.

220. 0:38:25

     Thank you.

221. 0:38:25

     Thank, uh, thank you Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. I bring you House Bill 1234, LC52-0970. This bill relates to the state retiree life insurance program. The issue's been before you before. You've perfected this bill in the past, so it's in pretty good shape. Currently, the program does not allow beneficiaries of the retiree life insurance program the ability to assign the benefits directly to the funeral home. This is a s- sort of standard practice with ma- regular life insurance programs.

222. 0:38:59

     This bill will allow the plan to accept that assignment, and it specifically states it can only be used for fu- funeral expenses. We had a number of problems, uh, especially with COVID, where many of our funeral homes were not paid for their services. It put in danger our retiree state employees not having the dignity of the funeral services they deserve. Um, previously, there was a concern about debtors, other debtors trying to claim those dollars. Um, this bill specifically states that only the actual funeral expenses can be assigned.

223. 0:39:35

     If the funeral costs less than the death benefit, all of the remaining benefits will be paid directly to those ben- listed beneficiaries on the policy. And I'll be very happy to answer any question, if there are any

224. 0:39:49

     Do we have any questions?

225. 0:39:51

     Does, does anybody here know anything about the funeral business, Mr. Chairman?

226. 0:39:54

     Yeah, Mr. Chair, is this your bill?

227. 0:39:56

     That's, that's-

228. 0:39:56

     Is this your bill, Mr. Chairman?

229. 0:39:57

     There's a couple people that, uh, have been around it a little bit. Do, do you have questions?

230. 0:40:02

     We, we do have a funeral caucus. Yeah.

231. 0:40:05

     Yeah, we ... Yes, sir. Did anybody have any questions? Mr. Potvin, did you have any comment on this at all, sir? You're good with it? Praise the Lord. Thank you. And praise you too, Mr. Potvin. Um, this is a bill that, um, yeah, a lot of us have been working on for 20, 10, 20 years.

232. 0:40:26

     Oh, my, my.

233. 0:40:26

     So it's been a long time coming. But, um, thank you very much-

234. 0:40:30

     Thank you

235. 0:40:30

     ... for bringing this forward.

236. 0:40:32

     I was gonna say something.

237. 0:40:35

     Yeah. Yes, ma'am.

238. 0:40:36

     Yeah. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I remember this from the last time-

239. 0:40:39

     Yes

240. 0:40:39

     ... Representative Tillery, and I thought we, uh, uh, m- mentioned before that since the funeral directors were not, uh, getting paid, and that that really would cut the services. And I think everybody deserve the decency to be-

241. 0:40:54

     They really do

242. 0:40:55

     ... especially retirees.

243. 0:40:56

     That's right.

244. 0:40:57

     Mm-hmm.

245. 0:40:57

     Thank you.

246. 0:40:57

     These benefits there.

247. 0:41:00

     Okay.

248. 0:41:00

     Thank you for bringing this back.

249. 0:41:02

     I, I appreciate your favorable consideration.

250. 0:41:06

     You're recognized.

251. 0:41:10

     Uh, Mr. Chairman, I move do pass, if I'm recognized to do so.

252. 0:41:16

     Certainly.

253. 0:41:18

     Move to pass on, uh, House Bill 124.

254. 0:41:20

     Oh, is this not a hearing only?

255. 0:41:23

     Mm-hmm.

256. 0:41:23

     Oh, okay. Well, I'll second.

257. 0:41:24

     Second.

258. 0:41:25

     Oh.

259. 0:41:25

     Okay.

260. 0:41:25

     Oh.

261. 0:41:27

     I'll second then, Mr. Chairman.

262. 0:41:28

     Okay.

263. 0:41:29

     Thank you, Mike.

264. 0:41:29

     We have a motion and a second. Any questions? Any discussion? All in favor say, "Aye."

265. 0:41:35

     Aye.

266. 0:41:35

     Thank you so much.

267. 0:41:36

     So carried. Thank you.

268. 0:41:37

     Thank you.

269. 0:41:38

     Thank you very much.

270. 0:41:38

     Thank you.

271. 0:41:40

     And I think, um ...

272. 0:41:42

     Morning, morning.

273. 0:41:57

     Thank you.

274. 0:41:58

     Any other business? Any other business before this committee? Did anybody have any comments, questions?

275. 0:42:05

     Yes, I do.

276. 0:42:05

     Yes, ma'am. Please come forward.

277. 0:42:06

     Oh, thank you so much.

278. 0:42:07

     Be recognized.

279. 0:42:09

     Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm Margaret Ciccarelli from PAGE, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and just wanted to speak in support of HB 372. Um, I know that, that, that, uh, Representative Ballard's return to work bill is hearing only, but I wanted to emphasize how much both it and SB 150, uh, Chairman Hickman's return to work bill are valued, um, by educators and by districts employing them as a tool to fill hard to fill positions around the state.

280. 0:42:39

     There are over 500 educators currently filling hard to fill positions. They're most likely to be science, math, and special education, uh, in districts across the state. This program will expire this year without legislative action, so we must take action on one of these bills in order to continue to use this as a tool. Um, so we hope that y'all will consider moving this legislation and encouraging a compromise between the bills, these sponsors are working well together, um, and get it signed as soon as possible, um, so that districts can use it when they're trying to fill positions this spring, um, in their, um, uh, in, in their con- during the school contract season.

281. 0:43:21

     Thank you so much.

282. 0:43:22

     Thank you very much.

283. 0:43:24

     No problem. Thank you.

284. 0:43:25

     Did, uh, s- a question for you?

285. 0:43:27

     Yes, sir.

286. 0:43:27

     Oh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, thank, thanks for that, uh, perspective. It's very germane to a consideration of, of these two bills. And could you, uh, just highlight for us again the, the kind of the status of our teacher shortage as you know it to be?

287. 0:43:45

     Right. As, um, both, um, uh, uh, Representative Ballard and Chairman Hickman have highlighted in their testimony, we have over 5,300, um, uh, teacher vacancies in the state of Georgia. Uh, that was one of the reasons for Chairman Hickman's SR 237 study on, um, increasing Georgia's, um, educator pipeline. And reauthorization of this return to work program was part of the recommendations that moved out of SR 237. So, um, uh, to Representative Mangham's kind of question about, um, uh, how do we decide, um, uh, whether or not we should be prioritizing bringing more folks into the profession at the beginning of the pipeline, um, or retire, or, or utilizing retirees, um, in hard to fill positions, the answer is both.

288. 0:44:33

     We need to be focusing on all of these and removing legislation through other committees, um, including the education committees, to try to address kind of all factors in the teacher pipeline and, and this return to work program is an important part of it. Thank y'all.

289. 0:44:48

     I- if, if I could on a follow-up. You know, it's, uh ...

290. 0:44:53

     Uh, uh, uh, uh, is there some cause for optimism in our new financial aid, uh, for needy students to enter, enter college? Uh, I, I, I would certainly think that. I know, uh, the, uh, the chairman and I were both on the study committee that spent, you know, worked over six months to, to see that 48 other states already do that, uh, with good results. And that, and that, uh, we hear from c- college counselors at the high school level that they see, uh, young people who wanna go to college, and there's, there's just not, the financial, uh, assistance was not here that was, uh, based on need.

291. 0:45:32

     And that really does, it would seem to me, uh, m- make a, the huge c- contribution going forward to having more students in seats in schools pursuing, uh, uh, e- The, the, their, their degree, uh-

292. 0:45:47

     Yes, Senator

293. 0:45:48

     ... in education

294. 0:45:48

     We, we, we agree with you on that, and have also moved forward with legislation that won't be heard in this committee, it's been assigned to education, that would create a, um, student-teacher grant program for-

295. 0:46:00

     Mm-hmm

296. 0:46:00

     ... um, folks-

297. 0:46:01

     Oh, yes

298. 0:46:01

     ... who are struggling to pay for the cost of student teaching when they're moving through that, um, in teacher preparation programs and doing their student teaching in Georgia schools. That legislation received strong bipartisan support in the House, um, and is moving to y'all in the, in, into the Senate Education Committee. And that's just one way we're trying to tackle this problem in multiple strategies. We appreciate your consideration of 372, though, and ap- and appreciate you allowing me to make comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

299. 0:46:29

     Oh, thank you. Thank you.

300. 0:46:31

     Excellent.

301. 0:46:31

     Anybody else have any questions?

302. 0:46:36

     I'll just-

303. 0:46:36

     Yes, sir.

304. 0:46:36

     I... Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just love open mic night at Retirement Committee. It's one of my favorite things. Um, I wanna make sure, wanna make sure Representative Ballard knows I'm very supportive of the legislation, and I'm sorry I showed up late. Um, in general, I mean, I, I do think, you know, the axe I grind in this committee about being able to raise the revenues we need to fund government effectively enough so that we can recruit talent and not have to resort to stopgap measures. And I'm, um, I, you know, I think about the, the teachers, the educators in my life, some of whom pushed into years that otherwise they should've been enjoying more thoroughly, uh, because of their commitment to the work.

305. 0:47:19

     And I can only imagine the types of folks that would, you know, work under this program and the years and years they've given and, you know, it's kind of like many things in, that we fund through state government, there's some kind of a promise of, you know, respite on the other end. And so I would hope that instead of over the years continually having these conversations about how to do stopgap measures, that we, we start to embrace a culture of honesty about funding state government. That, that is, you know, if I could put my name, if I could have everybody in the building word associate my name with one idea, it would be that we are realistic about how we fund state government.

306. 0:47:55

     We don't pretend that there's this big pot of money we can keep giving away over and over and over again for politics. Um, and I think this conversation is so important because it highlights, im- it, important for lots of reasons, but it highlights the kind of commitments we need to be making to make sure that we can recruit and keep the best teachers possible. So, thank you to everybody involved.

307. 0:48:18

     Thank you. Uh, Stephanie Tanner, are you here? Yeah. If you'd like to come up, um, thank y'all for sticking around and, and-

308. 0:48:28

     Sure

309. 0:48:28

     ... and, and having the input.

310. 0:48:32

     Of course.

311. 0:48:32

     We're, we're all in favor of our teachers. We're just trying to figure out the best way to take care of them and make the system work, and we do appreciate you.

312. 0:48:41

     Sure. My name is Stephanie Tanner. I'm the governmental relations manager with the Georgia School Boards Association. We represent all 180 school districts in the state. We are here to speak in support of House Bill 372 and similar return to work efforts. We have a legislative position in support of how Representative Ballard's bill is written.

313. 0:49:06

     Mm.

314. 0:49:07

     Uh, we also have a joint priority with our friends at Paige and Gail and GSSA, um, about better supporting the teacher pipeline, and this is one of those through return to work. What we really like is that this allows districts to have more flexibility. Even though, um, not every district uses this, the ones that do really wanna continue using it, and they ask us about it all the time when we're traveling around the state.

315. 0:49:37

     This was also a top priority that came out of Chairman Hickman's work with the SR, um, SR 237. GSBA was a part of that work. So really important that we figure out the best way to approach this, um, and figure out a, a compromise between SB 150 and House Bill 372 and get it over the finish line. This is good for teachers, school districts, and students because that way they have highly qualified teachers in high needs areas in the classroom.

316. 0:50:08

     Thank you so much.

317. 0:50:09

     Yes-

318. 0:50:10

     Ms. Chairman

319. 0:50:10

     ... yes, ma'am. You're recognized.

320. 0:50:11

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, thank you, Stephanie, uh, for, uh, representing your agency. And, um,

321. 0:50:22

     i- i- it, just, just to clarify-

322. 0:50:26

     Mm-hmm

323. 0:50:26

     ... if, if action's not taken this year-

324. 0:50:29

     Mm-hmm

325. 0:50:29

     ... the program that we're talking about, uh, expires?

326. 0:50:35

     Exactly.

327. 0:50:36

     So that's a big flashing neon sign.

328. 0:50:40

     Mm-hmm.

329. 0:50:40

     It would seem. I just wanted to be f- sure that I a- a- understood that. I thought that that was what I was hearing from the-

330. 0:50:46

     Right. This extends the sunset provision, uh, that will expire this year if we don't take action. It's also coming up to be time for school districts to start-

331. 0:50:54

     Oh, yeah

332. 0:50:55

     ... sending out contracts.

333. 0:50:56

     Oh, oh.

334. 0:50:56

     So really important that we do this as soon as possible.

335. 0:50:59

     Thank you so much.

336. 0:51:00

     Of course.

337. 0:51:01

     Anybody else have any questions?

338. 0:51:05

     Uh, yes, sir.

339. 0:51:07

     Since it's open mic night-

340. 0:51:09

     Yes, sir

341. 0:51:09

     ... and I, and I support all the teachers, even though some of them told me I would only be digging ditches all my life, I still support this legislation.

342. 0:51:20

     You've chosen a-

343. 0:51:22

     Point of personal privilege.

344. 0:51:26

     Yeah.

345. 0:51:29

     But you, but a good ditch digger you are, Senator. They, um, I just wanna say one thing, too, uh, Representative Ballard. One thing I really appreciate about this bill is, and I don't understand, I don't remember why that we did it where it was just the high needs area by RESA back in 2022, but I remember questioning it back then. It's like you're, you're taking a big broad brush over. So I really appreciate in this legislation how you got it where it gives more flexibility down to the school districts. Um, I think that's, that's something that I wish would've been in SB 88, so thank you for that.

346. 0:52:04

     Well, as both of these bills are moving forward, I hope that we can find that and get it right, and that's what we certainly want to do. And, uh, is anyone else? This is open mic. Now's your chance.

347. 0:52:17

     Any singing?

348. 0:52:19

     No singing. Uh-

349. 0:52:21

     No singing.

350. 0:52:21

     No singing.

351. 0:52:21

     Oh, doggone it.

352. 0:52:21

     Oh, man.

353. 0:52:23

     I know.

354. 0:52:23

     No singing. Uh, if no, no one else, we'll stand adjourned. Thank y'all.