This was a busy week at the Legislature for ATRS, in spite of all the snow and ice. The seven bills in the ATRS Legislative Package received a "do pass" recommendation from the Joint Public Retirement Committee on Tuesday, and on Wednesday all seven bills passed the full House. I expect the seven bills to be considered by the Senate on Monday afternoon.

I want to give a big Thank You to the House members who sponsored our seven bills: Rep. Les Warren of Hot Springs, Rep. Kendra Moore of Lincoln, and Rep. Mark Perry of Jacksonville. For those of you who live in these legislators' districts or otherwise know them, I would appreciate it if you would drop them a note to thank them for their support of ATRS.

Also this week, the Governor signed the ATRS appropriation bill, SB66. It is now Act 61 of the 2025 Regular Session. The Governor also signed HB1317, which increases the criminal penalties for making fraudulent statements to a retirement system. It is now Act 112 of 2025.

Next week, I am expecting the Joint Public Retirement Committee to consider one other bill related to teacher retirement. The text has been filed as an amendment to HB1347, and the sponsor worked with us on the wording. This bill will not harm ATRS independence or benefits in any way. All that it does is allow ATRS to pay survivor benefits to a Special Needs Trust when a member's child or beneficiary is incapacitated. When their survivor benefits are paid to a Special Needs Trust, that protects the child's or beneficiary's eligibility for Medicaid and other disability programs. 

We may also see action next week on HB1352 regarding investments in China. Discussions on an amendment to the bill are ongoing. I am still cautiously optimistic that the bill will be amended to address our concerns. If that changes, I will let you know at once.

Finally, we now have an indication of when the legislative session will end. The Speaker of the House has filed HCR1006, which provides for an extension of the session. If the House and Senate both agree to this resolution, they will finish their business and recess on April 16. Then, after the Governor has time to consider the remaining bills and either sign or veto them, the House and Senate may reconvene if necessary, and then adjourn sine die on May 5. ("Sine die" is Latin for "without a day"; an adjournment sine die means that the 2025 legislative session is closed and finished.)

If you have questions about how a bill may impact ATRS, or if you are concerned about something ATRS is proposing, please reach out to me at the email address or phone number below.

Also, if you are receiving this email as a forward and would like to be added to the distribution list, you can subscribe to these legislative updates here.

Mark White
ATRS Executive Director
MarkW@artrs.gov
Office: (501) 621-8853
Cell: (501) 541-2057