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HB108 • 2026

PEACE OFFICER RETIREMENT BENEFITS

An Act relating to participation of certain peace officers in the defined benefit and defined contribution plans of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Alaska; and providing for an effective date.

Elections Labor
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER
Last action
2025-02-17
Official status
(H) STA
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text defines a specific window for the election (90 days after July 1, 2025) but does not specify what happens if an eligible member misses this deadline.

Alaska State Trooper Retirement Plan Options

This law allows certain Alaska state troopers hired after June 30, 2006, who are currently in a defined contribution plan to make a one-time election to switch to the defined benefit retirement plan.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows eligible state troopers and former state troopers employed by the state to elect participation in the defined benefit retirement plan instead of the defined contribution plan.
  • Requires transferring all employee and employer contributions, plus investment earnings or losses from the old plan into the new defined benefit plan.
  • Uses an actuarial formula set by the Alaska Retirement Management Board to calculate how much credited service time the transferred money buys in the new plan.
  • Allows members whose transfer value is too low to cover their actual years of work to borrow money (create indebtedness) to pay for the missing credit.
  • Requires any extra funds from the transfer that are not needed to buy full service credit to remain in the member's original defined contribution retirement account.

Who It Names or Affects

  • State troopers and former state troopers employed by the state who were first hired after June 30, 2006.
  • Eligible members must currently be participating in the defined contribution retirement plan under AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990.

Terms To Know

Defined benefit plan
A retirement system where benefits are calculated based on years of service and salary, rather than investment returns.
Defined contribution plan
A retirement account where the final amount depends on how much money was contributed and how well investments performed.
Actuarial equivalent basis
A mathematical method used to determine what value past contributions have when moving between different types of plans.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The election must be made within 90 days after the law takes effect on July 1, 2025.
  • Once a trooper makes this choice to switch plans, it cannot be changed or undone later.
  • If a member is married, their spouse must sign the form for the change to take effect.

Bill History

  1. 2025-02-17 200

    (H) REFERRED TO STATE AFFAIRS

  2. 2025-02-17 200

    (H) STA, L&C, FIN

  3. 2025-02-17 200

    (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS

Official Summary Text

PEACE OFFICER RETIREMENT BENEFITS
An Act relating to participation of certain peace officers in the defined benefit and defined contribution plans of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Alaska; and providing for an effective date.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HB0108a -1- HB 108
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HOUSE BILL NO. 108

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA

THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION

BY REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER

Introduced: 2/17/25
Referred: State Affairs, Labor and Commerce, Finance

A BILL

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

"An Act relating to participation of certain peace officers in the defined benefit and 1
defined contribution plans of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Alaska; and 2
providing for an effective date." 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
* Section 1. AS 39.35.095 is amended to read: 5
Sec. 39.35.095. Applicability of AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680. The 6
[FOLLOWING] provisions of AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680 [THIS CHAPTER] apply 7
only to members first hired 8
(1) before July 1, 2006; or 9
(2) after June 30, 2006, who are state troopers and 10
(A) are former members of the defined contribution 11
retirement plan under AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990; or 12
(B) have not been members of the defined contribution 13
retirement plan under AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990 [: AS 39.35.095 - 14
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39.35.680]. 1
* Sec. 2. AS 39.35.370(a) is amended to read: 2
(a) Subject to AS 39.35.450, a terminated employee who first became a 3
member before July 1, 2006, is eligible for a normal retirement benefit 4
(1) at age 60 with at least five years of credited service; 5
(2) with at least 20 years of credited service as a peace offi cer or 6
firefighter; or 7
(3) with at least 30 years of credited service for all other employees. 8
* Sec. 3. AS 39.35.370 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 9
(l) Subject to AS 39.35.450, a terminated employee who first bec omes a 10
member after June 30, 2006, and w ho is a state trooper at the t ime of termination is 11
eligible for a normal retirement benefit 12
(1) at age 60 with at least five years of credited service as a state 13
trooper; or 14
(2) with at least 20 years of credited service as a peace offi cer, 15
including at least five years of credited service as a state trooper. 16
* Sec. 4. AS 39.35.680 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 17
(44) "state trooper" means a peace officer who is employed by the 18
Department of Public Safety and charged under AS 18.65.080 with the duties of a 19
member of the state troopers. 20
* Sec. 5. AS 39.35.720 is amended to read: 21
Sec. 39.35.720. Membership. Except as provided in AS 39.35.095, an [AN] 22
employee who becomes a member on or after July 1, 2006, shall participate in the plan 23
set out in AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990. 24
* Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 25
read: 26
RETIREMENT PLAN ELECTION. A state trooper or a former state tro oper 27
employed by the state, who was first hired after June 30, 2006, and before the effective date 28
of this Act, and who is a member of the defined contribution re tirement plan of the public 29
employees' retirement system under AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990, ma y, within 90 days after the 30
effective date of this Act, make a one-time election to partici pate in the defined benefit 31
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retirement plan under AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680 and to transfer to that plan all contributions to 1
the defined contribution retirement plan for service the member completes before the effective 2
date of the member's participation in the defined benefit retir ement plan. The transferred 3
contributions shall be used to purchase credited service in the defined benefit retirement plan 4
on an actuarial equivalent basis determined by the Alaska Retir ement Management Board 5
established under AS 37.10.210. In t his section, "state trooper " has the meaning given in 6
AS 39.35.680, as amended by sec. 4 of this Act. 7
* Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 8
read: 9
RETIREMENT PLAN ELECTION PROCEDURE. (a) An election made under sec. 6 10
of this Act to participate in the defined benefit retirement pl an under AS 39.35.095 - 11
39.35.680 must be made in writing on one or more forms and in t he manner prescribed by the 12
administrator. Before an eligib le member makes an election unde r sec. 6 of this Act, the 13
administrator shall provide to the member 14
(1) written notice of the member's eligibility; and 15
(2) information about potential consequences of the member's e lection, 16
including calculations that illustrate the effect of changing t he member's retirement plan from 17
the defined contribution retirement plan to the defined benefit retirement plan. 18
( b ) A n e l e c t i o n m a d e u n d e r s e c . 6 o f t h i s A c t t o p a r t i c i p a t e in the defined benefit 19
retirement plan is irrevocable. On the effective date of the el ection, an eligible member who 20
makes the election shall be enrolled in the defined benefit ret irement plan, and the member's 21
participation in the plan shall be governed by the applicable p rovisions of the defined benefit 22
retirement plan. The member's enrollment in the defined benefit retirement plan is retroactive 23
to the date of hire. An election made by an eligible member who is married is not effective 24
unless the election is signed by the member's spouse. 25
(c) When an eligible member makes a one-time election under se c. 6 of this Act, the 26
administrator shall cause the total amount of the member's empl oyee and employer 27
contributions, with investment earnings and losses through the day of the member's election to 28
participate as a member in the defined benefit retirement plan, to be actuarially calculated 29
and, subject to (d) of this section, transferred to the pension fund in the defined benefit 30
retirement plan. On the effective date of the member's particip ation in the defined benefit 31
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retirement plan, the member shall be credited with service in t he defined benefit retirement 1
plan that may be purchased under an actuarial equivalent purcha se formula as determined by 2
the board. The board shall establish transfer procedures by reg ulation, but the actual transfer 3
may not occur later than 30 days after the date the administrat or receives the member's 4
completed forms under (a) of thi s section, unless the major fin ancial markets for securities 5
available for a transfer are seriously disrupted by an unforese en event that also causes the 6
suspension of trading on any national securities exchange in th e country where the securities 7
were issued. In that event, the 30-day period may be extended b y a resolution of the board. A 8
transfer is not commissionable or subject to other fees and may be in the form of cash or a 9
security as determined by the boa rd. A security shall be valued on the date of receipt in the 10
member's account. 11
(d) If the value actuarially calculated under (c) of this section is insufficient to pay for 12
service credit equal to the member's actual service, the admini strator shall allow the member 13
the option of creating an indebtedness up to the amount needed to eliminate the insufficiency; 14
however, if that value exceeds the amount needed to pay for a s ervice credit equal to the 15
member's actual service, the administrator shall cause the exce ss to remain in the member's 16
retirement plan established under AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990. An excess under this subsection 17
may not be used to purchase service credit in a retirement plan administered under AS 39.35. 18
( e ) T h e p r o v i s i o n s o f t h i s s e ction are subject to the requirem ents of the Internal 19
Revenue Code and the limitations under AS 39.35.115, 39.35.678, 39.35.710(c) and (d), and 20
39.35.895. 21
(f) In this section, 22
(1) "administrator" means the commissioner of administration o r the person 23
designated by the commissioner of administration under AS 39.35 .003 for a public 24
employees' retirement plan; 25
(2) "board" means the Alaska Re tirement Management Board estab lished 26
under AS 37.10.210; 27
(3) "defined benefit retirement plan" means the retirement pla n established 28
under AS 39.35.095 - 39.35.680 for a public employee; 29
(4) "defined contribution retirement plan" means the retiremen t plan 30
established under AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990 for a public employee; 31
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(5) "Internal Revenue Code" has the meaning given in AS 39.35.990. 1
* Sec. 8. This Act takes effect July 1, 2025. 2