General Assembly

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide specific details about the financial impact or the exact number of legislators affected, leaving these points as unknowns.

Tennessee Retirement System Changes for Legislators

This bill requires Tennessee legislators who joined the General Assembly on or after July 1, 2014, to switch from a hybrid plan to a legacy plan in their retirement system upon completing ten years of service.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the board of trustees to convert a person's participation in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) from the hybrid plan to the legacy plan after they complete ten years of service as a member of the General Assembly if they started serving on or after July 1, 2014.
• The board must provide written notification to the legislator after the conversion is completed.
• The office of legislative administration must notify the board when a legislator completes ten years of service.

Who It Names or Affects

• Members of the Tennessee General Assembly who have served at least ten years and started their service on or after July 1, 2014.
• The board of trustees overseeing the TCRS.
• The office of legislative administration.

Terms To Know

Hybrid plan

A retirement plan that combines elements of both traditional defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.

Legacy plan

An older type of retirement plan, often a traditional defined benefit plan.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens to legislators who joined before July 1, 2014.
• It is unclear how many current or future members of the General Assembly will be affected by this change.

Official Summary Text

This bill
requires
the board of trustees
to
convert a person's participation in the
Tennessee consolidated retirement system (TCRS)
for service as a member of the general assembly and as a participant in the hybrid plan, from the hybrid plan to the legacy plan upon
the person completing
10
years of service as a member of the general assembly if the person became a member of the general assembly on or after July 1, 2014.

The board
must
provide written notification to the member after the conversion from the hybrid
plan to the legacy plan is completed.
Additionally, t
he office of legislative administration
must
notify the board of trustees upon a member of the general assembly completing
10
years of service as a member of the general assembly.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1416
By Watson

HOUSE BILL 462
By Travis

HB0462
000101
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 3;
Title 8, Chapter 34; Title 8, Chapter 35 and Title 8,
Chapter 36, relative to retirement system
participation by members of the general assembly.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-36-903, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection (f):
(1) Notwithstanding this section, § 8-35-109, or another law to the contrary, the
board of trustees shall convert a person's participation in the retirement system, for
service as a member of the general assembly and as a participant in the hybrid plan,
from the hybrid plan to the legacy plan upon the person completing ten (10) years of
service as a member of the general assembly if the person became a member of the
general assembly on or after July 1, 2014. The board shall provide written notification to
the member after the conversion from the hybrid plan to the legacy plan is completed.
(2) The office of legislative administration shall notify the board of trustees upon
a member of the general assembly completing ten (10) years of service as a member of
the general assembly.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to persons completing ten (10) years of service as a member of the general assembly
on or after July 1, 2024.