Retirement changes clear first round

Senators advanced three bills from general file Feb. 11 that would make changes to the state’s retirement systems.

Currently, members of the School Employees Retirement System and the Class V School Employees Retirement System must wait 180 days from the time of their separation from service before they can return to the classroom, with exceptions for intermittent work as a volunteer or substitute employee at a school district or educational service unit.

LB824, introduced by Hastings Sen. Dan Lonowski, would change the required separation of service period for retirees to 120 days with no exceptions. Lonowski said the current system has led to a great deal of extra paperwork and confusion about how the “intermittent days” are calculated.

He said the change would align the teachers’ retirement plan with other state retirement programs by requiring a “hard bona fide break” in service that is easy to understand, and help alleviate the state’s teacher shortage by getting retirees into classrooms sooner as substitutes.

Lonowski offered an amendment, adopted 29-0, that would make the bill operative May 1, to ensure that all plan members who retire after the current school year are under the same 120-day rule.

Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee chairperson, Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, supported the amendment and thanked Lonowski for his work on the proposal, which he said has been in process for nearly a full year.

Lawmakers advanced the bill to select file 34-0.

Also advanced was LB743, sponsored by Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha, which would amend the Police Officers Retirement Act to require that benefit forms include the option of partial payments in an amount and frequency elected by the police officer.

Juarez said the bill, which would take effect Oct. 1, mirrors changes enacted in a proposal she introduced in 2025 that made the same change for firefighters in first class cities.

“LB743 builds on that [measure] and promotes fairness and consistency across public safety retirement systems,” she said.

The bill advanced on a 37-0 vote.

Finally, LB822, introduced by the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee, would update references and eliminate obsolete language in the retirement system for first class city police officers. Nebraska cities are classified as first class if they have a population of at least 5,000 and less than 100,000.

The bill also would rename the Police Officers Retirement Act as the Cities of the First Class Police Officers Retirement Act.

Ballard said the current name could give the mistaken impression that the retirement plan applies to all police officers statewide.

Senators advanced LB822 to select file 29-0.