HB440 Alabama 2024 Session

Updated Feb 23, 2026

Notable

Summary

Primary Sponsor: Randall Shedd
Republican
Session: Regular Session 2024
Title: ERS, benefit increase for certain retirees of on October 1, 2024
Summary: HB440 would grant a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (minimum $15 per month) to eligible ERS retirees and certain beneficiaries starting October 1, 2024, with funding and eligibility rules.
What This Bill Does
It provides a 3% increase to eligible retirees whose ERS retirement date was before October 1, 2023, and to eligible beneficiaries of deceased retirees, beginning October 1, 2024, with a guaranteed minimum of $15 per month. The increase would be paid by employers participating in ERS, funded through separate employer rates and annual appropriations, and distributed in proportion to active member salaries; if funding is not appropriated, the increase would not be paid that year. The bill also includes Medicaid-related limits (the increase can be blocked if Medicaid eligibility would be impaired) and allows certain former city/county/public employees who joined ERS to receive the increase if their employer elects to fund it.

Who It Affects
ERS retirees with retirement dates prior to October 1, 2023 who are receiving monthly ERS benefits would receive a 3% increase (min $15) starting Oct 1, 2024, funded as described.
Employers participating in ERS (including cities, counties, the state, and quasi-public organizations) who choose to fund the increase would bear the cost through separate employer rates; Medicaid-eligible individuals whose eligibility would be impaired by the increase would not receive it.

Key Provisions
Section 1(a): Commences Oct 1, 2024; 3% cost-of-living increase for eligible retirees (pre-Oct 1, 2023 retirement date) with a minimum $15 per month, conditioned on HB201 appropriation.
Section 1(b): Beneficiaries of deceased members/retirees with pre-Oct 1, 2023 relevant dates receive the same increase, minimum $15.
Section 1(d): ERS Board annually determines the funding amount and notifies employers; funding distributed from all funds pro rata to active member salaries.
Section 1(e)-(g): Employers may elect to come under this section to fund the increases starting Oct 1, 2024 (or later); if elected, the employer bears the cost; non-retroactive funding unless the employer chooses to fund it; similar rules apply to related survivors and non-ERS-administered pensions when applicable.
Section 2: Extends similar 3% increase to retirees and beneficiaries under scenarios where the employer participated in ERS before joining, with funding and election provisions similar to Section 1.
Section 3: Medicaid rule: individuals whose Medicaid eligibility would be impaired by the increase are not entitled to the increase, and new Medicaid applicants with eligibility impairment are not eligible for the increase.
Section 4: Effective date of October 1, 2024.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.
Subjects: Retirement