SB216 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Clyde ChamblissSenator

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Employees' Retirement System; retired firemedics, return to work without suspension of retirement allowance

Summary

SB216 lets certain retired public safety workers in Alabama return to work without suspending their retirement benefits for a limited period, with specific earnings caps and job rules.

What This Bill Does

The bill authorizes eligible retired firemedics and certain retired law enforcement and corrections personnel to work in defined roles without losing their retirement allowances, up to an annual earnings limit (initially $30,000 with CPI-based increases for general cases, and $52,000 for firemedics and some public safety roles). It allows retirees to serve as school resource officers, corrections officers, or police officers at state colleges or universities under these limits, and it permits elected officials to serve in public office without suspending retirement benefits under conditions that prevent pension and salary from being received together. Employers must verify compliance, retirees must notify the Retirement System and employer within 30 days of starting or changing work, and the provisions have a June 1, 2025 effective date with a sunset/maximum employment end date and restrictions on retroactivity.

Who It Affects

• Retired firemedics who hold firefighter and EMS certifications and would return to work as firemedics with a $52,000 per year earnings cap.
• Retired law enforcement officers, state policemen, and correctional officers who meet certification criteria and may work as school resource officers, corrections officers, or police officers at state colleges/universities with a $52,000 per year cap.
• Retired individuals who previously served as elected officials, who may continue to serve in public office without suspension of retirement benefits (but cannot earn both pension and salary for the same service or accrue additional retirement benefits, with a local superintendent exception if compensation stays within limits).
• Other ERS/TRS retirees who may work in non-permanent, non-full-time roles under the general earning-limit framework (starting at $30,000 in 2016 with annual CPI-based increases).

Key Provisions

• Amends Section 36-27-8.2 to let certain retired individuals return to work without suspension of retirement allowances, with conditions that they are not in permanent full-time positions and earnings stay within set limits.
• Specifies a base earning limit of $30,000 for general post-retirement work (as of 2016) with annual increases matching CPI growth and rounding rules, applicable to non-full-time employment; increases and rounding are tied to inflation.
• Creates specific exceptions for firemedics (requiring dual certification as firefighter and EMS personnel) and for certain law enforcement/corrections roles to work without suspension, with a $52,000 annual cap, commensurate with the work performed.
• Allows retirees in certain elected official roles to serve at full compensation without suspension of retirement benefits, but prohibits accruing additional retirement benefits or receiving both pension and salary for that service, with a local superintendent exception if compensation does not exceed the earning limits.
• Requires employer responsibility for compliance, and a retiree must certify required information and notify the ERS and employer within 30 days of starting or changing post-retirement work.
• Includes a sunset/limit: no retroactive effect to January 1, 2023, and no employment under these provisions after December 31, 2026 (2030 appears in the bill text), with an effective date of June 1, 2025.

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