News Release

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Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
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Ohio pension reform legislation approved; Governor expected to sign

09/12/2012

The Ohio House and Senate Wednesday, Sept. 12, approved changes to pension reform bills affecting Miami University employees. Sub. Senate Bill 342, the STRS pension reform bill, and Sub. S.B. 343, the PERS pension reform bill, will be sent to the governor, who is expected to sign them.

Changes had been promoted by Ohio’s five public employee retirement plans as a means to ensure 30-year plan solvency for retirement benefit funding.

Among elements of the PERS bill, members will see different changes depending on which of three groups they fall into, based on years of service:

  • ʺGroup Aʺ are PERS members who, using current criteria, are eligible to retire no later than five years after the effective date of the bill.
  • ʺGroup Bʺ are PERS members who have 20 years of service credit or will be eligible to retire not later than ten years after the billʹs effective date.
  • ʺGroup Cʺ are PERS members who do not meet the criteria for either of the above groups or become PERS members after the billʹs effective date.

The bill modifies age and service retirement benefit eligibility criteria only for members in Groups B and C. Under the new criteria, members in Groups B and C are generally required to attain certain additional years of service credit or attain a higher age to be eligible to retire with full benefits (or to be eligible for early retirement with reduced benefits).
Changes for PERS and STRS retirees affect benefit formulas for final average salary and cost-of-living adjustments, among other areas.

For STRS employees, the approved bill increases member contributions by 1 percent of salary per year beginning with compensation earned on July 1, 2013, to a total increase of 4 percent on July 1, 2016. Currently, STRS Ohio members contribute 10 percent of their salaries to STRS. It is provided that the STRS board may reduce member contribution rates to less than 14 percent after July 1, 2017, upon its actuary's determination.

Numerous changes are included in each bill. Employees are encouraged to read summaries of the changes at www.opers.org and www.strsoh.org.

As written in the bills, the effective date of the main components will be January 7, 2013. Certain aspects of the bills contain effective dates beyond January 7.

Background on the legislation is also found at miamioh.edu/retirement and attached below.

Related Media

other media SB343-HouseSubsummary.pdf
other media SB342-HouseSubSummary.pdf

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