This morning, the House and Senate held short floor sessions, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court provided his State of the Judiciary Address. Committees began meeting in earnest this afternoon.
Joint Retirement Committee Learns about TRS & PSERS
After briefly discussing their respective committee rules, the House and Senate retirement committees convened in a joint session to hear presentations by the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) and the Employees Retirement System (ERS).
TRS Executive Director Buster Evans provided a brief overview of the teachers’ pension system which was created in 1943 and became operational in 1945. The legislature is charged with TRS plan design.
As of this morning, TRS has $113 billion in assets. Its 2024 rate of return was 14.5%, and its funded ratio is 78.4%. Its assumed rate of return is 6.9%. Most of TRS is invested in equity, though about a quarter is invested in bonds, and about 2% is invested in private equity.
Evans emphasized the positive impact of the Georgia legislature’s historical commitment to TRS as demonstrated by the legislature’s payment of the Actuarially Determined Employer Contribution (ADEC). While other states may have taken a pension holiday from their ADECs, Georgia has never done so, which educators and TRS staff appreciate.
When illustrating the legislature’s plan design and educator eligibility authority, Evans mentioned that policy changes like lowering the service requirement for the full TRS benefit, such as from 30 years to 25 years, drive up the cost of the TRS plan and thus should be considered carefully.
Before pausing for questions, Evans predicted that legislators may soon consider legislation to reauthorize Georgia’s return-to-work program. This program allows educators with 30 years of experience to return to work in high-needs subject areas while drawing TRS benefits after sitting out for 12 months. Reauthorization of return-to-work is a PAGE legislative priority.
Jim Potvin, the executive director of ERS, presented briefly. He reported that ERS, which includes the Public School Employees Retirement Program(PSERS), has an estimated funded ratio of 75-76% and $20.8 billion in assets. Potvin mentioned that ERS would like to award cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to plan members.
House Subcommittee Considers AFY25 Education Budget
The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee heard about changes Gov. Brian Kemp proposes in education spending in the Amended Fiscal Year (AFY) 2025 budget, which covers the current school year. Rusk Roam, the chief financial officer for the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), highlighted the addition of $115 million to the Quality Basic Education (QBE) to cover an enrollment increase of about 1,308 full-time equivalent students. Most of these students are in higher cost programs including special education, gifted, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
He also noted the one-time increase of $50 million for school safety grants that Kemp seeks. If approved by the General Assembly, the increase would boost safety grants to about $68,000 per school from about $47,000.
Though not included in Kemp’s AFY 2025 budget proposal, Roam said that GaDOE requests additional funds to cover Advanced Placement (AP) exams and the PSAT exam for the current year. The state covers the cost of one AP exam for free and reduced-price lunch students and one AP STEM exam for any student. The state pays for 10th graders to take the PSAT exam. Roam indicated that the base amount for these exams has not been adjusted since 2015.
Amy Jacobs, commissioner of the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) explained $7.4 million in additional funds is needed to move Pre-K lead teachers to the K-12 state salary schedule, a process that is already underway.
Kemp also aims to launch a regional crisis network to provide mental health support to students who have experienced a significant public safety event or natural disaster and proposes an additional $160,000 to do so. The funds, allocated to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), would be directed to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), which plans to train 150 counselors in crisis counseling across SREB’s 16 member states. The counselors would be deployed to communities that have experienced a significant event such as Hurricane Helene or a school shooting.
Subcommittee members will continue reviewing information and reconvene to approve their final recommendations, which will then move to the full appropriations committee for discussion and approval.
Register for Tomorrow's PAGE Budget Webinar
To learn more about the appropriations hearing and how the budget may affect public education, the PAGE Legislative Team invites you to a webinar on proposed education budgets Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 5 p.m.
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, Jan. 29 - Legislative Day 8
5 p.m. PAGE Budget Webinar
Thursday, Jan. 30 - Legislative Day 9