Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/48237
before they could reach retirement age. [Defeated HB2726] • Defeated SB1467 as introduced which would have required school boards to allow guns on campus. • Passed a bill to allow districts the ability to go before their voters to extend their school bond length from six to 10 years. [Enacted SB1263] • Increased the bonding capacity for already approved bonds from 5 percent to 10 percent for elementary and high school districts and from 10 percent to 20 percent for unified districts. [Enacted SB1263] • Defeated SCR1032 which was a ballot referral that required 60 percent approval of any new taxes or bonds and override elections. • Defeated HB2636 which would have created a flat tax system with numerous exemptions that would have forced school employees to pay more for goods and services while the rich got a tax break. • Defeated numerous TABOR bills (HB2707, SB1231, SCR1019, and SCR1026) which would have locked in the state's expenditures at this recession level thus making it nearly impossible to ever provide additional funding to public education. • AEA encouraged Governor Brewer to veto two bills that diverted taxpayer dollars to pri- vate schools. Governor Brewer vetoed both of them—HB2581 and SB1186. ✒ Changes to the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) By AEA Lobbyist Jennifer Loredo Below is an explanation for each of the changes made. S Normal Retirement Age SB1609 does not change the normal re- tirement age for any employee hired before July 1, 2011. These employees remain at the 80-point threshold (age + years of service = 80). For employees hired from and after July 1, 2011, they will no longer have an 85-point threshold to reach normal retirement age. The 85-point system was put into place during the 2010 legislative session and was set to go into effect on July 1, 2011. This would have allowed ASRS members to retire once they reached 85 points—their age + years of service combined to reach 85 points. SB1609 changes the definition for "normal retirement age" so that the only way to reach it for those hired on or after July 1, 2011 is as B1609 was passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed into law on April 29, 2011 by Governor Brewer. It makes numerous changes to the Arizona State Retirement System. follows: the person's 65th birthday; the per- son's 62nd birthday and completion of at least 10 years of credited service; the person's 60th birthday and completion of at least 25 years of credited service; the person's 55th birthday and completion of at least 30 years of credited service. [Note: Those employed prior to July 1, 2011 are not impacted by this change and remain under the 80-point retirement system.] The Effect of This Change This change to normal retirement age will require employees to work a longer time before they are eligible to retire. It also establishes a "hard age" limit, so that the earliest age at which a person can retire is 55 years. (Under the current 80-point system in effect for those hired prior to July 1, 2011, most teachers/school employees are able to reach retirement by the age of 52 if they are lifelong educators/employ- ees who started teaching/working at the age of 23.) The AEA believes there was no reason to change the definition of normal retirement age for the ASRS because the change that was Continued on next page AEA Advocate ❘ Winter 2011/12 7 AT THE CAPITOL