Bill > HB1419

This bill modifies North Dakota's public employees retirement system, particularly for public safety workers like peace officers, firefighters, dispatchers, and emergency medical services personnel. The bill makes several key changes: it expands the definition of certain public safety roles, adds dispatchers and emergency medical services personnel to existing retirement plan provisions, increases contribution requirements for some public safety workers, and adjusts retirement age and benefit calculations. Specifically, for employees hired on or after January 1, 2025, the main public employees retirement system defined benefit plan will be closed to new participants, who will instead be enrolled in a defined contribution plan. The bill also updates normal and early retirement dates for different categories of public safety workers, with variations based on when an employee was first enrolled. For example, peace officers employed by the bureau of criminal investigation now need ten years of eligible employment to reach normal retirement, compared to the previous three-year requirement. The legislation aims to modernize and standardize retirement benefits for public safety employees across different governmental units in North Dakota, while potentially controlling long-term pension costs by shifting new employees to a defined contribution plan.

Government Affairs, Military Affairs and Security

https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/bill-overview/bo1419.html