Bill > B26-0183

Introduced Session

a bill I introduced earlier this Council Period, B26-100, the Deferred Retirement Option Program Amendment Act of 2025, which permits retirement-eligible Fire and Emergency Medical Services (Fire and EMS) and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) members to continue working for up to 3 years while collecting supplemental payments in a separate retirement account. This legislation would add retirement-eligible correctional officers to the list of employees eligible for the deferred retirement option program (DROP). Over the last several years, maintaining appropriate staffing levels across the District’s public safety agencies has been a challenge, and the Department of Corrections (DOC) is no exception. DOC has struggled with short staffing and significant overtime pressures in recent years. Staffing shortages within fire and police departments have become a major issue across the metropolitan area. In Fiscal Year 2024, DOC had a 15.5% vacancy rate (129 out of 830 uniformed positions) and in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 had only reduced this vacancy rate to 12.57% (103 out of 819 uniformed positions). The DOC DROP Act aims to address staffing issues like these and, in particular, to improve retention of our most experienced correctional officers. The legislation will establish a DROP to allow retirement-eligible DOC employees to continue serving for up to three years after their normal retirement date and accrue their supplemental retirement benefits in a separate retirement account. At the conclusion of the DROP period, the member will separate from city service and the money in the account and the earned interest will be distributed to them. This system will help DOC retain their most experienced members for longer, have more certainty about when members will retire, and better anticipate future staffing needs. This is crucial: continued support and investment from the government is needed to ensure the stability of the Department and its ability to retain experienced employees, in particular correctional officers, and to allow them to use their experience and expertise to keep DOC residents safe and train new correctional officers. Should you have any questions about this legislation, please contact Anaiah Mitchell, Legislative Policy Advisor, at amitchell@dccouncil.gov. Thank you, Brooke Pinto Councilmember, Ward 2 Chairwoman, Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety Council of the District of Columbia Councilmember Brooke Pinto _ C A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA To establish a deferred retirement option program to allow retirement-eligible Department of Corrections employees to continue working for up to 3 years while collecting supplemental payments in a separate retirement account.

AI Summary

Matt Frumin (D)*,  Christina Henderson (I)*,  Brooke Pinto (D)*, 

Referred to Committee on Committee of the Whole (on 04/01/2025)

Official Document