Pursuant to RSA 100-A:14, XII, NHRS issues a notice to participating employers at the beginning of the legislative session about legislation that may have a cost impact on political subdivision employers. Under the same statute, NHRS notifies employers if legislation with a cost impact is ultimately adopted. 

The only legislation with a cost impact on political subdivision employers is the change to the Group I pension recalculation contained in HB 2 (see below), which will impact employer contribution rates beginning in Fiscal Year 2026.

In total, five bills related to RSA 100-A, the NHRS governing statute, were enacted by the New Hampshire Legislature during the 2023 session.

Here is a summary of all NHRS-related legislation passed in 2023:

House Bill 2 (Chapter 79, Laws of 2023; multiple effective dates) is the budget trailer bill. Among the NHRS-related sections are:

• Sections 459-461 modify the effective date of the statutory pension recalculation for Group I (Employee and Teacher) members who retire on or after July 1, 2023. The change defers the recalculation of a Group I retiree’s NHRS benefit to his or her full retirement age under the federal Social Security system. As noted above, this section will impact employer contribution rates beginning in Fiscal Year 2026.
  For additional information on this change, see:
  https://www.nhrs.org/faqs/group-i-benefit-recalculation
• Sections 344-345 provide a one-time $500 payment in Fiscal Year 2024 to retirees and beneficiaries receiving a monthly benefit. To qualify for the payment, all three criteria must be met:
  – The member’s retirement date is on or before July 1, 2018;
  – The member retired with at least 20 years of creditable service;
  – The annual retirement benefit paid to the member or beneficiary as of June 30, 2023, is not greater than $40,000.
  This payment is being funded out of the General Fund and does not have a cost impact on political subdivision employers.
• Sections 68-70 create a commission to study retirement benefits and retention of public employees and issue a report no later than December 1, 2023.

The full text of House Bill 2 is available at:
https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=1081  

House Bill 30  (Chapter 9, Laws of 2023; effective July 2, 2023) allows county commissioners to exempt the county chief administrative officer from compulsory NHRS membership at the time of initial hiring or appointment.

The full text of House Bill 30 is available at:
https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=52&inflect=2

House Bill 193 (Chapter 19, Laws of 2023; effective July 2, 2023) makes various changes to the administration of the NHRS, including clarification of the definition of teacher job share, references to the system's annual comprehensive financial report, and procedures related to the purchase of military service credit while an active member and service credit due to employer oversight. The bill also clarifies when to report compensation as extra or special duty pay.

The full text of House Bill 193 is available at:
https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=275&inflect=2

House Bill 278 (Chapter 63, Laws of 2023; effective June 1, 2023) ratifies a provision of RSA 100-A regarding annual employer reporting of hours worked and compensation paid to retired members working part-time for participating employers that was inadvertently repealed. The bill was introduced to correct a recently identified drafting oversight and has no impact of past or future reporting of retiree information.

The full text of House Bill 278 is available at:
https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=220&inflect=2

House Bill 457 (This bill was passed by the Legislature but not yet acted on by the Governor) requires NHRS to report on a quarterly basis to the office of legislative budget assistant regarding compliance with the duty to make all investment decisions solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries. This bill does not change the investment operations of the retirement system in any way; NHRS has always had a legal responsibility to make investment decisions solely in the interest of participants and will continue to do so.

The full text of House Bill 457 is available at:
https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=449

In 2023, 21 bills related to RSA 100-A were introduced. Links to the full text and other information on all 2023 NHRS-related legislation is available at: https://www.nhrs.org/about-nhrs/legislative-updates