Archives - 107th Legislature

LB 17
Judges

LB 17 increases a dedicated court fee to provide additional revenue into the Judges' plan. This fee will increase from $6 to $8 on July 1, 2021, until it reaches $12 July 1, 2025.

In addition, it adds an annual contribution from the State of Nebraska to the Judges' plan of 5% percent of total compensation of the members of the Judges' plan beginning July 1, 2023. This rate cannot rise above 5% and can be reduced or eliminated by the Legislature. It adopted a shorter amortization period to reflect recent changes to actuarial standards. Beginning July 1, 2021, closed 25-year amortization periods will apply, rather than the older 30-year amortization period, for the Judges, State Patrol, and School retirement plans.

LB 83
Public Employees Retirement Board
(PERB)

LB 83 changes public meeting provisions and provide for virtual conferencing under the Open Meetings Act.

LB 145   LB 146
LB 147   LB 582
School

These bills, amongst other things, direct the transfer of management of the OSERS (Omaha School Employees Retirement System) from the Board of Trustees to NPERS (Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System), and the tasks associated with the transfer of management.

LB 145 requires the completion of a compliance audit by November 15, 2021, and the first annual audit by the state auditor done by July 1, 2022.
LB 146 clarifies membership eligibility in the Omaha Public School (OPS) plan and redefines termination of employment. Specifically, it sets forth that voluntary and/or substitute service is allowed on an intermittent basis, defined as no more than eight service days during a calendar month, during the 180-day period following termination of employment.
LB 147 transfers duties and responsibilities for management of the OSERS to the PERB/NPERS effective September 1, 2024. The bill specifies that OPS remains solely liable for the retirement system's funding obligations and will cover all costs for the management transfer.
LB 582 reinstates the Board of Education as the primary party responsible for the administration of the OSERS plan during the time it takes to transfer the management of the OSERS Board of Trustees to the PERB/NPERS, making the Board of Trustees a subset of that Board of Education, effective July 1, 2021.

LB 209
Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP)

LB 209, as amended, does not impact the Deferred Compensation Plan administered by NPERS.

LB 64
Retirees

LB 64 changes how Social Security benefits are taxed in the state of Nebraska. The changes allow federal adjusted gross income (AGI) to be reduced by a percentage of the Social Security benefits received. The percentages change would be based on marital status and AGI.

LB 386
Judges

LB 386 increased salaries for Nebraska Supreme Court Justices thereby increasing the salaries for district, juvenile, appellate, and worker's compensation court judges since their salaries are a percentage of the Supreme Court Justices' salaries.

LB 387
Retirees

LB 387 excludes military retirement benefit payments from state income tax.

LB 428
School

LB 428 requires youth rehabilitation and treatment centers to establish educational standards to ensure residents have access to educational opportunities equivalent to other Nebraska schools. This may increase the number of employees at these facilities that participate in the School plan.

LB 700
All Plans

It eliminated obsolete language, changed job requirements for the NPERS director and attorney, and changed the education programs which must be offered to the members of all retirement systems.

Eliminated school employer and member reporting requirements regarding early retirement inducement forms.

Clarified reemployment and plan eligibility regarding terminated State Plan and School Plan members going back to work for the State of Nebraska or a Nebraska School. The State of Nebraska is considered a school employer, because it will hire certified individuals to work within State Agencies.
State Agency Plan Determination Flowchart.

In the State Employee Retirement and County Employee Retirement plans, it eliminated the distinction between training programs offered to members who are under age 50 and members who are over age 50. County and State plan members are authorized to receive three paid days to either attend in-person or live webinar training sessions which are offered during regular work hours.

LB 825
Retirees

Changed provisions relating to taxation of benefits received under the federal Social Security Act --Increases the amount of social security benefits that are NOT subject to state income tax.

LB 1124
Beneficiaries

Changed provisions relating to small estate affidavits Increases the threshold from $50,000 to $200,000. This would impact our death benefit processing in that it would allow for the distribution of retirement accounts less than $250,000 payable to an estate via affidavit. AM 2138 lowered the payout amount to $100,000.