Summary — HB 6844
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL PENSION AND RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
Bill No.: HB 6844 (File No. 955)
Introduced: January 30, 2025
Status (as of May 27, 2025): Favorable report in Senate; placed on Senate Calendar #538. House passed the bill (with House Amendment Schedule A) on May 22, 2025.
Purpose and intent
The bill concerns municipal pension and retirement systems. Its stated subject areas include the Comptroller, disability benefits, pension and retirement districts, municipal employee retirement systems, municipalities, reports and studies, and workers' compensation. The overall intent is to change rules, reporting, administration, or funding related to municipal employee retirement and pension programs and to address related disability and workers’ compensation interactions.
Key provisions (by subject area)
The full bill text is not provided here. Based on the bill title and listed subject tags, HB 6844 addresses one or more of the following areas:
- Administration and oversight: provisions involving the State Comptroller’s role or reporting requirements for municipal pension plans and retirement boards.
- Disability benefits: changes to eligibility, calculation, or coordination between municipal disability retirement benefits and workers’ compensation.
- Pension/retirement districts: rules affecting multi-municipal pension districts or intermunicipal arrangements for retirement systems.
- Municipal retirement benefits: modifications to benefit formulas, contribution requirements, vesting, eligibility, or retirement calculations for municipal employees.
- Reporting and studies: new or revised reporting obligations for municipalities or pension boards; possible requirements for actuarial studies or fiscal impact reports.
- Workers’ compensation coordination: clarifying interaction between workers’ compensation awards and municipal pension/disability benefits.
Because the bill covers both pensions and workers’ compensation, it may aim to clarify offsets, integration of benefits, or procedures for applying for disability retirement when a worker is receiving workers’ compensation.
Who is affected
- Municipal employees (current employees, retirees, and beneficiaries) — possible changes to benefit eligibility, amounts, or disability processes.
- Municipal employers and municipal pension/retirement boards — administrative, funding, or reporting responsibilities could change.
- Municipalities and taxpayers — potential fiscal impacts depending on any changes to employer contribution requirements or actuarial funding.
- Office of the Comptroller, Office of Legislative Research (OLR), Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) — identified in procedural history as recipients of referrals and analyses.
Procedural timeline and status
- 2025-01-30: Referred to Joint Committee on Labor and Public Employees; public hearing held 02/06/25.
- 2025-03-06 and 05-05: Joint Favorable reports issued at committee level.
- 2025-03-20: Favorable report; tabled for House calendar (House Calendar No. 129; File No. 157).
- 2025-05-06: Filed with LCO; referred to Appropriations Committee (reported out and tabled for House calendar).
- 2025-05-22: House passed HB 6844 with House Amendment Schedule A (House adopted amendment).
- 2025-05-27: Senate favorably reported; placed on Senate Calendar #538 (File No. 955).
Next procedural step: Senate consideration on the calendar; final enactment would require passage by both chambers and the governor’s signature.
Notes and recommendations
- This summary is based on the bill title, subject tags, and procedural history; the detailed statutory changes are not included in the materials provided. For precise statutory language, amendment details (House Amendment Sch. A), actuarial assumptions, and any fiscal note, consult the official bill text and the Office of Fiscal Analysis report (filed with LCO / OFA) or the Legislative Commissioners’ Office posting for File No. 955.
