Bill
SB 331
SB 331 ends the mandatory 60-year retirement for SPRS members and refines DROP eligibility by employment years, letting troopers work past 60 with small pension savings.
Status / Key dates
- Introduced: January 15, 2025 (first reading); hearing scheduled Jan 30, 2025.
- Enacted: Signed by Governor (documented June 20, 2025).
- Effective date in bill text: July 1, 2025.
Purpose and intent
- Remove the statutory requirement that most members of the Maryland State Police Retirement System (SPRS) must retire upon turning 60, and clarify eligibility and limits for participation in the system’s Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP). The change is intended to allow troopers to remain employed beyond age 60 and to correct an unintended DROP eligibility consequence created by prior changes to service‑credit rules.
Major provisions (what the bill changes)
- Repeals the clause requiring SPRS members (other than the Secretary of State Police under prior law) to retire at age 60. After enactment, there is no mandatory age‑60 retirement for SPRS members.
- Revises DROP eligibility language:
- Links DROP eligibility to years of actual “employment” in SPRS positions (not to “eligibility service” as previously defined).
- For members hired on/before June 30, 2011: eligible for DROP at 22+ years and less than 32 years of employment.
- For members hired after June 30, 2011: eligible at 25+ years and less than 32 years of employment.
- Limits DROP participation to the lesser of:
- 7 years; or
- the difference between 32 years and the member’s years of employment as of the DROP election; or
- a term the member selects.
- Removes the prior provision that ended DROP participation when a member reached age 60.
- Adjusts related statutory cross‑references and retirement calculation language.
Who is affected
- Direct: Members of the SPRS — Maryland State Troopers, cadets, and related covered positions — who now may defer retirement past age 60 and have DROP eligibility based on employment years.
- Indirect: Maryland Department of State Police (operational impacts, promotions, workforce planning); State pension system stakeholders and taxpayers (actuarial/fiscal effects).
Fiscal and operational impacts
- Actuarial estimate: modest net reduction in SPRS liabilities (~$3.2 million) and a decrease in normal cost (~$120,000).
- First‑year general fund savings estimated at about $470,000 (FY 2027), with continuing, small annual savings thereafter under the actuary’s assumptions.
- Operational concerns: Department of State Police warned that allowing members to remain employed longer could constrain promotion opportunities and affect workforce readiness; however, actuary notes most current members already have the service cap (28 years) by age 60, so the practical effect is expected to be limited.
Procedural notes
- The bill amends Article — State Personnel and Pensions, §§ 24‑401 and 24‑401.1 of the Maryland Code.
- Effective date provision in the bill text specifies July 1, 2025. (Fiscal documents reflect savings beginning in later fiscal years per actuarial amortization.)
Bottom line
SB 331 eliminates the statutory age‑60 mandatory retirement for SPRS members and refines DROP rules to base eligibility on years of employment (fixing a technical issue created by prior contribution rules). The fiscal impact is small and slightly favorable to the State’s pension liabilities; the primary practical effect is to provide eligible SPRS members greater option to remain employed and defer retirement benefits.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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