North Dakota Senate Bill SB2121

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/7/25
• Refer: 1/7/25
• Report Pass: 1/16/25
• Engrossed: 1/20/25
• Refer: 2/13/25
• Report Pass: 3/7/25
• Enrolled: 3/14/25
• Passed: 3/18/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend and reenact subsection 23 of section 54-52-01, section 54-52-17, subsection 2 of section 54-52-28, sections 54-52.1-03.1 and 54-52.2-06, subsection 8 of section 54-52.6-01, and subsection 1 of section 54-52.6-02.2 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to administering the public employees retirement system.

Summary

SB 2121 makes a series of technical and policy updates to North Dakota’s public employee retirement and related benefit statutes. The bill revises definitions and benefit rules in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), including the definition of “temporary employee,” retirement eligibility and benefit calculations, disability retirement, deferred vested benefits, beneficiary payment rules, optional benefit forms, and required minimum distribution provisions. It also updates provisions governing the uniform group insurance program for certain political subdivisions, the deferred compensation program, salary definitions for the retirement system, and eligibility language for a limited group of state employees in a PERS-related plan. A major portion of the bill modernizes and clarifies retirement administration for different employee groups, including general PERS members, judges, peace officers, correctional officers, firefighters, and Bureau of Criminal Investigation officers. It preserves or restates different retirement ages and service thresholds for those categories, adjusts references to federal tax and distribution rules, and refines how final average salary and retirement benefits are calculated. The bill also addresses beneficiary rights, automatic refunds for small accounts under certain service thresholds, and the board’s authority to adopt rules for optional benefit forms, rollovers, transfers, and voluntary contributions.

Impact

The bill amends multiple sections of the North Dakota Century Code affecting the administration of state retirement and benefit programs. Its practical impact is to update PERS eligibility, benefit formulas, survivor and disability provisions, tax-compliance language, and related insurance and deferred compensation rules, while also clarifying which employees and retirees fall under specific plan provisions. It affects state employees, participating political subdivisions, judges, law enforcement officers, firefighters, correctional officers, retirees, beneficiaries, and the PERS board.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 47-0 and the House 90-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. With no committee transcript available, the voting record suggests the measure was viewed as a routine administrative update rather than a disputed policy change.

Contention

No notable contention is evident in the available record. The absence of recorded opposition in either chamber suggests that any changes to retirement eligibility, benefit calculations, or insurance participation rules were either technical in nature or acceptable to affected stakeholders. If there were policy differences, they were not reflected in the floor votes or provided discussion materials.