Regular Session News #13: Governor signs ORP bill

Gov. Jeff Landry signed Act 47 of 2025 (formerly House Bill 24) into law. The new law makes a number of changes to the terms of the optional retirement plan (ORP), a defined contribution plan available to unclassified faculty and staff in higher education:

• Expands ORP eligibility to technical college staff beginning July 1, 2025. Existing technical college staff will have 180 days from July 1, 2025, to opt into the ORP.
• Extends the window for ORP participants to switch back to the TRSL defined benefit plan from five years after first ORP eligibility to seven years.
• Creates a window for certain ORP participants (whose first employment in Louisiana higher education occurred before August 1, 2020, but were ineligible to make an irrevocable election to transfer to TRSL on June 30, 2024) to become a member of the TRSL regular retirement plan should they return to employment in a TRSL-eligible position. These ORP participants will need to make the switch to TRSL by the later of September 2, 2025, or sixty days after the date of reemployment with a TRSL-contributing employer for the first time after July 1, 2024.
• Creates a nine-member ORP advisory committee comprised of both a faculty and non-faculty ORP participant from each of the state’s four higher education systems (LSU, SU, UL, and LCTCS) as well as one ORP participant not employed in higher education.

The new act also:

• Adds the Commissioner of Higher Education or designee as an ex officio member on the TRSL Board of Trustees.
• Changes the terms of the TRSL defined benefit plan to allow those who are (1) at least age 60 when first employed in a TRSL-eligible position, or (2) at least age 55 with 40 quarters in Social Security, to decline membership in TRSL.

Members with questions about the changes can submit a query to Ask TRSL.

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Coming up on Sunday…
 
The full Senate is set to convene at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, and both House Bill 473 (Rep. Emerson) and House Bill 466 (Rep. Carlson) are scheduled for consideration. You can read more about these bills in our June 5 Legislative Update.