House quickly concurs on pension and compensation changes for sheriffs and deputies in H.585

The House of Representatives on the floor took up House Bill 585 by suspending its rules and concurred in a Senate proposal of amendment by voice vote. Speaker 3 explained the bill’s principal purpose was to implement a long-standing negotiation that permits certain sheriffs and deputy sheriffs who had elected into the State Employees Retirement System Group F to make a one-time election to move into Group G and to place future sheriffs and deputies into Group G.

Speaker 3, a representative, told the chamber: “This bill’s primary purpose is to effectuate a long standing negotiation that finally came through, with a revenue neutral way for sheriffs and sheriff’s deputies ... to elect to move to group g.” The floor explanation noted a clarification in the printed calendar that a sheriff or deputy must be a certified law-enforcement officer to make the one-time election from Group F to Group G.

The bill also adjusts statutory compensation language for elected sheriffs, introducing a tiered reduction tied to certification: a 10% reduction for level-2 certified sheriffs, an additional 10% reduction (20% total) for those with only level 1, and a 30% reduction for those without an active law-enforcement certification. The sponsor said the language is aligned with prior policy work on sheriff compensation and includes intent language and a reporting requirement related to compensation for state's attorneys without active bar admission.

The presiding officer put the question on concurrence; members responded by voice and the chair announced the ayes had it. The House’s concurrence in the Senate proposal of amendment was entered on the record, and the House moved on to the next item on the calendar.

The action was procedural and taken by voice vote; a roll-call tally was not specified on the floor record.