Committee to advance repeal of an obsolete mandatory‑retirement rule for tenured professors

The Committee on General & Housing signaled it will advance a short statutory repeal that removes a state provision permitting mandatory retirement for tenured college professors at age 70.

Sophie Zatney, legislative counsel in the Office of Legislative Council, told the committee the change is largely technical: federal law — specifically the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and related federal authority — has effectively prohibited mandatory retirement for most positions since the 1990s, so keeping the state provision creates confusion. “The goal here would be to repeal a statutory provision that permits the mandatory retirement of college professors at age 70 years of age, which has actually been illegal at the federal level since 1994,” Zatney said during the committee’s walk‑through.

Members asked whether removing the state language would raise constitutional issues or leave gaps for particular safety‑sensitive occupations. Zatney and members noted that narrow, bona fide occupational qualifications remain available for roles like certain law‑enforcement or pilot positions; the committee emphasized that performance‑based employment actions can still be taken at any age when job performance declines.

After brief procedural discussion about remote voting and member availability, the committee took a consensus step to calendar a formal vote at a later in‑person or short special meeting so members could vote without relying on a remote vote for what members described as a technical repeal.

Next steps: The committee chair said staff will calendar the vote and staff will prepare the formal long‑form bill language for the committee to consider. No final recorded roll‑call vote took place during the walk‑through.