Another One Bites The Dust

In my previous post "Wouldn't It Be Nice", I identified a bill introduced with bipartisan support (HB 2867), which would resolve the longstanding issue of residency mistakes introduced by the way PERS defaults to determining whether a retiree is eligible for the Income Tax Remedy. The bill had, as I noted, bipartisan support, would have no direct costs to PERS or to employers. For reasons only loony legislators can possibly understand, the bill has been stalled in committee for more than a month, and at this point is unlikely to make it to the finish line. Color me perplexed.

Note added 6/4/2021. It appears that elements of the old HB 2867 have been incorporated into HB 2875. This bill addresses some of the issues raised in HB 2867 and provides a fair bit more latitude to members who are disqualified from the Tax Remedy but don't learn of it until the first check of the new year (on or immediately after 1/1/20xx). The later bill provides a 3.5 month window in which an incorrectly removed Tax Remedy can be fixed. With the appropriate documentation, a retiree may have the tax remedy restored within 2 months of notifying PERS of the error and supplying the needed documents. Unlike HB 2867, HB 2875 does NOT provide for a retroactive restoration. This bill is moving through the normal legislative process and is much more likely to pass.