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HB 78 Alaska House · 34th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act relating to the public employees' retirement system and the teachers' retirement system; and providing certain employees an opportunity to choose between the defined benefit and defined contribution plans of the public employees' retirement system and the teachers' retirement system.

HB 78 allows certain Alaska public employees and teachers (specifically those who joined the retirement system between 2006 and 2025 or previously elected into a defined contribution plan) to choose between the traditional pension-style defined benefit plan and a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan. The bill requires written requests to employers to redirect contributions and payroll deductions to the chosen plan, while preventing dual credit for service in both systems. It also sets conditions for rehired employees, requiring them to avoid distributions or rollovers before returning to work. This bill directly affects eligible current members of Alaska’s public employees’ and teachers’ retirement systems by altering their retirement plan options.
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2026
House Passage
May 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2026
Vetoed
May 2026
Introduced Jan 31, 2025 Vetoed May 19, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

CSHB 78(FIN) am(efd fld) → Enrolled HB 78 · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized and enrolled for passage, updating the official title and removing committee-specific headers. The most significant substantive change is the extension of the transition deadline for teachers from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027, allowing them more time to decide between retirement plans. Minor technical adjustments include correcting a typo in the reemployment clause and updating the page numbering to reflect the final version.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on the public employees' and teachers' retirement systems, but the eligibility timeline for plan selection has been extended by one year.
TIMELINE

The deadline for teachers to choose between defined benefit and defined contribution plans was extended from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027, in multiple sections regarding eligibility and reemployment rules.

TECHNICAL

A grammatical error in the reemployment eligibility criteria was corrected to clarify that a direct rollover must occur 'within 180 days' rather than 'before the date of reemployment'.

Header information was updated to reflect the final 'Enrolled' status, removing draft committee labels and adding the official 'Laws of Alaska 2026' citation.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
100
Key actions
18
Committee
2
Amendments
12
May 19, 2026
Vetoed
(H) GOVERNOR VETO SUSTAINED Y33 N27
lower
May 19, 2026
Vetoed
(H) VETOED BY GOVERNOR 5/18/26
lower
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) AS AMENDED
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) PASSED ON RECONSIDERATION Y12 N8
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) ADOPTED Y20 N-
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) PASSED Y12 N8
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 10 ADOPTED UC
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 8 ADOPTED Y11 N9
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 7 ADOPTED UC
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 5 ADOPTED Y11 N9
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Amended
(S) AM NO 4 FAILED Y10 N10
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 3 ADOPTED UC
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 2 ADOPTED Y11 N9
upper
Apr 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) AM NO 1 ADOPTED UC
upper
Apr 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) FIN SCS ADOPTED UC
upper
Apr 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) Moved SCS CSHB 78(FIN) Out of Committee
upper
Jan 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
(S) Moved SCS CSHB 78(L&C) Out of Committee
upper
May 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
lower
May 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) PASSED Y21 N19
lower
May 10, 2025
Amended
(H) AM NO 15 FAILED Y15 N23 E2
lower
May 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) AM NO 14 AS AMD ADOPTED UC
lower
May 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) AM 1 TO AM 14 ADOPTED UC
lower
May 10, 2025
Amended
(H) AM NO 12 FAILED Y17 N21 E2
lower
May 10, 2025
Amended
(H) AM NO 11 FAILED Y16 N22 E2
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.