SB 434: County employees' retirement systems; increasing maximum amount of total employer and employee contributions. Effective date. Emergency. - Oklahoma

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the mandatory retirement contribution rates for county employees in Oklahoma, increasing the maximum total contribution from 18.5% to 22% starting July 1, 2025. It also clarifies the annual appropriation requirements for county funds and simplifies the timeline for when these higher rates apply, removing a temporary provision for retroactive payments that existed in the previous version.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on county employee retirement systems, but the financial obligations for employers and employees have increased, and the effective date for the new rates has been accelerated.

FISCAL

The maximum total contribution rate for employer and employee combined was increased from 18.5% to 22% effective July 1, 2025, replacing the previous schedule that capped at 18.5%.

TIMELINE

The timeline for contribution rate increases was adjusted; the previous version included a specific 18.5% cap for the 2021-2022 period with a retroactive lump-sum option, which was removed in favor of a direct jump to 22% starting in 2025.

REQUIREMENT

The statutory language regarding the annual appropriation by county commissioners was streamlined to ensure the allocated sum equals or exceeds employee contributions without exceeding the new total contribution cap.

TECHNICAL

A provision allowing employers to make a one-time retroactive lump-sum contribution for underpayments in the 2021-2022 period was removed.

House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill → Floor (House) · 4 edits

MODERATE

This version of the bill updates the header to reflect it is the House Floor version and clarifies the bill's title. The most significant substantive change is the modification of retirement contribution rates, increasing the maximum total contribution from 18.5% to 22% effective July 1, 2025. The bill also updates the footer metadata to reflect the correct bill number and committee report details.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new contribution rates remains July 1, 2025, but the rate itself is increased.

FISCAL

The maximum combined employer and employee contribution rate for county employee retirement systems is increased from 18.5% to 22% of monthly compensation.

TECHNICAL

The document header was changed from 'Committee Substitute' to 'House of Representatives - Floor Version' to indicate the bill has been reported out of committee and is ready for floor consideration.

The footer metadata was updated to change the requirement number to 'SB434 HFLR' and include the specific committee report date and status.

Enrolled (final version) → House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from an enrolled Senate version to a House Committee Substitute, which involved significant formatting changes to align with House drafting standards. Substantively, the text of the law regarding contribution percentages and effective dates remains identical to the original Senate version, with no changes to the policy, funding amounts, or eligibility criteria.

TECHNICAL

The document header and title block were updated to reflect the House Committee Substitute status, including new line numbers and the removal of the 'Enrolled Senate' designation.

Page break markers and footer text were restructured to match the House's specific formatting requirements for committee substitutes.

A new footer line containing the bill's tracking number (Req. No. 13525) and date stamp was added to the House version.

The original signature blocks for the Senate, House, and Governor were replaced with the standard House substitute layout, removing the specific passage dates from the enrolled version.

POLICY

The core legislative text, including the retirement contribution percentages, effective dates, and emergency declaration, was not altered.

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 3 edits · May 21, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized as an enrolled act, removing internal drafting notes and adding official signatures from the Senate, House, and Governor. The core policy content regarding retirement contribution percentages and the retroactive contribution option remained substantively unchanged from the engrossed version.

Scope change

No change to the scope or applicability of the bill; it remains applicable to county employees' retirement systems in Oklahoma.

TECHNICAL

Removed internal legislative markup, page headers, and draft annotations to produce the final official text.

Added signature lines for the Presiding Officers of the Senate and House, the Governor, and the Secretary of State to certify final passage.

Deleted the 'Engrossed' header and replaced it with the 'Enrolled' header to indicate the bill has completed the legislative process.

Amended And Engrossed → Engrossed · 3 edits · May 13, 2025

MINOR

The bill was amended to renumber sections and update the effective date for increased retirement contributions from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026. The amendment also removed a provision allowing employers to make retroactive lump-sum contributions for underpayments made between 2021 and 2022. These changes clarify the timeline for when higher contribution rates take effect and eliminate the option for back-payments.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on county employee retirement systems, but the timeline for implementing increased contribution rates has been extended by one year.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new higher contribution percentages was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

The option for employers to make a one-time retroactive lump-sum payment to cover underpaid contributions from 2021-2022 was deleted.

TECHNICAL

Section numbers were reorganized (renumbered) to align with the final engrossed version of the bill.

Introduced → Amended And Engrossed · 3 edits · May 13, 2025

MINOR

The bill was amended to clarify its purpose by adding a description of deleting a retroactive contribution option for employees. The amendment also standardizes the formatting of the contribution percentage table and corrects a confusing sentence regarding the effective date of the 22% contribution rate, ensuring the text clearly states the rate applies starting July 1, 2025.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on county employee retirement systems, but the text now explicitly mentions the deletion of a previous retroactive contribution option.

REQUIREMENT

Added a specific description to the bill title indicating that it deletes a certain retroactive contribution option for employees.

TIMELINE

Corrected the text regarding contribution percentages to clearly state that the 22% rate applies beginning July 1, 2025, resolving ambiguity in the original draft.

TECHNICAL

Reformatted the contribution percentage table to improve readability and consistency.

County employees' retirement systems; increasing maximum amount of total employer and employee contributions. Effective date. Emergency.

What changed between versions

How they voted

Actions timeline

Sponsors