Georgia

Overview

Major public retirement systems in Georgia include the Georgia Employees Retirement System and the Georgia Teachers Retirement System. Georgia ERS administers benefits to state employees, including police officers and firefighters. Georgia Teachers administers benefits for certified teachers, university professors, and employees of various educational agencies. The Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System (GMEBS) administers retirement benefits for employees of local governments electing to participate.

Supplemental retirement plans exist for certain employee groups such as public school employees, judges, and state legislators.

Plan Design

Defined benefit plans serve as the primary retirement benefit for teachers, most local government workers, and state employees hired prior to 1/1/09 in Georgia. State employees hired on or after 1/1/09 participate in a combination (DB+DC) hybrid plan.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 75 percent of employees of state and local government in Georgia participate in Social Security.

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Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

GA Code § 47-2-20 establishes the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia. GA Code § 47-2-21 creates the ERS Board of Trustees, which consists of seven trustees. 

GA Code § 47-3-20 establishes the Teachers’ Retirement System of Georgia. GA Code § 47-3-21 creates the TRS Board of Trustees, which consists of ten trustees. 

Details regarding the composition of these and other retirement boards is accessible via the Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics search tool located at the bottom of this page.

Fiduciary Duty/Prudence Standard

GA Code § 47-20-88 states:

(b) With regard to the investments and assets of a retirement system, each fiduciary:

1. Shall discharge its duties:
   1. Solely in the interests of plan participants and their beneficiaries;For the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to plan participants and their beneficiaries; and
   2. In accordance with this Code section first and with the laws, resolutions, ordinances, and plan documents appurtenant to such retirement system second;
2. Shall only make investments with care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent expert acting in like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims;Shall diversify the investments of the plan so as to minimize the risk of large losses, unless doing so is clearly not prudent under the circumstances; and
3. Shall not subordinate the interests of the participants and their beneficiaries or sacrifice investment returns or accept increased investment risks in the promotion of any nonpecuniary interests. Such nonpecuniary interests shall include, but shall not be limited to, the furtherance of any social, political, or ideological interests.

GA Code § 47-20-84 restricts investment activities as follows:

...a large retirement system shall invest not more than 75 percent of its assets in equities; provided, further, that no fund shall increase its assets in equities through purchase by more than 20 percent in any fiscal year. 

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

Article I, Sec. I, Par. X, of the Georgia Constitution, prohibits the impairment of contracts. The courts interpret this constitutional provision to protect retirement benefits. Swann v. Bd. of Trustees, 360 S.E.2d 395 (1987)(where a statute establishes a retirement plan for government employees who contribute toward the benefits and performs services while the statute is in effect, the statute becomes part of the contract of employment so that any attempt to amend the statute violates the impairment clause of the state constitution); Georgia courts recognized that a retirement plan for government employees becomes a part of an employee's contract of employment if the employee contributes at any time any amount toward the benefits, regardless of whether the employee vests under the plan. "[l]f the employee performs services during the effective dates of the legislation, the benefits are constitutionally vested, precluding their legislative repeal as to the employee, regardless of whether or not the employee would be able to retire on any basis under the plan." Withers v. Register, 269 S.E.2d 431 (1980). (GA CONST., Article 1, §1, 1JX) Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits

See also the following search tools:

More Data

• Public Fund Survey Summary of Findings
• Roll Call (NASRA members-only)