§1331.1. Cost-of-living adjustment; minimum benefit

A. The provisions of Subsection B of this Section shall apply to:

(1) Any regular retiree of the system who, on June 30, 2006:

(a) Has twenty or more years of service credit; and

(b) Has been retired for fifteen years or more; and

(c) Receives a monthly retirement benefit of less than one thousand two hundred dollars.

(2) Any regular retiree of the system who, on June 30, 2006:

(a) Has been retired for thirty years or more; and

(b) Has attained the age of eighty or more; and

(c) The sum of his years retired plus his years of service credit equals or exceeds fifty; and

(d) Receives a monthly retirement benefit of less than one thousand two hundred dollars.

(3) Any disability retiree who as of June 30, 2006, receives a monthly retirement benefit of less than one thousand two hundred dollars.

(4) The surviving spouse of any regular or disability retiree who would have been eligible to receive the benefit increase provided pursuant to Subsection B of this Section had he lived, provided such spouse was married to the retiree at the time of his death.

B.(1) Each person to whom this Subsection applies shall have his current monthly retirement benefit increased as a cost-of-living adjustment by the lesser of:

(a) Three hundred dollars; or

(b) The difference between one thousand two hundred dollars and his current monthly benefit, if said benefit is less than one thousand two hundred dollars.

(2) The actuarial cost of implementing the provisions of this Subsection shall be paid from excess interest earnings of the system.

(3) The additional monthly benefit provided in this Subsection shall be due and payable on the earlier of June 30, 2007, or the effective date of any cost-of-living adjustment granted by the board of trustees pursuant to Subsection C of this Section.

C. In accordance with the requirements of R.S. 11:242 (B) and (C), and if the provisions of R.S. 11:242(E) are satisfied according to the system's June 30, 2006, actuarial valuation adopted by the Public Retirement Systems' Actuarial Committee, the board of trustees is authorized to use excess interest earnings of the system which are not required for the funding of the actuarial cost of implementing the provisions of Subsection B of this Section to grant an additional cost-of-living adjustment to benefit recipients pursuant to the formula set forth in R.S. 11:241(B) and to grant a supplemental cost-of-living adjustment to retirees and beneficiaries who are sixty-five years of age or over pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 11:246(B).

Acts 2007, No. 370, §1, eff. June 30, 2007.