SB 177-PERS/TRS COLA FOR ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY DEBORAH GRUNDMAN, Staff to Senator Ben Stevens, paraphrased from the sponsor statement: An Alaska cost of living allowance is payable to benefit recipients of the public employees' and teachers' retirement system who remain domiciled in Alaska after retirement. The allowance is 10 percent of their base pay. A person receiving a COLA is not entitled to the allowance if absent from the state for a time period in excess of 90 continuous days, except that a person may be absent from the state for not more than six months without a loss of COLA if the absence is the result of illness and required by order of a licensed physician. Upon return to the state and upon notification to the Department of Administration the person is again entitled to receive the monthly cost of living allowance, commencing with the first monthly benefit payment. Our retired public employees currently receiving COLA in the State and who are called to active duty in the military would not be eligible for the COLA payment while serving our country, under existing statute. SB 177 rectifies this situation and allows retired public employees eligible to continue to receive their COLA while on active military duty. SENATOR JOHN COWDERY asked how many people would be affected. MS. GRUNDMAN replied there wouldn't be more than ten. GUY BELL, Director of Retirement and Benefits, advised they submitted a zero fiscal note. The pool is limited to those who have retired from PERS or TRS and who are in the military reserve. Currently ten people could be affected and that's probably an accurate number going forward. It's an equity issue and the department supports the legislation. SENATOR JOHN COWDERY made a motion to move SB 177 from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There being no objection, it was so ordered.