SB 1410 — Optional retirement program contribution parity

SB 1410 (2026 Regular Session), filed January 8, 2026 by Senator Smith, would have required that the employer contribution rate for certain optional retirement programs equal the employer contribution rate for the FRS Investment Plan. Its House companion, HB 1441 (Representative Dunkley, "Optional Retirement Programs for Public Postsecondary Employees"), died in the House Government Operations Subcommittee. SB 1410 died in the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee when the regular session ended on March 13, 2026, without a committee hearing.

The bill cited s. 121.051 (participation in the system) and s. 121.35, F.S., the State University System Optional Retirement Program (SUSORP). SUSORP is a defined-contribution alternative to FRS membership for eligible university faculty and administrative staff. Comparable optional programs include the State Community College System Optional Retirement Program and the Senior Management Service Optional Annuity Program. Under current law the employer contribution rates for these optional programs are set separately by statute and are not tied to the FRS Investment Plan employer rate; the bill would have aligned them. (The exact current SUSORP employer rate in s. 121.35 was not independently verified for this entry.)

What this would change in PensionForge's projections: PensionForge models the FRS Pension Plan and Investment Plan. The State University System Optional Retirement Program and similar optional programs are outside those plans, so this bill would not change PensionForge's projections.

Current engine behavior: PensionForge has no optional-retirement-program module; its projections are unaffected by this bill, and no engine change was considered.