Here's What's New!

In addition to your pension, long-term disability and retiree health insurance benefits, the ASRS offers another program many of our active members find to be of value – the ASRS Supplemental Savings Deferral Plan – or SSDP for short.

The 54th Legislature, First Regular Session adjourned sine die on May 28, 2019 and the general effective date for legislation that was passed and signed by the Governor is August 27, 2019.  The legislature passed two bills that have a relatively minor impact on members and retirees. Below is a brief summary. You can also find more detailed information about these bills and other retirement-related bills in the 2019 Legislative Summary book at AzASRS.gov, on the Legislation page under the About Us tab.

Arizona has a new State Social Security Administrator!

In 2018, legislation passed that allowed the Governor to designate a state agency to serve as the Social Security Administrator.  Prior to that legislative change, the ASRS had been designated and served as the Social Security Administrator.

Did you know...

… that state law requires your employer to send a representative to attend the ASRS Employer Conference every year?

… that while some Employer Conference topics are perpetual, the content is only new information?

… that it only takes 90 minutes of your time to attend an Employer Conference?

… that the Employer Conference is held throughout the state and in webinar form?

The Arizona Legislature adjourned its regular session on May 28, 2019.  Several bills passed which affect the ASRS and its employers and members.  The general effective date for these bills is August 27, 2019.  

Diabetes is a disease where your body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired. Insulin is produced in the pancreas and regulates the amount of glucose in the blood allowing it to be turned into energy and used, or stored. This impairment results in abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates causing elevated glucose levels in the blood.

What does it mean to live healthier? Does it mean eating vegetables and wearing fitness clothes everywhere you go? Is it measured in how many ounces of water you drink in a day, or maybe it is how many minutes you spent on the treadmill? Do we get health points for avoiding fast food restaurants and doing yoga instead?

As we approach the new fiscal year, we prepare for new contribution rates which will take effect July 1, 2019.  The contribution rates will increase slightly from 11.80% to 12.11%, which includes the pension and health insurance benefit (11.94%) and long term disability (0.17%).  The alternate contribution rate paid by employers for return-to-work retirees will decrease to 10.41%.

The ASRS will send an email to employers in the coming weeks with details about proper reporting procedures for transitioning to the new fiscal year.

For the past year the ASRS has included information in the Employer Update regarding new online functionality for processes that were formerly dependent upon paper processes.  Since the release of the new functionality on August 29, 2018, the paper forms for those processes have been obsolete.  While the ASRS may have accepted some paper documents during the transition immediately surrounding the release, the ASRS no longer accepts any of these.