The 92nd General Assembly closed its 2019 session with a few changes to Arkansas Retirement Law.  Most concern only small portions of APERS’ membership, but a couple are more far reaching. This is a brief rundown of the most important: 

• Act 474 expands the protections and accomodations provided by the system for members of the Armed Services covered by the federal USERRA laws (The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994) to include members of the Arkansas National Guard.
  
  
• Act 526 of 2019 changed interest paid on accumulated member contributions from 4% to 2% annually starting July 1, 2019.
  
  
• Act 624 specifies that the requirement for members to immediately terminate employment when exiting the DROP is waived for public officials who are currently serving or about to commence serving in an elected position.
  
  
• Act 625 reduces the length of time a spouse must have been married to a deceased member to be eligible for survivor benefits from one year to six months.  It also reduces the time a member must have been married to elect the B-50 or B-75 benefit option at retirement from one year to six months before the date of the first benefit payment.
  
  
• Act 826 specifies that members of the General Assembly must have at least five years of credited service to be eligible to purchase up to five years of military service.

Article from "APERSpective" Active Members Newsletter - Summer 2019