# Montana HB 62: Generally revise laws related to the administration of MPERA Montana HB 62, Generally revise laws related to the administration of MPERA, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Julie Darling (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-13 (Chapter Number Assigned); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB62-2025 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Montana HB 62 - State: Montana - Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) - Title: Generally revise laws related to the administration of MPERA - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2024-12-18 - Last action: 2025-05-13, Chapter Number Assigned - Sponsor: Julie Darling (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Retirement - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 7 (536 yes, 57 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 14 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Required distributions and automatic starts: benefit, medium. Benefits must start by April 1 of the year after the later of two events: you reach the age set by your birth year or you stop working. Ages are 70½ for births before July 1, 1949; 72 for births after June 30, 1949; 73 for some born after 1950 who turn 73 before 2033; and 75 if you turn 74 after 20… - Cap on pension pay spikes: cost, high. If you were hired on or after July 1, 2013 and have at least 48 or 72 months of service, pay used in your pension math is capped. For each year in your final-average period, only up to 110% of the prior year’s included pay counts. Any extra pay above the cap is totaled, spread evenly over your mont… - PERS: per diems and stipends excluded: cost, medium. Per diems, maintenance, allowances, expenses, and volunteer stipends do not count as compensation for your pension under the public employees’ retirement system. These items are excluded from highest or final average pay calculations. - Sheriff and detention: some pay excluded: cost, medium. Per diems, maintenance, allowances, and some expenses do not count toward pension pay for sheriff/public safety and detention/peace officer plans. One‑time or temporary bonuses paid after July 1, 2013 that are not part of base pay are also excluded. This can lower the pay used to figure future pens… - Employers: fix errors and name a contact: cost, low. Employers must pay any missing contributions plus interest when they correct past retirement reporting errors. Each participating employer must also name a point of contact to receive board materials and share them with employees. - Firefighters: pay, averages, survivor benefits: mixed, high. Starting July 1, 2025, full‑paid firefighters use regular pay before pretax deductions. Part‑paid firefighters in second‑class cities use 15% of a defined full‑paid firefighter’s regular pay, excluding overtime and similar premiums; if none is employed, the average for second‑class cities is used.… - Municipal police: pay and survivor rules: mixed, high. Starting July 1, 2025, overtime, holiday pay, shift pay, comp time, cashouts of sick or annual leave, per diems, allowances, some expenses, and certain post‑2013 one‑time bonuses do not count toward pension pay. If an active member dies, a spouse or dependent child gets half of final average pay ea… - Buy service credit: costs and fixes: mixed, medium. If you buy past service, you must pay the employee contributions plus interest at the board’s actuarial rate. Your employer must have one policy on paying retroactive employer contributions; if it will not pay, you must pay the employer share to get the credit. If an employer failed to tell you abo… - Disability retirement: timing and earnings checks: mixed, medium. You must apply for disability retirement within 12 months after leaving your job. In some plans, your disability benefit becomes a service retirement at normal retirement age with no change in the monthly amount; in others, it stays a disability benefit and no medical exam is required at that age.… - Game wardens: pay and retirement updates: mixed, medium. Starting July 1, 2025, per diems, allowances, some expenses, and one‑time or temporary bonuses after July 1, 2013 do not count as pension pay. Your highest average pay uses your best 36 months if hired before July 1, 2011, or your best 60 months if hired on/after that date. You can replace months w… - Judges: survivor benefits and bonus rule: mixed, medium. If a vested judicial member dies before normal retirement age, the named beneficiary gets a monthly survivorship benefit equal to the actuarial value of the member’s retirement benefit. If not vested, the beneficiary gets a lump‑sum refund of contributions. Also, one‑time or temporary bonuses paid… - Retiree return‑to‑work limits and exceptions: mixed, medium. Starting July 1, 2025, if you return to covered work for 480 hours or more in a year, your pension stops until you retire again. If you work under 480 hours, your benefit is cut $1 for every $3 you earn over $5,000. In another plan, ages 65 to under 70½, your limit is the higher of 960 hours or a d… - Legislators: retirement choices and funding: mixed, low. If you become a legislator and are already an active member, you may keep your membership by filing an irrevocable election within 90 days. You must keep paying employee contributions at the current system rate; the state funds the employer share by appropriation. You may instead retire when your n… - Retirement law terms updated: mixed, low. The law updates many defined terms used across the public retirement systems. Clearer definitions guide how benefits, retirement age, and member status are applied. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Julie Darling (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-16 | House | Do Concur | pass | 96 | 2 | | | 2025-04-15 | House | Do Concur | pass | 98 | 2 | | | 2025-04-09 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 32 | 16 | | | 2025-04-08 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 34 | 15 | | | 2025-01-15 | House | Do Pass | pass | 100 | 0 | | | 2025-01-13 | House | Do Pass As Amended | pass | 99 | 0 | | | 2025-01-13 | House | AMD-HB0062.001.001 Schubert DO PASS | pass | 77 | 22 | | ## Actions (32) - 2025-05-13: Chapter Number Assigned (House) - 2025-05-08: Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-05-02: Transmitted to Governor (House) - 2025-05-02: Signed by President (Senate) - 2025-04-29: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2025-04-18: Returned from Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-16: Sent to Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-16: 3rd Reading Senate Amendments (House) - 2025-04-15: 2nd Reading Senate Amendments (House) - 2025-04-11: 2nd Reading Pass Consideration (House) - 2025-04-09: Returned to House with Amendments (Senate) - 2025-04-09: 3rd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-08: 2nd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-05: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-04-04: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-01-31: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-01-17: Referred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-01-16: 1st Reading (Senate) - 2025-01-16: Transmitted to Senate (House) - 2025-01-15: 3rd Reading (House) - 2025-01-13: 2nd Reading (House) - 2025-01-13: 2nd Reading Motion to Amend (House) - 2025-01-10: Committee Report (House) - 2025-01-10: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-01-07: Fiscal Note Printed (House) - 2025-01-07: Fiscal Note Signed (House) - 2025-01-07: Fiscal Note Received (House) - 2025-01-06: Hearing (House) - 2025-01-06: 1st Reading (House) - 2024-12-20: Referred to Committee (House) - 2024-12-18: Fiscal Note Requested (House) - 2024-12-18: Introduced (House) ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-04-17: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=209fdb72-1bd3-492f-b818-7e5ecc063a9d) - As Amended (Version 3), 2025-04-05: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=217d32db-19c5-4fca-833e-4b9097a69cfc) - As Amended (Version 2), 2025-01-13: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=8daebef7-04c0-49fe-b99d-be4024447a8c) - Introduced, 2024-12-11: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=a5e2c8b6-49e6-4138-8e50-cc7935e6c7ff) ## Related bills - SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law (signed) - HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit (vetoed) - HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws (vetoed) - SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act (vetoed) - SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer (vetoed) - SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program (vetoed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=209fdb72-1bd3-492f-b818-7e5ecc063a9d) - [As Amended (Version 3) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=217d32db-19c5-4fca-833e-4b9097a69cfc) - [As Amended (Version 2) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=8daebef7-04c0-49fe-b99d-be4024447a8c) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=a5e2c8b6-49e6-4138-8e50-cc7935e6c7ff) ## Related - [SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB437-2025) - [HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB831-2025) - [HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB628-2025) - [SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB410-2025) - [SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB422-2025) - [SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB424-2025) - [Montana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana/bills) - [Montana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB62-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).