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Read. Follow. Verify.Idaho updates public employee supplemental retirement plans to include Roth contributions
Last action · March 18, 2026: Reported Signed by Governor on March 18, 2026 Session Law Chapter 49 Effective: 07/01/2026
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What This Bill Does
Idaho revises rules for the Public Employee Retirement System (PERSI) s to explicitly include qualified and investment earnings alongside pre-tax options, taking effect July 1, 2026.
Active public employees gain explicit statutory authorization to make Roth (after-tax) contributions to their supplemental retirement accounts through payroll deductions, expanding their tax-advantaged savings options.
- The Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) administers retirement, disability, and death benefits for state and local public employees in Idaho. context
- Supplemental benefit plans under PERSI allow members to build additional retirement savings alongside their standard defined benefit pensions. context
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Public employees
Active members gain statutory authorization to make voluntary after-tax Roth contributions to supplemental benefit plans via payroll deductions.
Public employers
Employers must process payroll deductions, coordinate contribution limits across multiple plans, and forward funds to the board by the fifth working day after each payroll.
Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho Board
The board is authorized to administer the supplemental benefit plans, establish separate trust funds, secure necessary staff, and set rules for implementation.
Key Facts
- House Bill 543 amends Section 59-1308, Idaho Code, relating to the Public Employee Retirement System supplemental benefit plans.
- The legislation explicitly adds qualified after-tax Roth contributions and investment earnings in compliance with sections 401(a), 401(k), and 402A of the Internal Revenue Code.
- Active members may make voluntary contributions to their supplemental accounts through payroll deductions in lieu of receiving salary.
- Employers must forward all contributions to the board by the fifth working day after each payroll.
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- Employers are responsible for any costs incurred by the board due to an employer's failure to properly withhold, transfer, limit, or report contributions.
- All contributions received from participants are perpetually appropriated to the retirement board and are excluded from the department's budget.
- Additional employee contributions continue to be included as regular compensation for computing retirement contributions and pension benefits, but are excluded from income tax withholding.
- Court-ordered assignments of accounts to a spouse or former spouse must be separate and distinct from approved domestic retirement orders.
- Retirement board members and staff are provided a defense and indemnification against claims arising from official duties, with venue set in Ada County, Idaho.
- The act takes effect as an emergency measure on July 1, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What new contribution type is added to the supplemental benefit plans?
When do employers have to forward payroll contributions to the board?
When does this law go into effect?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
17 actions- Mar 18, 2026EnrolledReported Signed by Governor on March 18, 2026 Session Law Chapter 49 Effective: 07/01/2026
- Mar 17, 2026Delivered to Governor at 1:35 p.m. on March 17, 2026
- Mar 17, 2026Returned Signed by the President; Ordered Transmitted to Governor
- Mar 16, 2026Signed by President; returned to House
- Mar 16, 2026Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
- Mar 16, 2026Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
Show 11 earlier actions
- Mar 13, 2026FloorReturned from Senate Passed; to JRA for Enrolling
- Mar 12, 2026FloorRead third time in full – PASSED - 35-0-0 AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Bjerke(Bjerke), Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Coho(Lenney), Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Galloway, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Keyser, Kohl, Lakey, Lent, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Rundhaug(Carlson), Semmelroth, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, Woodward, Zito, Zuiderveld NAYS – None Absent and excused – None Floor Sponsor - Bernt Title apvd - to House
- Mar 5, 2026Read second time; filed for Third Reading
- Mar 4, 2026Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
- Feb 23, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time; referred to: Commerce & Human Resources
- Feb 23, 2026FloorReceived from the House passed; filed for first reading
- Feb 20, 2026FloorRead Third Time in Full – PASSED - 67-0-3 AYES – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Erickson, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Green, Hall(Stone), Handy, Harris, Hawkins, Haws, Healey, Hill, Holtzclaw, Hostetler, Leavitt, Manwaring, Marmon, Mathias, McCann, Mendive, Mickelsen, Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pickett, Pohanka, Price, Rasor, Raybould, Raymond, Redman, Rubel, Sauter, Scott, Shirts, Skaug, Tanner(13), Tanner(14), Thompson, Vander Woude, Veile, Weber, Wisniewski, Mr. Speaker NAYS – None Absent – Crane(13), Shepherd, Wheeler Floor Sponsor - Fuhriman Title apvd - to Senate
- Feb 19, 2026Read second time; Filed for Third Reading
- Feb 18, 2026Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
- Jan 29, 2026CommitteeReported Printed and Referred to Commerce & Human Resources
- Jan 28, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Retirement Savings Vehicles
The legislation broadens public employee supplemental benefit plans from strictly pre-tax structures to explicitly include after-tax Roth vehicles.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.idaho.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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