HB1201: Increasing the state contribution for retired teachers' health insurance premium

HB1201 seeks to assist participants in the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association with their group health insurance premiums. Retired teachers are currently spending close to half of their retirement benefits towards premiums, and this legislation seeks to address that issue. Sponsors know this is an uphill battle, since the appropriation for this service is not included in any proposed balanced budget for this biennium. With the help of Rep. Randy Stewart, I've amended the legislation to include 35 other sponsors, and I'll be presenting it to Joint Retirement this morning if the agenda allows.