In July 1985, the State of Louisiana enacted legislation (Act No. 154) granting early
retirement to certain employees covered by 1 of the 13 public retirement systems.
The early retirement provision is available to any member covered under a public retirement
system who on September 1, 1985 had sufficient service credit to be eligible for normal
retirement. For those systems that provide for normal retirement at varying levels
of service credit (e.g., 20 service years at age 55, 20 at age 60, 10 at age 65),
the minimum years of service credit would qualify the member for early retirement
under this provision.
For instance, a member of the State Employee's Retirement System, regardless of age,
with at least 10 years of service credit as of September 1, 1985, would be eligible
for early retirement, under this legislation.
At the time of filing for RIB or DIB, if the NH alleges eligibility to a pension based
on this 1985 early retirement provision, the NH must provide evidence from the pension
paying agency establishing the NH met the early retirement provisions of the July
1985 legislation (Act No. 154).
NOTE: SSA has determined that the State of Louisiana Act 132 of 1995 is NOT binding
on SSA's determination of WEP and GPO and is being disregarded in administering the
WEP and GPO provisions of the Social Security Act. When requesting an eligibility
date from any of the Louisiana retirement systems, specifically ask for the date of
first eligibility without consideration of Act 132 of 1995 so that a proper determination
of an exemption to WEP can be made.