Senate Bill 1145 (OPERS)
Senate Bill 1148 (URSJJ)
(Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Chuck Hall)
Effective November 1, 2026
Note: OPERS often receives questions about when and how a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is granted. OPERS cannot grant a COLA on its own; the Oklahoma Legislature has sole authority to provide COLAs for OPERS and URSJJ members. See our article Understanding how OPERS changes happen for more information on this process.
These bills provide a COLA based on a member’s years of retirement as of June 30, 2026.
| Number of years retired as of June 30, 2026 |
COLA Adjustment |
| Less than 10 years | No adjustment |
| 10 or more years | 3% increase |
| 20 or more years | 6% increase |
OPERS will send a notification and Benefit Change Notice to retired OPERS and URSJJ members eligible for the COLA in late November. The increase will be effective for the benefit deposited on November 30, 2026.
Make sure your address is updated with OPERS by completing the Change of Address form.
House Bill 4050
(Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Chuck Hall)
Effective July 1, 2026
As an OPERS member, both you and your employer are required to pay contributions to OPERS. This bill decreases the contribution rate for state agency employers from 16.5% to 9.5%. This decrease only impacts employer contributions; the contribution rate you pay as an OPERS member remains the same.
How will this affect me as an OPERS member?
- This bill does not change the amount you contribute to OPERS as an employee. Your paycheck will not change due to the changes in this bill.
- This bill does not change current benefit payments for retired members or how future benefits will be calculated.
Information for participating employers
- This bill only applies to state agency employer contributions.
- For employees participating in Pathfinder, the employer will make the required matching Pathfinder contribution amount for participants and remit the difference between that amount and 9.5% to OPERS.
- State agency employer contributions for Hazardous Duty members will also change to 9.5%. Employee contributions will remain at 8%.
The new state agency employer contribution rate in HB 4050 goes into effect July 1, 2026 and sunsets on June 30, 2031, at which time the employer contribution rate will go back to 16.5%.
A complete legislative update including additional bills that may become law during the remainder of this legislative session will appear in the summer issue of the Retiring Right Newsletter. The summer newsletter will be in mailboxes in July.