Regular Session News #11: Find out what happened to legislation affecting TRSL

Jun 9, 2017

The 2017 regular session ended yesterday at 6 p.m. Here is what happened to bills affecting TRSL.

Legislation that passed:

Return to work:

• HB 4 (Rep. Miguez) was signed into law and is now Act 15. Act 15 becomes effective July 1 and adds school nurses to the list of retirees who can return to work and continue to receive a benefit check, subject to a 25% of annual benefit earnings limitation.

• HB 31 (Rep. Hoffmann) is awaiting the governor’s signature. If enacted, HB 31 would add school psychologists to the list of critical shortage positions in which a retiree can return to work without a reduction of benefits. The legislation stipulates that if a retiree’s benefit was calculated at an accrual rate lower than 2.5% or their benefit was actuarially reduced, they will be subject to a 36-month waiting period (rather than the 12-month waiting period in current law) before returning to work under the provisions of TRSL’s return-to-work law. This 36-month waiting period would not apply to the current law’s grandfathered group or retirees with advanced degrees in speech therapy, speech pathology, or audiology. 

Correction of enrollment errors:

• SB 8 (Sen. Peacock) awaits consideration from the governor. If enacted, it will allow for the correction of enrollment errors for persons enrolled in incorrect public retirement systems.

TRSL board membership:

• HB 33 (Rep. Pearson) will be sent to the governor. If signed, it clarifies the legislative staff’s rights and duties in attending executive sessions of the state and statewide retirement system boards, particularly with respect to lawyer-client privilege. Also, as amended, it now prohibits any person found in violation of the Code of Governmental Ethics for actions involving the misuse of public funds from serving as a trustee on a state or statewide retirement system board for elections or appointments made on or after July 1, 2017.

Investment reporting:

• SR 123 (Sen. Milkovich) passed and was sent to the Secretary of State. The resolution requests that state systems post certain investment reports to their official websites.

Social Security offsets:

• SCR 22 (Sen. Mizell) was signed by the House Speaker. It asks Congress to consider eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) Social Security benefit reductions.

Legislation that did not pass:

 TRSL-LSERS governance transfer:

• SB 11 (Sen. Peacock) would have transferred governance of the Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System (LSERS) to the TRSL Board.

Constitutional convention:

• HB 456 (Rep. Abramson) proposed to hold a constitutional convention to make changes to fiscal provisions in the state constitution including retirement provisions. It was later amended to remove the consideration of any changes to state and statewide retirement provisions during the convention.

Charter schools:

• HB 546 (Rep. Havard) would have added teacher and school employee retirement to the list of laws, rules, and regulations applicable to charter schools.

Funding/employer contributions:

• SB 87 (Sen. Morrish) would have required an annual direct transfer of MFP funds from the Department of Education to TRSL for a portion of that year’s unfunded accrued liability payment attributable to K-12 employers, beginning in FY 2017-18.

Investment reporting:

• SR 39 (Sen. Milkovich) requested that state retirement systems provide additional information in quarterly comprehensive investment reports to the Senate retirement committee.

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Second special session underway

A second special session convened yesterday at 6:30 p.m. During the session, lawmakers are limited to considering matters relating to state government operating expenses and the capital outlay budget for FY 2018, supplemental appropriations for FY 2017, and the enactment of an Omnibus Bond Authorization Act for 2017. The session must end by midnight on June 19.