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Regular Session News #6: Transfer of governance bill stalls, return-to-work bills progress

May 12, 2017

At the capitol this week, SB 11 (Sen. Peacock) failed passage on a 17 to 17 vote in the full Senate. This bill seeks to rename LSERS the Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement Plan (LSERP) and place governance of that plan under the TRSL Board. The bill would also dissolve the LSERS Board effective July 1, 2017. Senate floor amendments to Senate Bill 11 included the creation of a TRSL board position representing active LSERP members, and an LSERP advisory board to assist in the transfer of governance. SB 11 has been returned to the calendar and may be reconsidered at a future date.

Also this week, the following bills received passage in the full House.
  • HB 4 (Rep. Miguez) proposes to add school nurses to the list of retirees who can return to work and continue to receive a benefit check, subject to a 25% of benefit earnings limitation.
  • HB 31 (Rep. Hoffmann) proposes to add school psychologists to the list of critical shortage positions in which a retiree can return to work without a reduction of benefits.
  • HB 33 (Rep. Pearson) clarifies legislative staff’s rights and duties in attending executive sessions of the TRSL Board, particularly with respect to lawyer-client privilege. The bill was amended to remove language that would have replaced the House Speaker-appointed TRSL board member with the House retirement committee chair beginning in 2020.
These bills now move to the Senate retirement committee, which is scheduled to meet at noon on Monday, May 15.

Other action

Yesterday the House retirement committee passed SCR 22 (Sen. Mizell). This resolution asks Congress to consider eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) Social Security benefit reductions.

Also yesterday, in the Senate education committee SB 87 (Sen. Morrish) failed to pass. Beginning in FY 2017-18 and thereafter, this bill 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.

A complete list of legislation impacting TRSL, including the position taken by the TRSL Board of Trustees on each bill, is available on the Legislation page of our website.
TUNE IN & WATCH LIVE: You can watch live retirement committee meetings online at www.legis.la.gov. Click on the TV icon for any meeting in progress that you’d like to view. Archived broadcasts are available here.
 
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