Regular Session News #10: Senate retirement committee set to hear TRSL-impacting legislation; Proxy voting bill to be reconsidered
Apr 26, 2024
The Senate retirement committee is scheduled to meet at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 29 (agenda). The committee will consider three legislative instruments that would impact TRSL:- House Bill 31 (Rep. Freiberg) would provide a window for active, contributing Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) participants to join the TRSL defined benefit plan. The ORP is a defined contribution retirement plan similar to a 401(k).
- House Bill 967 (Rep. Riser) would add critical shortage provisions in the return-to-work law for retirees who retired on or after July 1, 2020. The bill would also expand critical shortage provisions to allow for part-time re-employment in certain positions for all retirees.
- House Concurrent Resolution 20 (Rep. M. Johnson) asks Congress to review the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) Social Security benefit reductions and to eliminate or reduce them by supporting H.R. 82 and S. 597 of the 118th Congress and all similar purposed legislation.
The House retirement committee will meet at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 1 (agenda), to consider several retirement bills including a reconsideration of the investment-related House Bill 902 by Rep. Melerine. HB 902 would add restrictions related to proxy voting on shareholder-sponsored proposals and would add new duties and liability to proxy advisory firms working with Louisiana retirement systems. At the committee’s last meeting, a substitute bill for HB 902 was offered by the bill’s author, but ultimately did not advance out of the committee.
In other news:
The full House passed an amended House Bill 782 (Rep. McFarland) on Thursday. HB 782 would make a supplemental appropriation of $23.6 million to the TRSL initial unfunded accrued liability (IUAL) from a portion of the FY 2022-23 surplus funds in the state treasury as required by the Constitution. HB 782 now goes to the Senate for consideration.
TRSL will keep you informed about the status of bills being monitored throughout the session. You can view all meeting schedules and agendas on the Louisiana State Legislature website. Visit the Legislation page of this website, to see all legislation impacting the retirement system.
Stay tuned for future updates.