Regular Session News #14: ORP and RTW bills await Senate final passage
May 10, 2024
Bills affecting the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) and return to work (RTW) are scheduled for final approval in the Senate next week.- House Bill 31 (Rep. Freiberg) would provide a window for active, contributing ORP participants to join the TRSL defined benefit plan. The ORP is a defined contribution retirement plan similar to a 401(k). For details on the provisions of House Bill 31, please read our April 12 Legislative Update.
- House Bill 967 (Rep. Riser) would add critical shortage provisions in the RTW 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. For details on the provisions of House Bill 967, please read our May 3 Legislative Update.
In other news:
The full House amended and passed House Bill 981 (Rep. Melerine), a substitute bill for House Bill 902 (also by Melerine), which would add restrictions related to proxy voting on shareholder-sponsored proposals for Louisiana public retirement systems. The amendments clarified that a proxy advisory firm does not include an investment manager or investment advisor hired by a retirement system. HB 981 now moves to the Senate side for consideration.
House Concurrent Resolution 20 (Rep. M. Johnson), which 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, passed the Senate. HCR 20 will be enrolled, signed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, and presented to the Louisiana Secretary of State.
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.