Regular Session News #8: Proxy voting bill to be heard this week; Congressional hearing on GPO/WEP scheduled for tomorrow
Apr 15, 2024
The House retirement committee is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, April 18 where House Bill 902 by Rep. Michael Melerine will be considered (agenda).As currently written, HB 902 proposes to require a commitment from any proxy advisory firm retained by a Louisiana public retirement system to base their voting recommendations for shareholder-sponsored proposals solely on the economic interests of the retirement system. The legislation also provides the following regarding proxy voting for these types of proposals:
- Requires the proxy advisory firm's voting recommendations to mirror the recommendations of a company’s board of directors of which the majority are independent for each vote, or the firm must perform and document an economic analysis that demonstrates when its recommendation is inconsistent with the recommendation of the majority-independent board of directors.
- Allows certain members of the public, who believe a proxy vote was inconsistent with the provisions of law, to request the economic analysis performed by the proxy advisory firm from retirement systems. Requires retirement systems to respond to these requests within a set time period.
- Authorizes enforcement of this law by the state attorney general who may investigate and take action if there is reasonable belief a violation of law has or will occur. Enforcement may include requiring sworn statements, depositions, review of documents, or action to impound affected accounts.
Congressional Social Security Subcommittee Hearing on Tuesday
The Congressional Ways & Means - Social Security Subcommittee on the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) is scheduled to meet at 2:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time) on Tuesday, April 16.
Interested persons can tune in to the committee’s live stream using this link: Social Security Subcommittee Hearing. (The webcast will be available when the hearing begins.) This hearing advisory provides more information.
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.