June 2024

The 2024 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature came to an end on June 3, 2024. This year, lawmakers proposed ten bills that, if passed, would have impacted LASERS. By the end of the session, six of those bills passed.

SB 1 by Sen. Price passed and is now Act 46. This legislation specified, that for transfers between systems, “employer contributions” are defined as only those employer contributions that are actuarially required. The LASERS Board was neutral on this bill.

HB 782 by Rep. McFarland passed and awaits the Governor’s signature [as of this printing]. This legislation allocates an additional $9.9 million to LASERS to apply to the balance of the initial unfunded accrued liability (IUAL). The LASERS Board supported this bill.

SB 462 by Sen. Hodges passed and is now Act 491. The bill originally permitted the Governor to elect and appoint the chairman or any other officer of each state board and commission. However, the bill was amended and now only applies to those boards where a majority of the members are appointed by the Governor, thus not impacting LASERS.

Two resolutions and one study resolution passed and do not require the Governor’s signature.

HCR 20 by Rep. Johnson memorializes Congress to review and eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) by supporting H.R. 82 and S. 597 of the 118th Congress. See page 5 for details. Another resolution, HR 267 by Rep. Melerine, requests state retirement systems to submit reports regarding procedures for proxy voting.

HSR 4 by Rep. Riser requests the House Committee on Retirement to study the benefits available to beneficiaries of a member of a state retirement system killed in the line of duty by an intentional act of violence and to report its findings prior to the 2025 Regular Session.

Retirement bills that failed to pass through the legislative process were relative to retirement eligibility, ESG investing, and proxy voting.

For a complete list of retirement legislation outcomes, visit lasersonline.org/2024-legislative-session.