Archive for month: April, 2024

The House Retirement Committee discussed HB 902 and HB 30 on Thursday, April 18.

• HB 902 by Rep. Melerine was amended by substitute. The substitute bill would add new restrictions related to proxy voting on shareholder-sponsored proposals and add new duties and liability to proxy advisory firms working with Louisiana retirement systems. The substitute bill did not advance out of committee.
• HB 30 by Rep. Bagley also failed to advance and will remain in committee. The bill permits any rank-and-file member, regardless of age or first date of employment, to retire with 25 years of service credit.

Both bills are subject to be recalled at a later date.

The House Appropriations Committee will consider HB 782 by Rep. McFarland on Tuesday, April 23 at 9:00 a.m. HB 782 would make supplemental appropriations for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 and allocate an additional $8.9 million to LASERS to apply to the balance of the initial unfunded accrued liability (IUAL).

The House Retirement Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, April 11 at 9:30 a.m. There are currently three bills on the agenda that would impact LASERS, if passed:

• HB 30 by Rep. Bagley would permit any rank-and-file member, regardless of age or first date of employment, to retire with 25 years of service.
• SB 1 by Sen. Price specifies, that for transfers between systems, “employer contributions” are defined as only those employer contributions that are actuarially required.
• HB 902 by Rep. Melerine provides relative to the voting shares held by retirement systems based on advice of proxy advisory firms. This new bill was recently added to our tracking list.

HCR 20 by Rep. Mike Johnson is also on the agenda. This resolution 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. Similar resolutions have passed in previous sessions.

SB 5 Remains in Committee

SB 5 by Sen. Miguez was discussed at length in the Senate Retirement Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 2. The bill requires fiduciaries for public retirement systems to make investment decisions based solely on financial factors. At the meeting, the bill was amended by substitute; however, a motion to report the bill by substitute failed. The bill remains in committee and is subject to call at a later date.

For in-depth details of legislation and links to watch the meetings live, visit the Louisiana State Legislature website at legis.la.gov.

Please note that meeting schedules and agendas are subject to change.

The House Retirement Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, April 11 at 9:30 a.m. There are currently three bills on the agenda that would impact LASERS, if passed:

• HB 30 by Rep. Bagley would permit any rank-and-file member, regardless of age or first date of employment, to retire with 25 years of service.
• SB 1 by Sen. Price specifies, that for transfers between systems, “employer contributions” are defined as only those employer contributions that are actuarially required.
• HB 902 by Rep. Melerine provides relative to the voting shares held by retirement systems based on advice of proxy advisory firms. This new bill was recently added to our tracking list.

HCR 20 by Rep. Mike Johnson is also on the agenda. This resolution 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. Similar resolutions have passed in previous sessions.

SB 5 Remains in Committee

SB 5 by Sen. Miguez was discussed at length in the Senate Retirement Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 2. The bill requires fiduciaries for public retirement systems to make investment decisions based solely on financial factors. At the meeting, the bill was amended by substitute; however, a motion to report the bill by substitute failed. The bill remains in committee and is subject to call at a later date.

For in-depth details of legislation and links to watch the meetings live, visit the Louisiana State Legislature website at legis.la.gov.

Please note that meeting schedules and agendas are subject to change.