End of 2014 Legislative Session Update

The 97th Regular Session of the Missouri Legislature officially ended Friday, May 16, 2014 at 6 p.m. We are pleased to report no legislation was passed that had a negative impact on the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri (PSRS/PEERS). This effort was accomplished by the active involvement of numerous educational associations, retired and active teachers contacting their respective legislators and our legislative team who spent many hours walking the floors of the Capitol and monitoring numerous committee hearings and floor debates.

A detailed report of the 97th Missouri Legislative Session will be presented at the upcoming June Board Meeting.If you have any questions regarding the status of particular legislation, please feel free to contact Maria Walden, director of legislation and policy at (573) 638-1084.

Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed legislation* relating to PSRS/PEERS:

SCS HCS HB 1217

This bill specifies that:

  • The right of a person to a public employment retirement benefit cannot be transferred or assigned, at law or in equity. None of the monies paid or payable or rights existing under a plan can be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment or other legal process, unless expressly authorized by the law that establishes the plan or that is specifically applicable to the plan, including division of benefits orders and any legal process in furtherance of the collection of a judgment or administrative order for child support or spousal support.
  • A pension assignee cannot use any device, scheme, transfer or other artifice to evade the applicability and prohibition of these provisions. Any contract or agreement made in violation of these provisions is void and all sums paid or collected by an assignee must be returned.
  • Any benefit recipient, his or her guardian or conservator, or heir or beneficiary, or the attorney general may bring an action to enforce the restitution authorized under these provisions within five years after a violation. The attorney general may exercise the investigative and enforcement powers authorized under Chapter 407, RSMo.
  • Any plan participant in a public employee retirement system established by the state of Missouri or any political subdivision who is found guilty of certain felonies specified in the bill and committed in direct connection to the participant's employment will forfeit retirement benefits based on service rendered on or after the effective date of this section. The plan participant may still request a refund of the contributions made to the plan including interest.

HCS HB 1882

This bill changes the laws regarding the administrative requirements of public employee retirement plans. In its main provisions, the bill:

  • Allows the Joint Committee on Public Employee Retirement (JCPER) to request public employee retirement systems not complying with information requests to testify before the committee regarding such non-compliance;
  • Modifies the notification requirement for periodic cost-of-living increases (COLAs) to those providing new or additional payments beyond the prior year plan provisions;
  • Changes the due date of JCPER's annual report from January 15 of each year to no later than the date of the first quarterly annual meeting;
  • Modifies the definition of "substantial proposed change" to include the closing or freezing of a current defined benefit plan for the purposes of Sections 105.665, 105.670, 105.675, and 105.685, RSMo;
  • Requires each plan to forward the required actuarial valuation to the committee within 60 days after completion or adoption;
  • Requires all public employee retirement plans, except for the Missouri Local Government Employees' Retirement System (LAGERS), to provide a cost statement on proposed changes to plan benefits including the estimated annual cost in dollars; the plan's current actuarial value of assets, market value of assets, actuarial accrued liability, and funded ratio; and a projection of at least 10 years of the current plan provisions compared to the proposed change;
  • Requires LAGERS projection to include a prospective schedule of at least 10 years containing current and proposed provision estimated employer contributions as a percent of payroll and estimated annual dollars, and the resulting difference, and the estimated difference between the actuarial accrued liability and actuarial value of assets for each scenario;
  • Revises the provisions regarding the education requirements of board members; and
  • Requires all plans to develop a procurement action plan for utilization of minority and women money managers, brokers and investment counselors and to report progress annually to the committee and the Governor's Minority Advocacy Commission.

HCS SB 504

This bill requires a state agency to make proposed rules available to the public by providing a link on its official website to the web page that contains the text of the proposed rule as filed, a fiscal note and summary for the proposed rule, as well as a link to the rule and material incorporated by reference in the Missouri Register. This information must be made available on the website within one business day of the publication of the proposed rule in the Missouri Register.

*Legislative summaries were drafted by House and Senate Research.