Senate Bill 156

Chair's Name: Ben Bridges

Committee: Retirement

Senate Sponsor: Don Balfour

House Sponsor: Earl Ehrhart

The committee substitute received a Do Pass recommendation from the Retirement Committee and comes to the House Floor under the Open Rule.  

Chairman Bridges' opinion of this legislation:

WHAT PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY DOES THIS LEGISLATION ADDRESS?

Local Governments must meet the new funding standards for public retirement systems as determined by Governmental Accounting Standards Board.  The substitute bill also creates the Board of Regents Retiree Health Benefit Fund.

WHAT IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THIS LEGISLATION?

SB 156 provides for establishing and administering certain trusts to provide for the payment of covered post-employment health care expenses for eligible present and future retirees.

Benefit plans of this type may be pre-funded by trusts and other authorized funding mechanisms to enable political subdivisions to comply with financial reporting, disclosure and actuarial requirements of Governmental Accounting Standards Board statements number 43 and 45.

Employer contributions, employee contributions, appropriations, earnings and reserves for the payment of obligations under these benefit plans are to be credited to such trusts or funds, and all such pre-funded amounts are to be used solely for the payment of benefit plan obligations and for no other purpose.

The bill also creates the Board of Regents Health Benefit Fund in order to comply with financial reporting, disclosure and actuarial requirements GASB.  The board shall be the trustee of the fund and the Chancellor shall be its administrator.