Legislature(2005 - 2006)
2005-05-03 House Journal
Full Journal pdf2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1476 SB 141 The following, which was moved to the bottom of the calendar (page 1469), was again before the House: CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 141(FIN) "An Act relating to the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems and creating defined contribution and health reimbursement plans for members of the teachers' retirement system and the public employees' retirement system who are first hired after July 1, 2005; relating to university retirement programs; establishing the Alaska Retirement Management Board to replace the Alaska State Pension Investment Board, the Alaska Teachers' Retirement Board, and the Public Employees' Retirement Board; adding appeals of the decisions of the administrator of the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems to the jurisdiction of the office of administrative hearings; providing for nonvested members of the teachers' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the teachers' retirement system defined contribution plan and for nonvested members of the public employees' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the public employees' retirement system defined contribution plan; providing for political subdivisions and public organizations to request to participate in the public employees' defined contribution retirement plan; and providing for an effective date." with the: Journal Page STA RPT HCS(STA) 1DP 5NR 1218 FN1: (ADM) 1218 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1477 FN2: (ADM) 1218 FN3: (REV) 1218 FN4: (REV) 1218 FN5: (REV) 1218 FN6: (REV) 1218 FN7: (REV) 1218 FN8: (S.FIN/ADM) 1218 FIN RPT HCS(FIN) 2DP 5NR 2AM (FORTHCOMING HCS) 1420 FN1: (ADM) 1421 FN3: (REV) 1421 FN4: (REV) 1421 FN5: (REV) 1421 FN6: (REV) 1421 FN7: (REV) 1421 FN9: ZERO(H.FIN/ADM) 1421 FN10: (ADM) 1421 FIN RPT HCS(FIN) 3DP 4NR 1AM (FORTHCOMING HCS) 1434 FN1: (ADM) 1435 FN3: (REV) 1435 FN4: (REV) 1435 FN5: (REV) 1435 FN6: (REV) 1435 FN7: (REV) 1435 FN9: ZERO(H.FIN/ADM) 1435 FN11: (ADM) 1435 HCS(FIN) NT RECEIVED 1460 Representative Coghill moved and asked unanimous consent that the following committee substitute be adopted in lieu of the original bill: HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 141(FIN) "An Act relating to the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems and creating defined contribution and health reimbursement plans for members of the teachers' retirement system and the public employees' retirement system who are first hired after July 1, 2005; relating to university retirement programs; establishing the Alaska Retirement Management Board to replace the Alaska State Pension Investment Board, the Alaska Teachers' Retirement Board, and the Public Employees' Retirement Board; allowing members in the defined contribution 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1478 plan of the public employees' retirement system who are not employees of participating employers to make wage reductions to purchase supplemental death or disability benefits in the Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan; adding appeals of the decisions of the administrator of the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems to the jurisdiction of the office of administrative hearings; providing for nonvested members of the teachers' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the teachers' retirement system defined contribution plan and for nonvested members of the public employees' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the public employees' retirement system defined contribution plan; providing for political subdivisions and public organizations to request to participate in the public employees' defined contribution retirement plan; and providing for an effective date." (pending title change resolution) There being no objection, it was so ordered. Amendment No. 1 was offered by Representative Kelly: Page 1, lines 7 - 10 through "Plan;" (title amendment): Delete all material. Page 58, lines 19 - 25: Delete all material. Page 59, lines 6 - 23: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Representative Kelly moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 1 be adopted. Representative Kerttula objected. Representative Kelly moved and asked unanimous consent to withdraw Amendment No. 1. There being no objection, it was so ordered. 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1479 New Amendment No. 1 was offered by Representative Kelly: Page 1, lines 7 - 10 through "Plan;" (title amendment): Delete all material. Page 58, lines 19 - 25: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 59, line 10: Delete "or (d)" Page 59, line 21: Delete ";" Insert "." Page 59, lines 22 - 23: Delete all material. Representative Kelly moved and asked unanimous consent that New Amendment No. 1 be adopted. Representative Croft objected and withdrew the objection. There being no further objection, New Amendment No. 1 was adopted, and the new title follows: HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 141(FIN) am H "An Act relating to the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems and creating defined contribution and health reimbursement plans for members of the teachers' retirement system and the public employees' retirement system who are first hired after July 1, 2005; relating to university retirement programs; establishing the Alaska Retirement Management Board to replace the Alaska State Pension Investment Board, the Alaska Teachers' Retirement Board, and the Public Employees' Retirement Board; adding appeals of the decisions of the administrator of the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems to the jurisdiction of the office of administrative hearings; providing for nonvested members of the teachers' retirement 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1480 system defined benefit plans to transfer into the teachers' retirement system defined contribution plan and for nonvested members of the public employees' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the public employees' retirement system defined contribution plan; providing for political subdivisions and public organizations to request to participate in the public employees' defined contribution retirement plan; and providing for an effective date." Amendment No. 2 was offered by Representative Weyhrauch: Page 115, following line 2: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 136. (a) AS 14.25.310 - 14.25.590; AS 39.30.300 - 39.30.495; and AS 39.35.700 - 39.35.990 are repealed June 1, 2006. (b) The revisor of statutes shall submit to the Alaska Legislative Council at its first meeting of the Second Regular Session of the Twenty-Fourth Alaska State Legislature a bill amending the Alaska Statutes to conform to (a) of this section. (c) The legislature shall consider repealing (a) of this section if a long-term solution has addressed the unfunded liability of the teachers' retirement system and public employees' retirement system. The unfunded liability endangers the security of current and retired employees in those systems and the long-term viability of the systems themselves. A long-term solution to the unfunded liability issue must include implementing employer contributions, bonding, refined actuarial analyses, and contributions from other state sources." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 119, line 20: Delete "SECTIONS 144 AND 145" Insert "SECTIONS 145 AND 146" Page 119, line 21: Delete "secs. 144 and 145" Insert "secs. 145 and 146" 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1481 Page 119, lines 22 - 23: Delete "secs. 144 and 145" Insert "secs. 145 and 146" Page 120, line 3: Delete "Section 146" Insert "Section 147" Page 120, line 4: Delete "secs. 148, 149, and 150 " Insert "secs. 149, 150, and 151" Representative Weyhrauch moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 2 be adopted. Representative Kelly objected. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 2 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HCS CSSB 141(FIN) am H Second Reading Amendment No. 2 YEAS: 27 NAYS: 12 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 1 Yeas: Berkowitz, Cissna, Crawford, Croft, Dahlstrom, Elkins, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Harris, Hawker, Joule, Kerttula, Kott, LeDoux, Lynn, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Rokeberg, Salmon, Samuels, Seaton, Stoltze, Weyhrauch Nays: Anderson, Chenault, Coghill, Foster, Holm, Kelly, Kohring, McGuire, Meyer, Moses, Thomas, Wilson Absent: Kapsner And so, Amendment No. 2 was adopted. Amendment No. 3 was offered by Representative Croft: Page 1, line 1 through page 120, line 5 (title amendment): Delete all material. 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1482 Insert ""An Act relating to establishing the Alaska Retirement Review Task Force; and providing for an effective date." BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: THE RETIREMENT REVIEW TASK FORCE: It is the intent of the Legislature to create a temporary task force to review the Alaska state retirement systems. The task force sunsets 30 days after the first day of the second regular legislative session following the effective date of this section. (a) The panel shall be composed of (1) a member of the Teachers' Retirement System Board; (2) a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System Board; (3) a member of the Alaska State Pension Investment Board; (4) one senator selected by the minority in the senate; (5) one senator selected by the majority in the senate; (6) one representative selected by the minority in the house of representatives; (7) one representative selected by the majority in the house of representatives; (8) two people selected by the governor; and (9) two people selected by the governor from a list of union nominations. (b) Each union representing at least 300 public employees who have as members employees who are beneficiaries of the Teachers' Retirement System (AS 14.25) or the Public Employees' Retirement System (AS 39.35) may submit the name of a person for consideration by the governor under (a) (9) of this section. (c) The panel shall select a chair who shall conduct the meetings of the panel. Not later than the first day of the second regular session of the Twenty-Fourth Alaska State Legislature, the chair shall notify the revisor of statutes of the findings of the panel. (d) The panel shall present a report to the legislature containing the task force's assessments and recommendations as provided in this section. The panel shall report to the legislature 120 days after all members are appointed to the board, or 15 days after the first day of 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1483 the first regular legislative session following the effective date of this section, whichever is first. The report must include the panel's (1) preliminary assessment of the financial health of all public employees' retirement plans and all teachers' retirement plans; (2) assessment of the actuarial services purchased by board; (3) recommendations for additional legislative or administrative policy to improve the financial health of the retirement plans; (4) short-term and long-term recommendations for addressing the unfunded liability of the retirement plans; and (5) recommendations for legislative procedures regarding fiscal notes for new legislation affecting the retirement plans." (e) Members of the panel are entitled to transportation and per diem expenses for any meeting as provided in AS 39.20.180. *Sec. 2. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c)." Representative Croft moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 3 be adopted. Representative Kelly objected. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 3 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HCS CSSB 141(FIN) am H Second Reading Amendment No. 3 YEAS: 20 NAYS: 19 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 1 Yeas: Anderson, Berkowitz, Cissna, Crawford, Croft, Dahlstrom, Elkins, Gara, Gardner, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Harris, Joule, Kapsner, Kerttula, LeDoux, Lynn, Olson, Salmon, Weyhrauch Nays: Chenault, Coghill, Foster, Gatto, Hawker, Holm, Kelly, Kohring, McGuire, Meyer, Moses, Neuman, Ramras, Rokeberg, Samuels, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas, Wilson Absent: Kott And so, Amendment No. 3 was adopted, and the new title follows: 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1484 HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 141(FIN) am H "An Act relating to establishing the Alaska Retirement Review Task Force; and providing for an effective date." Representative Croft moved and asked unanimous consent that the House rescind previous action in adopting Amendment No. 3. Representative Berkowitz objected. Representative Rokeberg placed a call of the House. The call was satisfied. The question being: "Shall the House rescind previous action in adopting Amendment No. 3?" The roll was taken with the following result: HCS CSSB 141(FIN) am H Second Reading Rescind Previous Action/Amendment No. 3 YEAS: 26 NAYS: 14 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 0 Yeas: Anderson, Chenault, Coghill, Elkins, Foster, Gatto, Harris, Hawker, Holm, Joule, Kapsner, Kelly, Kohring, McGuire, Meyer, Moses, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Rokeberg, Samuels, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas, Weyhrauch, Wilson Nays: Berkowitz, Cissna, Crawford, Croft, Dahlstrom, Gara, Gardner, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Kerttula, Kott, LeDoux, Lynn, Salmon And so, the motion passed, and the title follows: HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 141(FIN) am H "An Act relating to the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems and creating defined contribution and health reimbursement plans for members of the teachers' retirement system and the public employees' retirement system who are first hired after July 1, 2005; relating to university retirement programs; establishing the Alaska Retirement Management Board to replace the Alaska State Pension Investment Board, the Alaska Teachers' Retirement Board, and the Public Employees' 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1485 Retirement Board; adding appeals of the decisions of the administrator of the teachers' and public employees' retirement systems to the jurisdiction of the office of administrative hearings; providing for nonvested members of the teachers' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the teachers' retirement system defined contribution plan and for nonvested members of the public employees' retirement system defined benefit plans to transfer into the public employees' retirement system defined contribution plan; providing for political subdivisions and public organizations to request to participate in the public employees' defined contribution retirement plan; and providing for an effective date." Representative Croft moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 3 (page 1481) be adopted. Representative Kelly objected. Representative Berkowitz moved and asked unanimous consent that the question be divided. The Speaker ruled that the question was not divisible. Amendment to Amendment No. 3 was offered by Representative Croft: Delete "Page 1, line 1 through Page 120, line 5 (title amendment): Delete all material." Insert Section 1 as a new bill section to HCS CSSB 141(FIN) am H. Representative Croft moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment to Amendment No. 3 be adopted. Representative Kelly objected. Representative Kelly placed a call of the House. The call was satisfied. 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1486 Representative Croft moved and asked unanimous consent to withdraw Amendment to Amendment No. 3. There being no objection, it was so ordered. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 3 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HCS CSSB 141(FIN) am H Second Reading Amendment No. 3 YEAS: 17 NAYS: 23 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 0 Yeas: Berkowitz, Cissna, Crawford, Croft, Dahlstrom, Gara, Gardner, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Joule, Kerttula, Kott, LeDoux, Lynn, Olson, Salmon, Weyhrauch Nays: Anderson, Chenault, Coghill, Elkins, Foster, Gatto, Harris, Hawker, Holm, Kapsner, Kelly, Kohring, McGuire, Meyer, Moses, Neuman, Ramras, Rokeberg, Samuels, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas, Wilson And so, Amendment No. 3 was not adopted. Amendment No. 4 was offered by Representative Croft: Page 1, line 1 through page 2, line 6 (title amendment): Delete all material and insert: "An Act relating to establishing the Alaska Retirement Management Board to replace the Alaska State Pension Investment Board, the Alaska Teachers' Retirement Board, and the Public Employees' Retirement Board; creating a temporary retirement task force; and providing for an effective date." Page 2, line 8 through page 120, line 5: Delete all material and insert: "*Section 1. AS 37.10.210 is repealed and reenacted to read: Sec. 37.10.210. Alaska Retirement Management Board. (a) The Alaska Retirement Management Board is established in the Department of Revenue. The board's primary mission is to serve as the trustee of the assets of the state's retirement systems, the State of Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan, and the deferred 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1487 compensation program for state employees. Consistent with standards of prudence, the board has the fiduciary obligation to manage and invest these assets in a manner that is sufficient to meet the liabilities and pension obligations of the systems, plan, and program. The board may, with the approval of the commissioner of revenue and upon agreement with the responsible fiduciary, manage and invest other state funds so long as the activity does not interfere with the board's primary mission. In making investments, the board shall exercise the powers and duties of a fiduciary of a state fund under AS 37.10.071. (b) The Alaska Retirement Management Board consists of nine trustees, as follows: (1) two members, consisting of the commissioner of administration and the commissioner of revenue; (2) seven trustees appointed by the governor who meet the eligibility requirements for an Alaska permanent fund dividend and who are professionally credentialed or have recognized competence in investment management, finance, banking, economics, accounting, pension administration, or actuarial analysis as follows: (A) one trustee who is a member of the general public; the trustee appointed under this subparagraph may not hold another state office, position, or employment and may not be a member or beneficiary of a retirement system managed by the board; (B) one trustee who is employed as a finance officer for a political subdivision participating in the public employees' retirement system; (C) one trustee who is employed as a finance officer for a political subdivision participating in the teachers' retirement system; (D) two of whom are members of the public employees' retirement system selected from a list of nominees submitted by public employees' retirement system bargaining units; and (E) two of whom are members of the teachers' retirement system selected from a list of nominees submitted by the teachers' retirement system bargaining units; and (c) The trustees, other than the two commissioners, shall serve for staggered terms of six years and may be reappointed or 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1488 elected to the board for a total of two consecutive terms. A person who has served two consecutive terms may not be reappointed to the board for at least one year. (d) The governor may, by written notice to the trustee, remove an appointed trustee for cause. After an appointed trustee receives written notice of removal, the trustee may not participate in board business and may not be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum. (e) A vacancy on the board of trustees shall be promptly filled. A person filling a vacancy holds office for the balance of the unexpired term of the person's predecessor, and the balance of the unexpired term served is not included in the three-term limitation under (c) of this section. A vacancy on the board does not impair the authority of a quorum of the board to exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of the board. (f) Five trustees constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and the exercise of the powers and duties of the board. (g) A trustee may not designate another person to serve on the board in the absence of the trustee. (h) The board shall provide annual training to its members on the duties and powers of a fiduciary of a state fund and other training as necessary to keep the members of the board educated about pension management and investment. (i) The board shall elect a trustee to serve as chair and a trustee to serve as vice-chair for one-year terms. A trustee may be reelected to serve additional terms as chair or vice-chair. *Sec. 2. AS 37 10.390 is amended to read: Sec. 37.10.390. Definitions. In AS 37.10.210 - 37.10.390, unless the context otherwise requires, (1) "board" means the board of trustees of the Alaska Retirement Management [STATE PENSION INVESTMENT] Board; (2) "fund" means the fund or funds composed of the assets of each of the retirement systems administered and managed by the board; (3) "recognized competence" means a minimum of 10 years' professional experience working or teaching in the field of investment management, finance, banking, economics, accounting, pension administration, or actuarial analysis: 2005-05-03 House Journal Page 1489 (4) "retirement systems" or "systems" means the teachers' retirement system, the judicial retirement system, the Alaska National Guard and Alaska Naval Militia retirement system, [AND] the public employees' retirement system, and the elected public officers' retirement system under former AS 39.37. *Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c)." Representative Croft moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 4 be adopted. Representative Kelly objected. Representative Coghill placed a call of the House on the bill. The call was satisfied. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 4 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HCS CSSB 141(FIN) am H Second Reading Amendment No. 4 YEAS: 16 NAYS: 24 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 0 Yeas: Berkowitz, Cissna, Crawford, Croft, Dahlstrom, Elkins, Gara, Gardner, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Joule, Kerttula, LeDoux, Lynn, Salmon, Wilson Nays: Anderson, Chenault, Coghill, Foster, Gatto, Harris, Hawker, Holm, Kapsner, Kelly, Kohring, Kott, McGuire, Meyer, Moses, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Rokeberg, Samuels, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas, Weyhrauch And so, Amendment No. 4 was not adopted. Representative Coghill lifted the call.