January 21, 2021 - Executive Director Update: Week Number Two of the Legislative Session

The 93rd General Assembly

Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Committee

Last week, I failed to properly recognize Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr. of Texarkana as the President Pro Tempore of the Arkansas Senate. I will always strive to pass along accurate information and correct any errors along the way. I apologize for last week’s oversight. I would also like to point out that Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr. is a member of the Joint Retirement Committee this session. It is an honor to have the President Pro Tempore taking a direct role in the process to make ATRS a stronger retirement system for the educators of Arkansas.

The first Public Retirement Committee meeting will be held on Monday, January 25, 2021. This meeting will be an organizational meeting which will include briefings by the retirement systems' directors and committee actuary. I will provide a summary of the financial status of ATRS at the January 25th meeting. No bills affecting ATRS will be presented at the January 25th meeting.

The Joint Retirement Committee will meet in Room A of the MAC building at 8:30 am each Monday morning. A mask or other cloth face covering will be required to be worn over the mouth and nose of every individual in the committee room and the MAC Building lobby at all times. All individuals will be submitted to a temperature check and onsite health screening and be given an armband indicating admittance at the entrance of the MAC Building.

The Joint Retirement Committee agenda will be posted at least eighteen (18) hours prior to each meeting. The agenda will have bills listed in three categories.

(A) Regular Agenda – bills to be considered by the committee on the date of the agenda.

(B) Consent Agenda – bills on the committee agenda for which there is no known opposition or expected public testimony and that  may be taken up at any time by the committee.

(C) Deferred Bills – bills for which committee consideration has been deferred either for failure of the sponsor to appear or at the request of the sponsor.

Here is the link to the full procedures for public access to the committee meetings: Committee Procedures and Public Access for 2021 Regular Session

The Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) meeting will be video streamed over the Internet. Just visit the Arkansas Legislative Meetings and Events web page on Monday at 8:30 a.m. Look for the item “PUBLIC RETIREMENT & SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAMS-JOINT” and click on the “video camera” icon. The agenda for the meeting will be posted here at least 18 hours before the start of the meeting. No bills affecting ATRS will be presented at the January 25th meeting.

ATRS will try to keep its members informed about the bills that impact ATRS, its members and employers. For more information regarding the ATRS Bill Package and Bills that may Impact ATRS visit the Legislation page on our website.

Stay in Touch with ATRS and View YOUR Account Information

The ATRS website allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Now, approximately 23,500 members have direct account access to individualized account information. Here is the link to the instructions to sign up: www.artrs.gov/registration.

You can also sign up to obtain these executive director updates through your private email address. Updates are made throughout the year such as at retirement season and other times when information needs to be shared. Now, over 25,700 people have signed up to receive this executive director update by direct email delivery. It is always a great pleasure for ATRS staff to learn of more ways to provide information to ATRS members, employers, beneficiaries, government officials, and the public. The ATRS Board is committed to providing a system that is member friendly and transparent. Remember that ATRS is here to serve you.

Best regards,

Clint Rhoden
Executive Director ATRS
Office: (501) 588-4367
Mobile: (501) 291-1623
clintr@artrs.gov

January 15, 2021 - Executive Director Update: Week Number One of the Legislative Session

The 93rd General Assembly

On Monday, January 11, 2021, the 93rd General Assembly of Arkansas began the Regular Session for 2021. In a general session, laws affecting any and all issues can be introduced as compared to the fiscal session in even numbered years that is essentially limited to fiscal issues and appropriations.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is Representative Matthew Shepherd of El Dorado. The President Pro Tempore of the Arkansas Senate is Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr. of Texarkana. ATRS looks forward to the leadership and direction provided by these respected leaders of the 93rd General Assembly.

ATRS is working closely with Governor Hutchinson and his staff on legislative issues already during this session. Governor Hutchinson always provides leadership and important input on retirement proposals and other issues that affect all Arkansans. ATRS appreciates Governor Hutchinson's input and advice on legislation.

Over the last year, the ATRS Board and staff have researched the ATRS laws and operations to ensure that ATRS was prepared to address any and all fiscal challenges that might arise.  The ATRS Board approved recommendations by the ATRS Operations Committee for proposals for the 93rd General Assembly to consider.

The deadline for filing retirement legislation is January 25, 2021. This early filing deadline is due to the complex nature of bills that affect the benefits and operations of retirement systems and each must have an actuarial evaluation. A quality actuarial report is vital to ensure retirement legislation is fully vetted and the impact is clearly understood. The early introduction process provides sufficient time for full actuarial review and thoughtful legislative action on retirement legislation.

Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Committee

Almost all legislation affecting Arkansas' public retirement systems is assigned to the Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Programs Committee, commonly referred to as the Joint Retirement Committee. The Committee has 20 total members with 10 from the Arkansas House of Representatives and 10 from the Arkansas State Senate. The House also has 10 alternates to the Joint Retirement Committee to serve if a House member is unavailable for the committee meeting.

The Joint Retirement Committee’s leadership includes a Senate Co-Chair and House Co-Chair along with a Senate Co-Vice Chair and House Co-Vice Chair. The chairmanship of the committee alternates between the Senate and the House during the session. This committee has the difficult but important task of sorting through numerous actuarial reports, pages of financial data, complex formulas, and information to ensure that the public retirement systems operate fairly and efficiently for members, employers, the state, and the public.

Senator Kim Hammer, of Benton, is the Senate Co-Chair of the Joint Retirement Committee. Senator Linda Chesterfield, of Little Rock, is the Senate Co-Vice Chair. On Monday, Speaker of the House Shepherd named Representative Les Warren, of Hot Springs, as the House Co-Chair of the Joint Retirement Committee. Representative Gary Deffenbaugh, of Van Buren, was named as House Co-Vice Chair. All four leaders of the committee provide the Joint Retirement Committee with quality leadership, experience, knowledge of retirement issues, and command of the legislative process.

Both the Senate and the House have named the members of the Joint Retirement Committee. The complete list of Senate members and House members who will serve on the Joint Retirement Committee are:

2021 Senate Members of Retirement Committee

*Senator Kim Hammer, Co-Chair, Benton
Senator Linda Chesterfield, Co-Vice Chair, Little Rock
*Senator Joyce Elliott, Little Rock
*Senator Larry Teague, Nashville
*Senator Jason Rapert, Conway
Senator Missy Irving, Mountain View
*Senator Bill Sample, Hot Springs
*Senator Keith Ingram, West Memphis
Senator Jimmy Hickey Jr., Texarkana
*Senator Greg Leding, Fayetteville

*Returning members from the 2019 session

2021 House Members of Retirement Committee

*Representative Les Warren, Co-Chair, Hot Springs
*Representative Gary Deffenbaugh, Co-Vice Chair, Van Buren
Representative Ron McNair, Alpena
*Representative John Maddox, Mena
*Representative Bruce Coleman, Mountainburg
*Representative Mark Perry, Jacksonville
Representative Cindy Crawford, Fort Smith
Representative Jay Richardson, Fort Smith
Representative Brian S. Evans, Cabot
*Representative Stu Smith, Batesville

*Returning members from the 2019 session

House Alternates

Representative Jon Milligan, Lake City
Representative Ashley Hudson, Little Rock
Representative Jim Wooten, Beebe
Representative Megan Godfrey, Springdale
Representative Andrew Collins, Little Rock
Representative Richard McGrew, Hot Springs
Representative David Tollett, Lexa
Representative Rick McClure, Malvern
Representative Nelda Speaks, Mountain Home
Representative Lee Johnson, Greenwood

For more information regarding the ATRS Bill Package and Bills that may Impact ATRS visit the Legislation page on our website.

On Monday, January 25th at 8:30 a.m. the Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) meeting will be video streamed over the Internet. Just visit the Arkansas Legislative Meetings and Events web page on Monday at 8:30 a.m. Look for the item “PUBLIC RETIREMENT & SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAMS-JOINT” and click on the “video camera” icon. The agenda for the meeting will be posted here at least 18 hours before the start of the meeting. A summary of the financial status of ATRS will be presented at the January 25th meeting. No bills affecting ATRS will be presented at the January 25th meeting. Next week, I will provide more information regarding the upcoming Joint Retirement Committee meetings.

Stay in Touch with ATRS and View YOUR Account Information

The ATRS website allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Now, approximately 23,500 members have direct account access to individualized account information. Here is the link to the instructions to sign up: www.artrs.gov/registration.

You can also sign up to obtain these executive director updates through your private email address. Updates are made throughout the year such as at retirement season and other times when information needs to be shared. Now, over 25,600 people have signed up to receive this executive director update by direct email delivery. It is always a great pleasure for ATRS staff to learn of more ways to provide information to ATRS members, employers, beneficiaries, government officials, and the public. The ATRS Board is committed to providing a system that is member friendly and transparent. Remember that ATRS is here to serve you.

Best regards,

Clint Rhoden
Executive Director ATRS
Office: (501) 588-4367
Mobile: (501) 291-1623
clintr@artrs.gov