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March 10, 2017 - Executive Director Update: ATRS Legislative Package and Week 9 of the General Assembly

The legislative session is at a very busy stage for activity generally and the ATRS legislative package in particular. ATRS continues to work to answer questions on the legislative package and to prepare amendments to address concerns and issues. The hard work by the sponsors of the ATRS legislative package is greatly appreciated. In addition, other legislators have worked hard to help ATRS as bills travel through the legislative process. On behalf of ATRS and its members, I thank all the members of the General Assembly for the hard work and assistance.

Week 9 at the General Assembly continued to be very busy and productive on retirement issues. On Monday, March 6, 2017, ATRS had four (4) package bills up for consideration before the Joint Retirement Committee: SB186 (Multipliers), SB187 (Member Contributions), SB192 (Disability) and HB1287 (Outsourcing). All four (4) bills received a "DO PASS" out of Committee and have now passed the chamber of introduction and are currently on the calendar of the other chamber for final consideration. SB186, SB187 and SB192 have passed the Senate and are currently on the House calendar. HB1287 passed the House and is currently on the Senate Calendar. If all four pass the final vote, then 12 bills of ATRS' 20 bill package will have completed the legislative process.

On Monday, March 13, 2017, ATRS will have three (3) bills to be presented in the Joint Retirement Committee: SB141 (Anti-Spiking), SB185 (CASH Program) and SB205 (Concurrent Reciprocal Service). ATRS actuaries and the Retirement Committee actuaries still continue to work diligently on cost studies for legislation. ATRS continues to negotiate amendments and details on the remaining 8 ATRS package bills that remain in the Joint Retirement Committee. At this time, 6 package bills are law after having completed the legislative process. Two (2) bills are on the Governor's desk under his review.

Remember the ATRS website allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Now approximately 9,700 members have direct account access to individualized account information. Here is the link to the instructions to sign up: https://www.artrs.gov/welcome.

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 14,400 people have signed up to receive this executive director update by direct email delivery. You can find the link to sign up for email delivery to these updates here: https://www.artrs.gov/login. 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.

You can also get helpful ATRS information on the ATRS Facebook page under the name of Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. Over 3,300 Facebook users get updates via the ATRS Facebook page. Go to the Facebook page and "like" ATRS to get daily updates. I try to go to the Facebook page every day to post information and answer member questions about ATRS. In addition, if you use Twitter, you can join over 800 others by following events at ATRS and issues of interest on the ATRS Twitter page. Remember that ATRS is here to serve you! If you have questions, email me or call.

Respectfully,

George Hopkins

(501) 682-1820 Office
(501) 318-5998 Cell
georgeh@artrs.gov

Click on the following document for more information:

1. Session Update

2. Bill Summary

March 3, 2017 - Executive Director Update: ATRS Legislative Package and Week 8 of the General Assembly

Week 8 at the General Assembly was another busy week. On Monday, February 27, 2017, ATRS had three (3) bills up for consideration, SB194 (Survivor Benefits), SB203 (Early Separation Incentive), and HB1365 (Settlement Agreements). All three (3) bills received a "DO PASS" out of Committee. All three (3) have now passed the chamber of introduction and are currently on the calendar of the other chamber for final consideration.

ATRS actuaries and the Retirement Committee actuaries continue to diligently work on cost studies for legislation. ATRS continues to negotiate amendments and details on the remaining 12 ATRS package bills that remain in the Joint Retirement Committee. At this time, 5 package bills are law after having completed the legislative process.

Below is the list of hard working legislators who are carrying the 20 bill package of the ATRS Board on behalf of ATRS members. Some members have mistakenly thought that the bills were attacking ATRS. In reality, the bills are actually designed to help ATRS navigate any future stormy financial markets and actuarial changes with the ability to restore any adjustments

Senator Ronald Caldwell
Representative Bruce Coleman
Senator Eddie Cheatham
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Senator John Cooper
Representative John Maddox
Senator Bart Hester
Representative Johnny Rye
Senator Jeremy Hutchinson
Senator Bill Sample
Senator Bruce Maloch

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 14,400 people have signed up to receive this executive director by direct email delivery. You can find the link to sign up for email delivery to these updates here: https://www.artrs.gov/login. 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.