April 1, 2021 - Executive Director Update: Week Number Twelve of the Legislative Session

The 93rd General Assembly

Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Committee (JRC)

The Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) did not meet this week. Instead, the full Arkansas Legislative Committee met to discuss the status of the Public Health Emergency. The next Joint Retirement Committee meeting will be held on Monday, April 5, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. in Room A of the MAC Building. 

There are two remaining bills to be presented in the Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) that affect ATRS:

The first bill is HB1325. This bill clarifies and improves the subchapter that deals with reciprocity. It allows each system to define the final average salary used in reciprocal calculations. It contains a grandfather clause regarding the use of the highest final average salary for anyone who currently has reciprocal service. This bill will ensure that there are no conflicts with general reciprocal law and ATRS law.

The second bill is HB1300. This bill was originally filed as a shell bill. It has been amended to allow  high school students working during the summer as part of specific summer work programs to not be considered employees of the school. ATRS will not lose any contributions that would be made by some other employee. The committee actuary found that this bill would have no fiscal impact on ATRS.

Monitoring Teacher Retirement Related Legislation

Now that the deadline for filing bills that directly impact one of the Arkansas public retirement plans has passed, ATRS is monitoring other bills as they are filed to determine if they could indirectly impact ATRS. As these bills are identified, we will add them to the ATRS Legislation page on the website. These bills will start in the “ATRS Monitoring” status. As more information is gathered about the purpose, intent, or actuarial cost of the bills, the status could change to “ATRS Opposes” or “ATRS Supports”.

As a reminder, the Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) meeting will be video streamed over the Internet each Monday morning during the session. 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” icon. The agenda for the meeting will be posted here at least 18 hours before the start of the meeting.

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

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 24,500 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 26,100 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

March 26, 2021 - Executive Director Update: Week Number Eleven of the Legislative Session

The 93rd General Assembly

Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Committee (JRC)

The Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) met on Monday, March 22nd. The next Joint Retirement Committee meeting will be held on Monday, April 5, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. in Room A of the MAC Building.

Please note, the JRC will NOT meet next week. Instead, the full Arkansas Legislative Committee will meet in Room A of the MAC Building at 8:00 a.m. to discuss the status of the Public Health Emergency.

SB232 has been signed by Governor Hutchinson and is now Act 443. Act 443 will allow public school employees serving in roles such as paraprofessionals, food service staff, and bus drivers the opportunity to have additional paid training that will not jeopardize their noncontributory status. 

HB1275 has been signed by Governor Hutchinson and is now Act 427. Act 427 will clarify the ATRS process for establishing reciprocal service for participating in an alternate retirement plan. Fairness is added for members that have served Arkansas at both the higher-education level and the secondary-education level by providing exceptions for withdrawals made after the member reaches the age of 59 ½ and eligible rollover transactions.

HB1169, the Public School Employees Heroes Act, was presented by Representative David Tollett at the March 22nd JRC meeting. This bill would have given ATRS members, who were employed by a public school for the full 2020-2021 school year, an option to retire early with 27 years of service with only a 5% reduction (down from 10%). As I commented last week, the ATRS Board and I have a fiduciary duty to strengthen the retirement system so that it can be counted on to provide lifetime retirement benefits for all educators, both now and well into the future. I agreed with the spirit of this bill. But from the fiduciary point of view, the strength and stability of the Teacher Retirement System should take precedence. After a lengthy discussion regarding the proposed early retirement benefit versus the additional unfunded liability that would be added to the Teacher Retirement System, the committee failed to vote this bill out of committee.

Monitoring Teacher Retirement Related Legislation

Now that the deadline for filing bills that directly impact one of the Arkansas public retirement plans has passed, ATRS is monitoring other bills as they are filed to determine if they could indirectly impact ATRS. As these bills are identified, we will add them to the ATRS Legislation page on the website. These bills will start in the “ATRS Monitoring” status. As more information is gathered about the purpose, intent, or actuarial cost of the bills, the status could change to “ATRS Opposes” or “ATRS Supports”.

As a reminder, the Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) meeting will be video streamed over the Internet each Monday morning during the session. 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” icon. The agenda for the meeting will be posted here at least 18 hours before the start of the meeting.

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

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 24,200 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 26,100 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