Connecticut 2013 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB06611 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6611
2		-	January Session, 2013 _____HB06611INS___032013____
	1	+	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6611
	2	+	January Session, 2013 LCO No. 4027
	3	+	04027_______INS
	4	+	Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
	5	+	Introduced by:
	6	+	(INS)
3	7
4	8		General Assembly
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6		-	~~Substitute~~ Bill No. 6611
	10	+	Raised Bill No. 6611
7	11
8	12		January Session, 2013
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10		-	~~_____HB06611INS___032013____~~
	14	+	LCO No. 4027
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12		-	AN ACT CONCERNING A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REGARDING FUNDING FOR STATE RETIREMENT AND PENSION BENEFITS.
	16	+	04027_______INS
	17	+
	18	+	Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
	19	+
	20	+	Introduced by:
	21	+
	22	+	(INS)
	23	+
	24	+	AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES' PENSIONS SOLVENCY.
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14	26		Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
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16		-	Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than October 1, 2013, the Treasurer shall, in cooperation with the Insurance Department, develop and issue a request for information to solicit ways the state can improve the level of funding for state retirement and pension benefits.
	28	+	Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than October 1, 2013, the Treasurer shall, in cooperation with the Insurance Department, develop and issue a request for information to solicit ways the state can improve the level of funding for state retirement and pension benefits, including, but not limited to, state-owned life insurance policies issued on state employees or state retirees or both, special purpose trusts or other investment vehicles, based on either a required initial investment by the state to be specified by the responder or on no initial investment by the state.
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18		-	(b) Not later than January 1, 2014, the Treasurer shall submit to the General Assembly recommendations for legislative action to implement the response to the request for information evaluated to be the most likely to be effective in reducing the unfunded state liabilities for pensions and for other retirement benefits.
	30	+	(b) Not later than October 1, 2013, the Connecticut State Employees Retirement Commission established under section 5-155a of the general statutes shall collect and make available to potential responders to the request for information (1) de-identified data of the number, ages and marital status of state employees and state retirees, (2) if available, the ages at death of state employees and state retirees for the past twenty years, (3) the history of annual state pension contributions for the past twenty years and the unfunded accrued actuarial state liabilities for pensions and for other retirement benefits, and (4) any other information the Treasurer or a responder deems critical for the request for information, provided any such information is not confidential.
	31	+
	32	+	(c) Not later than October 1, 2013, the Insurance Department shall provide written guidance to the Retirement Commission on (1) what constitutes an insurable interest for purposes of state-owned life insurance policies, and (2) the impact, if any, a state program that uses life insurance on its state employees or state retirees, or both, as an investment vehicle may have on an individual state employee or state retiree's ability to purchase life insurance.
	33	+
	34	+	(d) Not later than October 1, 2013, the Labor Department and the office of the Attorney General shall provide written guidance to the Retirement Commission on whether, for purposes of nondiscrimination laws, the state may offer inducements to some but not all state employees or state retirees, or both, to agree to participation in a state-owned life insurance program.
	35	+
	36	+	(e) Not later than December 15, 2013, the Treasurer, the Retirement Commission and the Insurance Commissioner, or said commissioner's designee, shall evaluate each response to the request for information. All responses shall be evaluated using the same assumptions about the cost of money, expected investment returns from traditional equities and bonds, Government Accounting Standards Board's standards and rulings, current levels of unfunded state liabilities for pensions and for other retirement benefits and any other relevant information. Each such evaluation shall take into consideration, at a minimum, the following:
	37	+
	38	+	(1) The reputation and historical success of the responder, including financial ratings of its instruments by auditors, rating agencies and other disinterested parties, and the reputation of any insurer that would be included in the implementation of any program or investment vehicle recommended by the responder;
	39	+
	40	+	(2) The track records, if any, in other states, municipalities or businesses, of any program or investment vehicle recommended by the responder;
	41	+
	42	+	(3) The impact of any program or investment vehicle recommended by the responder on the unfunded state liabilities for pensions and for other retirement benefits, as determined by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's current accounting standards;
	43	+
	44	+	(4) The impact of any program or investment vehicle recommended by the responder on the state's credit rating from Moody's, Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and A.M. Best and the subsequent impact of any credit rating change on borrowing costs to the state;
	45	+
	46	+	(5) The return, stated in net present value, of investment yield over the lifetime of the instrument for any program or investment vehicle recommended by the responder and compared with the return of investment yield of alternative investment vehicles, including an option for the Treasurer to borrow up to an equal amount of any required initial investment by the state and invest such amount in traditional equities and bonds;
	47	+
	48	+	(6) The impact of any program or investment vehicle recommended by the responder on future levels of unfunded accrued actuarial state liabilities for pensions and for other retirement benefits and on the required annual state pension contributions;
	49	+
	50	+	(7) The reasonableness of any actuarial assumptions or predictions made in the response, as reviewed by an actuary of the Insurance Department or by an actuary designated by said department;
	51	+
	52	+	(8) The feasibility of locating or generating the amount of any required initial investment by the state; and
	53	+
	54	+	(9) The risks and likelihood of achieving the expected return of investment yield.
	55	+
	56	+	(f) Not later than January 1, 2014, the Treasurer shall submit the findings of the evaluations required under subsection (e) of this section to the General Assembly, with recommendations for legislative action to implement the response evaluated to be the most likely to be effective in reducing the unfunded state liabilities for pensions and for other retirement benefits.
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23	61		This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
24	62		Section 1 from passage New section
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26	64		This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
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28	66		Section 1
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30	68		from passage
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32	70		New section
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	72	+	Statement of Purpose:
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	74	+	To require a request for information to gather data and evaluate ways the state can improve the level of funding for state retirement and pension benefits, including, but not limited to, state-owned life insurance policies issued on state employees or state retirees or both, special purpose trusts or other investment vehicles.
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36		-	INS Joint Favorable Subst.
37		-
38		-	INS
39		-
40		-	Joint Favorable Subst.
	76	+	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]