HLS 24RS-1500 ENGROSSED
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 169
BY REPRESENTATIVE BACALA
RETIREMENT/TEACHERS: Creates a task force to study the Optional Retirement Plan
within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana
1 A RESOLUTION
2To establish a task force to study the Optional Retirement Plan within the Teachers'
3 Retirement System of Louisiana in relation to the unclassified staff and faculty
4 recruitment and retention crisis faced by Louisiana's public postsecondary education
5 institutions and to report its findings to the House Committee on Retirement not later
6 than ninety days prior to the convening of the 2025 Regular Session of the
7 Legislature.
8 WHEREAS, higher education is facing a recruitment and retention crisis, and state
9public higher education officials have informed the legislature that current retirement options
10are limited and do not provide a flexible choice for unclassified staff and faculty and that a
11more flexible retirement option is needed to make Louisiana's public higher education
12institutions more competitive with other states, especially when seeking to retain or recruit
13individuals from among the limited pool within certain highly specialized disciplines; and
14 WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana appreciates the leadership role of Louisiana
15public higher education institutions in accommodating Louisiana workforce needs through
16their programs and recognizes that because those programs often rely on
17industry-experienced faculty and staff; and
18 WHEREAS, the Legislature created the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), a defined
19contribution plan within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL); the
20traditional TRSL plan is a defined benefit plan with a guaranteed pension, but the ORP is
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1a defined contribution plan without a guaranteed pension, making the ORP unique among
2the plans available to public employees in Louisiana; and
3 WHEREAS, a participant in the defined contribution plan assumes all risk associated
4with the investment of his or her contributions and is not guaranteed a pension upon
5retirement or upon termination of employment prior to retirement, but rather, their individual
6retirement benefits are based on the value of the account at the time of the individual's
7retirement and solvency of the carrier; and
8 WHEREAS, TRSL participants have a lifetime benefit guaranteed by the state of
9Louisiana; ORP participants have no lifetime guarantee; eligible TRSL participants receive
10disability and survivor benefits; ORP participants do not receive disability or survivor
11benefits other than the value of their ORP account at the time of disability or death; and
12 WHEREAS, the ORP is within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, which
13has a board to represent interests of TRSL members; there is neither a board to represent
14interests of ORP participants nor a seat dedicated to ORP participants on the TRSL board;
15and
16 WHEREAS, although ORP participants do not receive a defined retirement pension,
17they are nevertheless subject to a reduction or elimination of any earned Social Security
18benefits through the Windfall Elimination Provisions and the Government Pension Offset;
19and
20 WHEREAS, the House of Representatives needs comprehensive, objective
21information on these and other aspects of the ORP to make informed decisions about
22possible adjustments to the laws providing for it.
23 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
24Legislature of Louisiana does hereby establish a task force to study the Optional Retirement
25Plan within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana in relation to the unclassified staff
26and faculty recruitment and retention crisis faced by Louisiana's public postsecondary
27education institutions and to report its findings to the House Committee on Retirement not
28later than ninety days prior to the convening of the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force hereby established shall examine
30aspects of the ORP program, including but not limited to:
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1 (1) The requirement for ORP participants to contribute toward the unfunded accrued
2liability of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana.
3 (2) How nonpension retirement plans are managed in other states.
4 (3) Advantages and disadvantages associated with selection of the ORP.
5 (4) Information about what other states offer to their respective public postsecondary
6employees.
7 (5) The feasibility of allowing a participant in ORP to change their decision to
8participate in the ORP.
9 (6) Options for a blended plan, including the possibility of different retirement plan
10options being available at various stages of a career, and the pros and cons of each such
11option identified.
12 (7) Differences, if any, in the definitions of "higher education" and "postsecondary
13education" as these terms are used in laws establishing institutions and interpreted by TRSL
14in the administration of retirement plans.
15 (8) Other issues the task force believes the legislature should be aware of.
16 (9) Provide ORP providers an opportunity to share industry best practices on
17individual savings and plan design.
18 (10) Employer contribution rates for the defined benefit pension plans and ORP and
19the benefits accrued to the members.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be comprised of fifteen
21members appointed as follows:
22 (1) The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System shall appoint
23three members, at least two of whom shall be Optional Retirement Plan participants and one
24of those shall be a faculty member in a hard-to-recruit research, scientific, or medical
25discipline.
26 (2) The Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and
27Mechanical College shall appoint three members, at least two of whom shall be Optional
28Retirement Plan participants and one of those shall be a faculty member in a hard-to-recruit
29research, scientific, or medical discipline.
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HR NO. 169
1 (3) The Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and
2Mechanical College shall appoint three members, at least two of whom shall be Optional
3Retirement Plan participants and one of those shall be a faculty member in a hard-to-recruit
4research, scientific, or medical discipline.
5 (4) The Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges shall appoint
6two members, at least one of whom shall be an Optional Retirement Plan participant.
7 (5) The Board of Regents shall appoint two members, at least one of whom shall be
8an Optional Retirement Plan participant.
9 (6) The board of trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana shall
10appoint two members, at least one of whom shall be an Optional Retirement Plan participant.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the appointing authorities shall submit the names
12and contact information for their appointees, no later than July 1, 2024, to the commissioner
13of higher education, who shall call the first meeting of the task force no later than August 1,
142024.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that at the first meeting, the members of the task
16force shall elect a chair and such other officers as it deems necessary; the chair shall call
17subsequent meetings.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Regents shall provide staff for the
19task force, and task force members shall serve without compensation and without
20reimbursement of expenses associated with participation or travel except that which they are
21entitled to from their employers.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 169 Engrossed 2024 Regular Session Bacala
Establishes a task force to study the Optional Retirement Plan within the Teachers'
Retirement System of La. and to report its findings to the House Committee on Retirement
not later than 90 days prior to the 2025 R.S.
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