ENROLLED
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 169
BY REPRESENTATIVE BACALA
A RESOLUTION
To establish a task force to study the Optional Retirement Plan within the Teachers'
Retirement System of Louisiana in relation to the unclassified staff and faculty
recruitment and retention crisis faced by Louisiana's public postsecondary education
institutions and to report its findings to the House Committee on Retirement not later
than ninety days prior to the convening of the 2025 Regular Session of the
Legislature.
WHEREAS, higher education is facing a recruitment and retention crisis, and state
public higher education officials have informed the legislature that current retirement options
are limited and do not provide a flexible choice for unclassified staff and faculty and that a
more flexible retirement option is needed to make Louisiana's public higher education
institutions more competitive with other states, especially when seeking to retain or recruit
individuals from among the limited pool within certain highly specialized disciplines; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana appreciates the leadership role of Louisiana
public higher education institutions in accommodating Louisiana workforce needs through
their programs and recognizes that because those programs often rely on
industry-experienced faculty and staff; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature created the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), a defined
contribution plan within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL); the
traditional TRSL plan is a defined benefit plan with a guaranteed pension, but the ORP is
a defined contribution plan without a guaranteed pension, making the ORP unique among
the plans available to public employees in Louisiana; and
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WHEREAS, a participant in the defined contribution plan assumes all risk associated
with the investment of his or her contributions and is not guaranteed a pension upon
retirement or upon termination of employment prior to retirement, but rather, their individual
retirement benefits are based on the value of the account at the time of the individual's
retirement and solvency of the carrier; and
WHEREAS, TRSL participants have a lifetime benefit guaranteed by the state of
Louisiana; ORP participants have no lifetime guarantee; eligible TRSL participants receive
disability and survivor benefits; ORP participants do not receive disability or survivor
benefits other than the value of their ORP account at the time of disability or death; and
WHEREAS, the ORP is within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, which
has a board to represent interests of TRSL members; there is neither a board to represent
interests of ORP participants nor a seat dedicated to ORP participants on the TRSL board;
and
WHEREAS, although ORP participants do not receive a defined retirement pension,
they are nevertheless subject to a reduction or elimination of any earned Social Security
benefits through the Windfall Elimination Provisions and the Government Pension Offset;
and
WHEREAS, the House of Representatives needs comprehensive, objective
information on these and other aspects of the ORP to make informed decisions about
possible adjustments to the laws providing for it.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby establish a task force to study the Optional Retirement
Plan within the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana in relation to the unclassified staff
and faculty recruitment and retention crisis faced by Louisiana's public postsecondary
education institutions and to report its findings to the House Committee on Retirement not
later than ninety days prior to the convening of the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force hereby established shall examine
aspects of the ORP program, including but not limited to:
(1) Provide ORP providers an opportuneity to share industry best practices on
individual savings and plan design.
(2) How nonpension retirement plans are managed in other states.
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(3) Advantages and disadvantages associated with selection of the ORP.
(4) Information about what other states offer to their respective public postsecondary
employees.
(5) The feasibility of allowing a participant in ORP to change their decision to
participate in the ORP.
(6) Employer contribution rates for the defined benefit pension plans and ORP and
the benefits accrued to the members.
(7) Differences, if any, in the definitions of "higher education" and "postsecondary
education" as these terms are used in laws establishing institutions and interpreted by TRSL
in the administration of retirement plans.
(8) Other issues the task force believes the legislature should be aware of.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be comprised of fifteen
members appointed as follows:
(1) The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System shall appoint
three members, at least two of whom shall be Optional Retirement Plan participants and one
of those shall be a faculty member in a hard-to-recruit research, scientific, or medical
discipline.
(2) The Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and
Mechanical College shall appoint three members, at least two of whom shall be Optional
Retirement Plan participants and one of those shall be a faculty member in a hard-to-recruit
research, scientific, or medical discipline.
(3) The Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and
Mechanical College shall appoint three members, at least two of whom shall be Optional
Retirement Plan participants and one of those shall be a faculty member in a hard-to-recruit
research, scientific, or medical discipline.
(4) The Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges shall appoint
two members, at least one of whom shall be an Optional Retirement Plan participant.
(5) The Board of Regents shall appoint two members, at least one of whom shall be
an Optional Retirement Plan participant.
(6) The board of trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana shall
appoint two members, at least one of whom shall be an Optional Retirement Plan participant.
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(7) The actuary for the legislative auditor shall serve as an ex-officio member.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the appointing authorities shall submit the names
and contact information for their appointees, no later than July 1, 2024, to the commissioner
of higher education, who shall call the first meeting of the task force no later than August 1,
2024.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that at the first meeting, the members of the task
force shall elect a chair and such other officers as it deems necessary; the chair shall call
subsequent meetings.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Regents shall provide staff for the
task force, the Legislative Auditor shall provide actuarial services requested by any member
of the task force for any aspects discussed, and task force members shall serve without
compensation and without reimbursement of expenses associated with participation or travel
except that which they are entitled to from their employers.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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