| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES -- DEFERRED COMPENSATIO N |
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| 16 | 16 | | PLANS |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Senators Murray, LaMountain, McKenney, Tikoian, Euer, Sosnowski, F. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Lombardi, Ciccone, DiMario, and Picard |
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| 19 | 19 | | Date Introduced: February 16, 2023 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Referred To: Senate Finance |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 26 | 26 | | 36-13-1. Deferred compensation plans authorized. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) The state or any city, town, or other political subdivision may, by contract, agree with 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | any employee to defer, in whole or in part, any portion of that employee’s compensation, and may 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | subsequently contract with financial institutions for the purchase of government securities or with 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | other financial entities for the purchase of mutual funds, and procure a fixed or variable life 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | insurance or annuity contract for the purpose of providing funds to meet its obligations under a 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | deferred compensation program for the employees from any financial institutions or from any life 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | underwriters duly licensed by this state who represents an insurance company licensed to contract 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | business in this state. 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (b) In the administration of a deferred compensation plan for state employees in the state 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | plan authorized under this chapter, after October 1, 1998, the state shall engage three companies 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ("Authorized Companies") to administer such deferred compensation plans. After October 1, 1998, 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | only such Authorized Companies shall be entitled to enroll state employees in such the state 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | deferred compensation plans in accordance with the following guidelines: 16 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (1) Employees must have the option of purchasing or investing in alternative financial 17 |
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| 41 | 41 | | products referred to herein which have been approved by the State Investment Commission; 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) The alternative financial products shall include, without limitation, a variable product 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | and a fixed product; 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (3) The Authorized Companies (or an entity related thereto) must: 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (i) Be selected in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (ii) Covenant that all employees covered under any plan authorized under this chapter shall, 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | at all times, be granted the unfettered right to cancel, change, liquidate, amend or interchange any 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | investment contract or product purchased in any such plan without such employees incurring a 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | financial penalty or fee of any kind or nature imposed by contract, and 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (iii) Be granted equal access to all eligible employees; 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (4) Procedures shall be established to ensure that personalized information regarding 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | employees shall not be provided to third parties by the Authorized Companies. “Personalized 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | Information” shall include, without limitation, social security numbers, home addresses, telephone 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | numbers, amounts invested, medical or disability information; and 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (5) The Authorized Companies shall be permitted to offer any financial product referred to 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | herein which shall have been approved by the State Investment Commission. Notwithstanding any 15 |
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| 60 | 60 | | other provisions of this section (b), if the department of administration determines that less than 16 |
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| 61 | 61 | | three companies are qualified to be engaged as Authorized Companies because of (a) insufficient 17 |
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| 62 | 62 | | experience in the administration of deferred compensation plans or (b) a failure to assure adherence 18 |
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| 63 | 63 | | to the guidelines set forth herein, the state may engage less than three Authorized Companies. 19 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (6) If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstances 20 |
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| 65 | 65 | | is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the section which 21 |
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| 66 | 66 | | can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of 22 |
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| 67 | 67 | | this section are declared to be severable. 23 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (c) Effective January 1, 2024, any participating municipality as defined in § 45-21-2 may 24 |
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| 69 | 69 | | elect to offer to its municipal employees the deferred compensation plans offered by the state. The 25 |
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| 70 | 70 | | account of any municipal employee who participates in the state deferred compensation plan shall 26 |
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| 71 | 71 | | be subject to the same administration, charges, costs, rules, and regulations as are applicable and 27 |
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| 72 | 72 | | applied to the accounts of employees in the state deferred compensation plan. 28 |
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| 73 | 73 | | 36-13-1.1. State investment commission. 29 |
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| 74 | 74 | | The state investment commission shall, from time to time, select the financial institutions 30 |
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| 75 | 75 | | and/or entities in which the state shall invest the funds under the deferred compensation plan for 31 |
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| 76 | 76 | | state employees in the state plan. 32 |
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| 81 | | - | LC001450/SUB A - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 82 | | - | department, board, commission, or institution shall be under the direction of the director or 1 |
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| 83 | | - | principal officer of that particular agency, department, board, commission, or institution. Each city, 2 |
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| 84 | | - | town, or other political subdivision shall designate an officer to administer the deferred 3 |
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| 85 | | - | compensation program, including deferred compensation plans offered to municipal employees 4 |
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| 86 | | - | pursuant to § 36-13-1(c). Reductions in payroll shall be made, in each instance, by the appropriate 5 |
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| 87 | | - | payroll officer. The administrator of the deferred compensation program may contract with a 6 |
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| 88 | | - | private corporation or institution for providing consolidated billing and other administrative 7 |
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| 89 | | - | services. 8 |
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| 90 | | - | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 9 |
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| 79 | + | LC001450 - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 80 | + | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1 |
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| 97 | 87 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 98 | 88 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 99 | 89 | | OF |
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| 100 | 90 | | A N A C T |
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| 101 | 91 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES -- DEFERRED COMPENSATIO N |
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| 102 | 92 | | PLANS |
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| 103 | 93 | | *** |
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| 104 | 94 | | This act would provide that effective January 1, 2024, any participating municipality as 1 |
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| 105 | 95 | | defined in § 45-21-2 may elect to offer to its employees the deferred compensation plans offered 2 |
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| 106 | 96 | | by the state. The account of any municipal employee who participates in the state deferred 3 |
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| 107 | 97 | | compensation plan would be subject to the same administration, rules, and regulations as are 4 |
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| 108 | 98 | | applicable and applied to the accounts of employees in the state deferred compensation plan. 5 |
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| 109 | 99 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 6 |
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| 110 | 100 | | ======== |
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