It is important to note that today is the last day to file a retirement bill for the 90th General Assembly. The House and Senate bill lines are closed and all retirement bills that affect or could affect ATRS are listed in this update. Week 3 was a busy week at the General Assembly as more bills were filed and the legislative process continued to gain momentum. As to ATRS specific bills, only shell bills were added this week that could impact ATRS. No bill affecting ATRS was introduced this week that would impact ATRS unless an amendment is made to place operative language in the bill. ATRS staff will continue to work with members of the General Assembly on the ATRS package bills that were recommended by the ATRS Board, and on shell bills introduced on behalf of ATRS in the event an issue arises that ATRS would need addressed. ATRS is not aware of any need to activate a shell bill at this time. ATRS will also continue to monitor and seek background information on other shell bills that were introduced.
I have attached a narrative about week three and an updated bill summary for the 90th General Assembly regarding bills affecting ATRS through January 30, 2015. Today is the last day to introduce a retirement bill. ATRS has 7 "package bills" and one appropriation bill for 8 ATRS developed bills. All ATRS proposed bills have been introduced and have bill numbers. ATRS and the Board are very grateful to the sponsors who have helped with the ATRS bill package so far in this session. The bill summary also lists four shell bills that were introduced on behalf of ATRS in case the need for a new bill becomes apparent since today is the last day to introduce retirement bills. In addition, Senator David Johnson introduced a Code Revision Commission bill to modernize language and move commas. Senator Johnson's bill is friendly to ATRS.
The Public Retirement Committee meets each Monday at 10:00 a.m. The Public Retirement Committee considers bills that affect ATRS and other retirement systems. There are two ATRS package bills on the Public Retirement Committee's "action item" agenda for Monday, February 2, 2015: SB38 by Senator Blake Johnson that would allow ATRS to make a direct rollover of a portion of an eligible rollover distribution to an eligible retirement plan or designated beneficiary to be consistent with federal law; and SB75 by Senator Uvalde Lindsey that would amend how private school service is certified as eligible for purchase at ATRS. Four other bills in the ATRS package in the Public Retirement Committee and are pending an actuarial study that must be completed by both the ATRS actuary and the Public Retirement Committee's actuary before the committee will consider the bills. One ATRS package bill is in the Revenue and Tax Committee that relates to recycling tax credits when ATRS is an investor in an Arkansas recycling plant. It is usually a 2 to 3 week process before more complex bills on benefit changes are ready for committee action.
Remember that ATRS has a new website that allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Retirees can see all their benefit details on totals and deduction on monthly benefits and lifetime benefits. T-DROP members can see all past and current deposits and interest payments. T-DROP retirees with a CBA account can see monthly benefits and the current status of the CBA account. Active members can see service and salary amounts along with a handy benefits calculator to see how retirement would look now or at a future time. Over the last year, ATRS has focused a major amount of energy to redesign the ATRS website to be more user friendly with updated information and forms. ATRS now has over 2,500 registered members since registration started on August 1st. The available information and interactive ability of member access will be enhanced over time based upon member input and resources. Here is the link to an update that provides instructions on the 10 to 15 minute process it takes for a member to register to have direct access to specific ATRS account information: https://www.artrs.gov/general/director-updates/716-08-15-2014-executive-director-update-the-new-atrs-website
If you have not signed up to obtain the executive director updates through your private email address, you can obtain the executive director update on the ATRS website. The update attached to this email is also available on the ATRS website at https://www.artrs.gov/general/director-updates. Now, over 7,300 people have signed up to receive this executive director email update and other ATRS information via this email list. In addition, over 10,000 people have access to the ATRS executive director updates via the listserve, member internet access, and employer access. It is always a great pleasure for ATRS staff to learn of more ways to provide information to ATRS members, employers, and beneficiaries. The ATRS Board is committed to providing a system that is member friendly and transparent.
You can also get helpful ATRS information on the ATRS Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/arkansasteacherretirementsystem under the name of Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. Over 2,200 Facebook users get updates via the ATRS Facebook page. Go to the Facebook page and "like" ATRS to get daily updates. I try to go to the Facebook page every day to post information and answer member questions about ATRS. In addition, if you use Twitter, you can follow events at ATRS and issues of interest by finding the Twitter ID of ATRS or find George Hopkins in the Twitter directory. The link is https://twitter.com/atrs ATRS is here to serve you!
Respectfully,
George Hopkins
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