The 93rd General Assembly

Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Committee (JRC)

The Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) met on Monday, March 15th. The next Joint Retirement Committee meeting will be held on Monday, March 22, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. where Representative David Tollett will present HB1169.

SB232 was passed out of the House and the Senate this week. It is on the Governor’s desk to sign. I would like to thank Senator Greg Leding for advocating on behalf of ATRS members through this legislation. Thank you to Representative Les Warren for assisting in the presentation of this bill. This change to ATRS law will allow public school employees serving in roles such as paraprofessionals, food service staff, and bus drivers the opportunity to have additional paid training that will not jeopardize their noncontributory status.

HB1275 was passed out of the House and the Senate this week. It is on the Governor’s desk to sign. I would like to thank Representative Stu Smith for advocating on behalf of ATRS members through this legislation. Thank you to Senator Kim Hammer for presenting this bill on the Senate floor this week. This change to ATRS law will clarify the ATRS process for establishing reciprocal service for participating in an alternate retirement plan. Fairness is added for members that have served Arkansas at both the higher-education level and the secondary-education level by providing exceptions for withdrawals made after the member reaches the age of 59 ½ and eligible rollover transactions.

House Bill 1169 - Public School Employees Heroes Act

HB1169, sponsored by Representative David Tollett, will be presented at the March 22nd JRC meeting. This bill was last amended on March 15th.

First of all, I would like to thank Representative David Tollett for advocating for our public school employees for their service and sacrifice during this pandemic. I certainly agree with the spirit of this bill and agree that all public school employees are heroes. Their courage and dedication demonstrated this year, in an effort to keep our children from falling behind in their education, is commendable. 

This bill would give ATRS members, who were employed by a public school for the full 2020-2021 school year, an option to retire early with 27 years of service with only a 5% reduction. Currently this level of early retirement has a 10% reduction. However, this retirement benefit comes at a price. The ATRS unfunded liabilities would be increased by about $10 million and increase the amortization period by about 3 months. This bill was amended on March 2^nd in a way to reduce the cost effect on ATRS. However, the bill in its current form still takes the ATRS unfunded liabilities in the wrong direction. The ATRS Board and I have a fiduciary duty to strengthen the retirement system so that it can be counted on to provide lifetime retirement benefits for all educators, both now and well into the future. I agree with the sentiment of this bill. But from the fiduciary point of view, the strength and stability of the Teacher Retirement System should take precedence.

Monitoring Teacher Retirement Related Legislation

Now that the deadline for filing bills that directly impact one of the Arkansas public retirement plans has passed, ATRS is monitoring other bills as they are filed to determine if they could indirectly impact ATRS. As these bills are identified, we will add them to the ATRS Legislation page on the website. These bills will start in the “ATRS Monitoring” status. As more information is gathered about the purpose, intent, or actuarial cost of the bills, the status could change to “ATRS Opposes” or “ATRS Supports”.

As a reminder, the Joint Retirement Committee (JRC) meeting will be video streamed over the Internet each Monday morning during the session. Just visit the Arkansas Legislative Meetings and Events web page on Monday at 8:30 a.m. Look for the item “PUBLIC RETIREMENT & SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAMS-JOINT” and click on the “video” icon. The agenda for the meeting will be posted here at least 18 hours before the start of the meeting.

Here is the link to the full procedures for public access to the committee meetings: Committee Procedures and Public Access for 2021 Regular Session

ATRS will try to keep its members informed about the bills that impact ATRS, its members and employers. For more information regarding the ATRS Bill Package and Bills that may Impact ATRS visit the Legislation page on our website.

Stay in Touch with ATRS and View YOUR Account Information

The ATRS website allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Now, approximately 24,200 members have direct account access to individualized account information. Here is the link to the instructions to sign up: www.artrs.gov/registration.

You can also sign up to obtain these executive director updates through your private email address. Updates are made throughout the year such as at retirement season and other times when information needs to be shared. Now, over 26,000 people have signed up to receive this executive director update by direct email delivery. It is always a great pleasure for ATRS staff to learn of more ways to provide information to ATRS members, employers, beneficiaries, government officials, and the public. The ATRS Board is committed to providing a system that is member friendly and transparent. Remember that ATRS is here to serve you.

Best regards,

Clint Rhoden
Executive Director ATRS
Office: (501) 588-4367
Mobile: (501) 291-1623
clintr@artrs.gov