ATRS Legislative Update: Week 3 (Jan. 27-31)
Today (Friday the 31st) is the deadline for legislators to file bills related to the state's retirement systems including ATRS. Several shell bills were filed on Thursday the 30th -- a "shell bill" is a bill that has a title and purpose, but no substantive content yet. Shell bills are filed so that a legislator can meet the filing deadline but complete the text of the bill later.
For three of those shell bills, I have talked with the sponsors and know what they intend to do in those bills. I'll discuss one of them in a little more detail below. Based on my conversations so far, I do not expect those three bills to harm ATRS in any way or limit any member's benefits. I will provide you more details as the language of the bills is finalized.
The other shell bills were all filed by the chairs of the Joint Public Retirement Committee. It's typical every legislative session for the chairs to file several shell bills for the state's retirement systems, so that if an issue arises later in the session it can be addressed. So, the filing of those shell bills is nothing to worry about at this point.
One specific topic that I know we will see this session is limiting investments in China. The Governor has mentioned this topic, and you may have read a story in Monday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette mentioning this issue. One shell bill, HB 1323 by Rep. Mindy McAlindon of Centerton, relates to investments in China. I have been visiting with both Rep. McAlindon and the Governor's Office on this issue. Based on my conversations so far, I do not expect this bill to harm ATRS or our investment portfolio.
We have been staying in close contact with our investment consultants on this issue of investments in China. What we are hearing is that if we shift investments away from China, it should not have any meaningful impact on our investment returns. The key thing will be how the bills are worded and how they treat existing investments as opposed to future investments. We are closely monitoring and will keep you updated when HB 1323 is amended to add substantive language or when any other bills are filed.
I expect that other bills will be filed today to meet the deadline. Next week we will update you on what bills have been filed and whether any of them are a cause for concern.
Earlier this week, the Joint Public Retirement & Social Security Committee held their second meeting. They began with an informative presentation from the Legislature's contracted actuary, Jody Carreiro, explaining the basics of pensions and how they are financed. After that, I and the other directors of the state's retirement systems gave updates on our respective systems. You can watch the video recording of the meeting here, and my presentation begins at the 3:11:30 time mark. You can also review my PowerPoint presentation at this link.
The Committee will not meet again until Tuesday, February 11. By the day before the meeting, you will be able to access the agenda for that meeting on the Legislature's website.
If you have questions about how a bill may impact ATRS, or if you are concerned about something ATRS is proposing, please reach out to me at the email address or phone number below.
Also, if you are receiving this email as a forward and would like to be added to the distribution list, you can subscribe to these legislative updates here.
Mark White
ATRS Executive Director
MarkW@artrs.gov
Office: (501) 621-8853
Cell: (501) 541-2057