House Bill 1590 will be taken up by the Senate’s Government Committee tomorrow, Tuesday, April 2 at 4:00 p.m in room 409. The House of Representatives State Affairs Committee is set to meet at 3:00 p.m. in room 402 tomorrow and will most likely take up Senate Bill 2799, which is rumored to be changed to negatively affect PERS retirees, active, and/or future members’ benefits, and the PERS Board composition. Please call, text, or email your Senators and Representatives tonight or early tomorrow morning and let them know to keep your elected representatives on the PERS Board and make sure that all PERS Board members are members of PERS! If they are members of PERS, they will have a vested interest in keeping all of our benefits both short and long-term. Please also tell them that they should fund the PERS System for the benefits that were promised by the Legislature in the late 1990’s. We must act fast and make sure they support keeping our PERS system financially healthy!
The House Bill is located at:
https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2024/pdf/HB/1500-1599/HB1590PS.pdf
Click below to get information to call your Senators Immediately Please! https://legislature.ms.gov/legislators/senators/
Tag Archives: house bill
STATEMENT FROM THE PERS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
| The statement below is from the PERS Board of Trustees, who asks you to please review, share, forward, post, or distribute. Thank you. Click here to view a shareable PDF of the following statement. |
| The PERS Board opposes House Bill 1590, which restructures the PERS Board with political appointees and prohibits the necessary funding for the retirement system. Why We, as the PERS Board, Object to the New Board Composition HB 1590. –Most of the new trustees would be appointed by politicians rather than elected by the membership. –Any change in leadership for a plan serving roughly 10 percent of the state’s population should be done openly and transparently, free from insinuation that the fund has been mismanaged. –This change has the appearance of an attempt to politicize the PERS Board. –This change would indirectly shift more power to politicians, in effect turning control over to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, especially since all appointments would be with advice and consent of the Senate. –Currently, eight of 10 PERS trustees are elected by the membership. Under HB 1590, this would be reduced to only two of 11, which significantly disenfranchises more than 300,000 members who are directly impacted by the Board’s management. –Removing most of the current Board members results in the loss of institutional knowledge and continuity. Investments under the Oversight of the Current PERS Board –There are currently more than $30 billion in assets.· –As of June 30, 2023, the 5-, 10-, and 15-year returns exceeded most other public pension plans.· –Ending December 31, 2023, the 15-year return for PERS outperformed 98 percent of other plans in our peer group.· –Last fiscal year, the investment manager fees were only $.31 for every $100 under management; this is less than 75 percent of our peer group. Stability, Continuity, and Resiliency of the Plan under the Oversight of the Current PERS Board· –The current board structure has been in place for many years and the System has proven resilient, continuing to pay benefits through the adversity of the Dot Com Bubble, Great Recession, and the COVID-19 Pandemic.· –The PERS board members are fiduciaries for the trust fund with a sworn duty and loyalty to the membership.· –The current Board has acted with integrity and dedication in carrying out its statutory/fiduciary duties; in administering the benefits as prescribed in law while following the recommendations of multiple actuaries and other expert advisors; in making recommendations to help the situation; and in providing numerous scenarios at the Legislature’s request.· –These actuaries and other advisors are also fiduciaries to the System. HB 1590 Prevents Necessary Funding· –HB 1590 prevents the essential funding as recommended by the actuary. · –As fiduciaries, we believe this is unacceptable.· –The Board’s funding recommendation was for a 5 percent employer contribution rate increase spread over three years and consideration of a cash infusion or additional funding by the Legislature.· –By rejecting the Board’s proposed rate increase, this approach not only would jeopardize the membership, it would also hurt all taxpayers. The longer the plan goes without proper funding, the more it costs and the harder it gets, leaving future citizens with the liability. (See actuarial valuations, www.pers.ms.gov/financial-overview.) It is critically important that you contact your state senator and senators on the Senate Government Structure Committee right away to relay your thoughts on this crucial and time-sensitive matter. |
BREAKING NEWS – You should contact your Senators this weekend
The bill is on the Senate Government Structure Committee calendar and could be acted upon at any time and , if it passes the full Senate, would become law. Contact Senators and the Lt. Governor if you want to stop political appointees from taking control of PERS!
Contact the Senate Government Structure Committee where the bill currently is.
Chairman: Chris Johnson (R) District 45- Forrest, Perry
chjohnson@senate.ms.gov (601)359-2220
Vice-Chair: Jennifer B. Branning (R) District 18 – Leake, Neshoba, Winston
jbranning@senate.ms.gov (601)359-2886
David Blount (D) District 29- Hinds Co.
dblount@senate.ms.gov (601)359-2220
Tyler McCaughn (R) District 31 – Lauderdale, Newton, Rankin, Scott
TMcCaughn@senate.ms.gov (601)359-2220
Sollie B Norwood (D) District 28 – Hinds
snorwood@senate.ms.gov (601)359-2224
David Parker (R) District 2 – DeSoto
dparker@senate.ms.gov (601)359-4088
Daniel H. Sparks (R) District 5 – Itawamba, Prentiss, Tishomingo
DSparks@senate.ms.gov (601)359-3237
MEMBER ALERT-What You Need to Know – House Bill 1590
- House Bill 1590 has passed the Mississippi House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate. The bill abolishes the current 10-member PERS board effective June 30, 2024. All members of the current PERS Board have to be members of PERS. At present eight board members representing the membership of PERS are elected by statewide ballot to serve 6-year terms. The State Treasurer also serves along with one appointee of the Governor. Members of the current board possess decades of experience managing complex organizations and financial matters at the state and local levels. This in combination with their deep understanding of PERS enables them to effectively watch over the complex operations of your retirement system.
- The new board would consist of 11 members including seven political appointees: four by the Governor and three by the Lieutenant Governor, none of whom would be required to be members of PERS. The bill also requires the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to consider recommendations for appointees from the Speaker of the House. The State Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue would also serve. Your representation on the Board would be reduced to one member elected by retirees and one elected by current public employees.
- The current PERS Board announced plans to phase in a 5% increase in the employer contribution rate over the next 3 years to help fund PERS. MRPEA supports this plan. Two percent of that much-needed employer increase was scheduled for this year. House Bill 1590 blocks the increase in PERS funding.
- If House Bill 1590 is enacted into law the PERS board will be controlled by political appointees who have no vested interest in preserving your retirement benefits or representing you. Funding recommended by the current PERS Board and its actuaries will not be provided under this bill. Click here to read the bill. Click here to see how your representative voted.
Contact Your Elected Officials Immediately. Share This Alert With Other PERS Members.
- Message to elected officials – Provide the necessary funding to maintain current retirement benefits including the COLA for retired, active and future members of PERS. Maintain the existing PERS Board structure.
- Governor’s office – (601) 359-3100 | Lt. Governor’s office – (601) 359-3200 | House Speaker’s office – (601) 359-3300
- Senators and Representatives during session – (601) 359-3770
- MS Legislature website: www.legislature.ms.gov for Senator and Representative contact info, bill status, calendars, committee membership, and more.
- Find your state legislator – www.openstates.org
- Join MRPEA and help protect your retirement benefits – https://mrpea.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/mrpea/membershipJoin.jsp
Guardian Alert: WLBT covers HB 605
Mississippi’s retired public employees are raising a red flag about a bill pending at the State Capitol
By Courtney Ann Jackson
Published: Feb. 6, 2023, at 7:21 PM CST
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Retired public employees are keeping a close watch on the State Capitol. They’re worried a pending bill would insert the legislature into some decision-making for the retirement system.
For some background, public employees around the state pay into Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi, known as PERS. Right now, decisions about how much employees’ current contributions are made by the PERS board. But pending legislation could put the legislature in the middle of those decisions.
House Bill 605 isn’t the same as when Rep. Charles Busby first filed it.
“I filed House Bill 605 as a bill to allow teachers that have retired, come back and teach in the classroom and still draw their retirement,” said Busby during a personal point of privilege on February 1.
Busby started getting flooded with calls and messages, and that’s when he realized it was “hijacked completely.”
“I was never told about it,” Busby said.
The bill went from 30 to 10 pages when it was amended in the appropriations committee. Now its aim? Require the legislature to sign off on any future contribution increases by PERS. It was those changes that spurred the calls to action from the Mississippi Retired Public Employees’ Association.
“When we retired, we were told what our benefits were gonna be,” said retiree and MRPEA board member Sam Valentine. “And we could plan our retirement income around that until, like, the day of our death.”
Retiree and MRPEA board member Sam Valentine says the board makes decisions based on financial advice to maintain the health of the system.
“We’ve got a lot of people who are retired that are elderly,” explained Valentine. “And to hear that there’s something jeopardizing their system is very upsetting to those individuals. And that’s one of the things that we don’t want to happen and hopefully will not happen.”
The association’s past president says the impacts could go beyond those who’ve already retired.
“To be quite honest, and I’m not saying that they necessarily would…but if the legislature would choose not to continue to make the contributions necessary to keep the system actuarily sound, it’s actually going to have more potential bad things happen to the people that are currently working,” described Ed LeGrand, MRPEA Past President.
The PERS board did vote in December to increase the employer contributions from 17.4 to 22.4% beginning in July of next year.
We received this statement from PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins.
“We are closely watching HB 605 and all other legislation that could affect PERS. The PERS Board has historically always acted as fiduciaries in the best interest of the membership, which they did recently when raising the employer contribution rate based on actuarial recommendations. Long term, ensuring the System is adequately funded is critical for those we serve. We are always willing to work with the Legislature, membership, and others for the betterment of PERS.” —Ray Higgins, PERS Executive Director.
The bill hasn’t been taken up by the full House yet. They have until Thursday to do so in order for it to clear the next deadline.
See the article on WLBT’s website below.
https://www.wlbt.com/2023/02/07/mississippis-retired-public-employees-are-raising-red-flag-about-bill-pending-state-capitol/?outputType=amp
Guardian Alert: Update on MS House Bill 605
Friday, February 3 Update
Good Morning!
Update on House Bill 605: A member alert was sent out by MRPEA on January 31 regarding the dangers posed by House Bill 605 to the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) and its beneficiaries. As of 2/2/2023 House Bill 605 has passed out of the House Appropriations Committee and sits on the House calendar. Members are urged to immediately contact their State Representative and Senator to express their concerns regarding this legislation.
What the Bill does:
–It orders that current contribution rates for employees and employers shall not be increased unless authorized by the Legislature.
–It directs PERS to present recommendations for making changes to the retirement system that would apply to future members of the system.
Background: At present, the PERS Board and staff are responsible for ensuring the financial integrity of the retirement system. A vital part of this responsibility involves reviewing and acting on reports and recommendations of the actuary hired by the Board to study and monitor the financial soundness of the system. At its meeting on December 20, 2022, the Board heard recommendations from the actuary and voted based on those recommendations to increase employer contributions during the upcoming year. This action was taken in accordance with the standard operating procedures of PERS.
Talking points when contacting legislators:
–The professional staff and Board of PERS need to make decisions to ensure the financial integrity of PERS.
–Changes do not need to be made to the PERS system that would cut benefits to retirees, now or in the future.
–Retirees oppose House Bill 605
Quick facts on PERS:
–PERS system members total 353,000.
–PERS paid $3.1 billion in retirement benefits last year.
–92 percent of all benefits paid remain in the state.
–Millions in benefit payments flow to virtually every county benefiting Mississippi’s economy at the local and state levels.
–Over the 30-year period that ended June 30, 2022, member contributions and earnings from investments provided 72% of the retirement system’s total funding.
–Each dollar “invested” by Mississippi taxpayers in the plan supports $4.50 in total economic activity in the state.
Resources:
Senators and Representatives during session – 601-359-3770
Measure Search | MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE (ms.gov) Read the full text of House Bill 605
Find Your State Legislators – Open States
Guardian Alert: Concerning House Bill 605 Passes today’s Deadline
We just received word that House Bill 605 has passed the appropriations committee. If voted into law, this bill would allow for the legislature to have veto power over the PERS board. It would greatly hinder the PERS board’s ability to make fiscally responsible decisions for the system, as well as allow the legislature to tie the board’s hands when making contribution increases. We cannot overstate how dangerous this would be for the health of the system. We ask you to call your legislators and let them know that as a PERS member, you do not support this bill! This will affect ACTIVE members just as much as it would retired members as it would jeopardize the health of the system. Please share this with your friends and neighbors and encourage them to call as well!
Summary of House & Senate Bills
House Bill 531 would:
- Eliminate state income taxes for most taxpayers in 2023 and phase it out totally within about a decade
- Increase the sales tax on most retail items from 7% to 8.5%, an increase of 20%.
- Cut the grocery tax eventually from 7% to 4%
- Cut car tags in half, by using state tax dollars to subsidize local government car tag fees.
Senate Bill 3164 would:
- Phase-out the 4% state income tax bracket over four years. This would mean people would pay no state income tax on their first $26,600 of income, a savings of about $50 a year.
- Reduce the state grocery tax from 7% to 5%, starting in July.
- Provide up to a 5%, one-time income tax rebate in 2022 for those who paid taxes. The
rebates would range from $100 to $1,000.
- Eliminate the state fee on car tags going into the general fund, which would be about $5 off the cost of a new tag, $3.75 for renewals.
2022 Legislative Update
House Bill (HB) 531 would increase the sales tax that all Mississippians pay on
most items by 20% raising the rate from 7% to 8.5%. The House plan would eliminate
state income taxes for most taxpayers in 2023 and phase it out totally in future
years. The state income tax accounts for 1/3 of general fund revenue at present.
If you are at least 59 years old, half Mississippi does not impose income tax
on your retirement income. This includes distributions from 401ks, IRAs, pensions, deferred compensation plans, and Social Security and applies to all Mississippi retirees (in both the private and public sectors). Because your retirement income is already exempt from state income tax, retirees living on a fixed income from these sources will receive no benefit from the elimination of the state income tax while paying 20% more sales tax on most items under HB 531.
The Senate has also filed a tax cut bill: SB 3164. Overall the Senate plan has a number of elements that could benefit PERS members and other retirees but does include a phase-out of the 4% state income tax bracket and up to a 5% one- time tax rebate in 2022 only for those who paid income taxes. Further erosion of the state income tax revenues is not in the best
interest of PERS members. Tax rebates which can be implemented periodically
based on available revenues represent a more prudent approach to managing the
state’s finances. However, these rebates should be made to all Mississippians who filed a tax return, not just those who paid income tax. This would benefit all retirees including PERS members who pay substantial amounts in sales, local and other taxes each year.
Recommended Action
Oppose HB 531. Request amendment of SB 3164 by eliminating the
proposed phase-out of the 4% income tax bracket and making the tax rebate in 2022
available to all Mississippians filing a tax return, not just those who paid income tax.
Contact Speaker of the House, Phillip Gunn, Ways and Means Chairman, Trey Lamar, Lieutenant Governor, Delbert Hosemann, Senate Finance Chairman, Josh Harkins, and your local Representative and Senator at the Capitol Switchboard (601) 359-2220.
What the State Economist’s Office says
The State Economist’s Office has studied the House tax cut plan and
determined that by 2032 it would result in a loss of population and a reduction
in employment and personal income in Mississippi. By 2035 there would be a
reduction in state gross domestic product. These findings have negative implications
for current and future PERS retirees and for the state as a whole.
What state business leaders say
“The Mississippi tax environment was not high profile nor even discussed
significantly as a priority,” said a report released by the Mississippi Economic
Council at the state Capitol on Wednesday, based on dozens of meetings and hundreds
of surveys of business leaders across the state last year.”
“A businessman raised the topic (at one meeting) and dismissed it as a bad
idea (a distraction issue, but not really a hindrance to most businesses).”
State business leaders consider the lack of skilled workers, Mississippi’s image, and problems from the pandemic far more pressing issues.