Committee backs constitutional amendment and statutory companion to use trust fund savings for teacher pay raises

Lawmakers moved a set of connected measures Wednesday to use earnings and a portion of the Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund to reduce teacher retirement system liabilities and direct savings toward pay increases for educators and support staff.

The constitutional amendment (House Bill 473) would authorize the liquidation of a fund called the Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund to make a one-time payment of $2 billion toward the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) of the Teacher Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL). Sponsors said the action would reduce long-term debt service and free recurring savings to be used for permanent pay increases for teachers and designated staff.

Committee members discussed the statutory companion measures that would specify how savings are distributed and protect certain subfunds. Representative Carlson presented the statutory component and a set of amendments that clarified the use of savings, reporting requirements and who qualifies for the requirement that locally governed school systems pass along pay increases. Committee members adopted a technical and substantive amendment set to make early-childhood program funding whole after the constitutional change; sponsors said the amendment reflected commitments made on the record to preserve interest earnings that had flowed to certain early-childhood subfunds.

Representative Carlson said later calculations suggested the state likely could support an average permanent teacher pay raise of about $22.50 and an average permanent support-staff increase of roughly $11.25 (the statutory companion’s text and subsequent technical fixes adjusted language to reflect those dollar figures). The companion statutory bill contains language that requires local school systems that realize savings from the fund shift to apply those savings to pay increases for classroom teachers and specified personnel categories.

Advocates for early-childhood providers testified in support of the amendment that clarified subfund protections. Sadie Becknell, government affairs director and general counsel for the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, told the committee the group appreciated the clarification to protect early-childhood funding and thanked the sponsor and committee for the change.

Committee members voted to adopt the offered amendment packages and reported the constitutional amendment and statutory companion bills favorable as amended. Sponsors said the measures were intended both to provide permanent pay increases and to improve the long-term funding position of TRSL by reducing a portion of its unfunded liability.

The statutory companion includes implementation details such as reporting to the Department of Education and legislative committees and references to personnel codes to ensure the pay increases apply to the intended employee categories. Sponsors emphasized the statutory language uses a ‘‘shall’’ to require local school systems to implement the pay increases where savings accrue.

Actions taken included adoption of several amendment sets (one large technical set and other technical/clarifying amendments) and motions to report multiple bills favorable as amended. The committee recorded no roll-call tallies for the favorable reports in the transcript.

Next steps for the measures include chamber scheduling for floor votes and, for the constitutional amendment, placement on the ballot if the legislature approves the measure.

Votes at a glance: committee adopted amendment set 27.98 on the constitutional amendment (adopted; no roll-call tally recorded), amendment set 2801 on the statutory companion (adopted; no roll-call tally recorded), and reported the constitutional amendment and statutory companion favorable as amended (movers recorded in transcript; no roll-call tallies recorded).