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Committee advances five pension-related bills, creates interim work group and clarifies benefit rules
Summary
The Budget and Taxation Committee reviewed and voted to move forward five pension-related bills from the joint committee on pensions, including creation of an interim work group to study transfer provisions and changes to benefit calculations and governance of investment compensation.
The Budget and Taxation Committee voted to advance five pension-related bills from the Joint Committee on Pensions after staff described amendments and technical clarifications.
Committee staff said the package included measures to form an interim work group, clarify benefit and vesting rules, correct reporting and calculation language, and modify governance and compensation procedures for investment staff. The staff summary said the bills are intended to address transfer-of-service provisions, align reporting deadlines with data availability, clarify the calculation basis for certain deferred retirement option (DROP) provisions, resolve placement of some Department of Health forensic positions, and move functions of an objective-criteria committee into a board compensation committee.
The first bill, Senate Bill 457, would establish an interim work group staffed by the State Retirement Agency to review Title 37 transfer provisions governing transfers of service between state and local retirement systems. Amendments added representatives from the Anne Arundel and Frederick systems to the work group.
Senate Bill 612 would add post-2011 provisions for members of the correctional, state police and law enforcement officers' plans so that employees who were pre-07/01/2011 and who vest would be subject to the same benefit calculations if they return to service; language limiting treatment of certain older plans was amended out for further interim review.
Senate Bill 692 makes two corrections: it shifts due dates for specified reports to align with when the underlying information is available, and it clarifies DROP-period calculations for state police so the calculation is based on the difference between seven years and 32 years of employment (rather than service credit), addressing an identified inconsistency with how state police stop contributing when they hit the statutory maximum benefit accrual.
Senate Bill 768 clarifies that certain management and supervisory Department of Health positions placed into the Corrections Officers' Retirement System last year should remain in that system and refines position-title language and service-transfer mechanics for any employees who might be moved back to the employeessystem.
Senate Bill 810 would transfer functions of the existing objective criteria committee (which advised the board on compensation and incentive criteria) into a statutorily required board compensation committee and clarifies the executive director and investment committee's authority regarding chief investment officer job criteria and incentive payments. An amendment added language clarifying permissible use of consultants so that the firm advising on compensation and incentives may also be engaged for executive search services, addressing the retirement of the systems' CIO.
Committee members voiced no recorded objections in the committee transcript; multiple voice votes were taken and the bills were advanced as described. No numeric roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript for these votes.
The bills will proceed to the next steps in the legislative process as the committee record reflects.
