1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to retirement; providing that certain aid is 
  1.3             contingent on compliance with filing requirements; 
  1.4             mandating a study of a merger of certain retirement 
  1.5             plans; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes, chapter 356A. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [356A.061] [AID CONTINGENT ON COMPLIANCE WITH 
  1.9   LAW.] 
  1.10     A municipality, county, nonprofit firefighting corporation, 
  1.11  firefighter relief association, first-class city teacher pension 
  1.12  fund, and the Minneapolis employees retirement fund may receive 
  1.13  aid or other payments under sections 69.021, 354A.12, or 
  1.14  422A.101 only if all board members and the chief administrative 
  1.15  officer of the pension plan on whose behalf the aid or other 
  1.16  payment is to be made have complied with the filing requirements 
  1.17  of section 356A.06, subdivisions 4 and 5 during the most recent 
  1.18  prior year.  Any aid that is unpaid because of a failure to 
  1.19  comply with these subdivisions must be added to the amount of 
  1.20  aid available for payment the next year.  The board of campaign 
  1.21  finance and public disclosure and the legislative commission on 
  1.22  pensions and retirement must maintain a list of entities that 
  1.23  have complied with section 356A.06, subdivisions 4 and 5, and 
  1.24  must report the list to the commissioners of revenue and finance 
  1.25  by August 1 annually. 
  1.26     Sec. 2.  [COMMISSION STUDY.] 
  2.1      (a) The legislative commission on pensions and retirement, 
  2.2   using information from the most recent actuarial valuations of 
  2.3   the general state employees retirement plan of the Minnesota 
  2.4   state retirement system, the general employees retirement plan 
  2.5   of the public employees retirement association, and the teachers 
  2.6   retirement association and additional actuarial studies prepared 
  2.7   on its behalf, shall study a merger of the three plans. 
  2.8      (b) As part of the study, the commission shall consider and 
  2.9   report on the following issues relating to the three retirement 
  2.10  plans involved in the merger: 
  2.11     (1) the comparability of age and service benefits, 
  2.12  disability benefits, survivor and death benefits, service credit 
  2.13  purchases, leaves of absence service credit, and refunds; 
  2.14     (2) any required or desirable grandparenting of disparate 
  2.15  benefit coverage; 
  2.16     (3) the comparability of the eligibility for membership and 
  2.17  the exclusion from membership in the plans; 
  2.18     (4) the comparability of crediting of allowable service; 
  2.19     (5) the comparability of employee and employer 
  2.20  contributions; 
  2.21     (6) the comparability of actuarial assumptions; 
  2.22     (7) the comparability of data processing systems; 
  2.23     (8) the comparability of employer reporting requirements; 
  2.24     (9) the comparability of benefit counseling services; 
  2.25     (10) the comparability of administrative structures and 
  2.26  administrative staffing levels; 
  2.27     (11) the space requirements of the current administrative 
  2.28  staffs in the new retirement building and the extent of space 
  2.29  availability gained from economies of scale created by a merger; 
  2.30  and 
  2.31     (12) the actuarial funding requirements of the merged plan. 
  2.32     (c) The report must be filed by February 15, 2002.  The 
  2.33  report must be filed with the chair of the senate committee on 
  2.34  state and local government operations and the chair of the house 
  2.35  committee on governmental operations and veterans affairs policy.
  2.36     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.1      Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment, 
  3.2   and applies to state aid payable after that date.