House Speaker Voluntarily Defers Bill to Create Single Commission to Oversee Retirement Systems’ Investments -by- Robyn Ekings

House Speaker Jim Tucker on Wednesday asked members of the House Retirement Committee to convert his bill (HB 1229) to create a single commission to oversee investments of four state retirement systems into a study resolution to further review the concept. The move shelves the bill for the session, but Tucker warned lawmakers that the issue will not go away. The Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS), the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL),the Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System (LSERS) and the State Police Pension System were all included in the proposal. The Speaker argued the change was needed to produce better investment returns for the systems. Representatives of the four groups countered that the addition of a supervising panel would not improve their numbers, but dilute the ability of the individual systems to manage their funds in the best interest of their members.