Report Title:

Retirement Benefits; Study

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

201

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the governor to convene a one year blue ribbon commission to review and evaluate pension and retirement benefitS for all members of the employees' retirement system.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii was established in 1925 for the benefit of the public employees in the counties and the State; and

WHEREAS, over the past seventy-plus years the retirement system has evolved to provide retirement benefits for several different classes of public employees ranging from police, fire, and other public safety oriented employees, to judges, legislators, class A employees, and class C employees; and

WHEREAS, with increased life expectancy of retirees and, generally, good health enjoyed by Hawaii's residents, these retirement benefits could be paid out for longer periods than in the past; and

WHEREAS, there has been a national movement in both the private and public sectors to re-evaluate the structure of retirement benefits and this movement has involved the concept of defined contributions instead of defined benefits; and

WHEREAS, this movement is not only a function of employer concerns over longer payouts, but also a function of the changing characteristics of the new employees who no longer work for decades with the same employer; and

WHEREAS, new employees want to have more direct input about the investment strategies of their retirement funds and want portability and immediate vesting of these funds; and

WHEREAS, in 2000, the Legislature passed Act 253, which implemented a major reform of the existing public employment laws; and

WHEREAS, a concomitant review of public employees' retirement law is also warranted; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the governor is requested to convene a One-Year Blue Ribbon Commission (Commission) to review and evaluate pension and retirement benefits for all members of the employees' retirement system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission is requested to consist of seven members to be appointed by the Governor as follows:

(1) Two members from a list of candidates nominated by the President of the Senate;

(2) Two members from a list of candidates nominated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

(3) Three members chosen by the Governor;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission is requested to represent a broad cross section of the community, including at least one representative familiar with each of the following areas:

(1) Personnel, collective bargaining, and labor law;

(2) Financial planning and pension and retirement systems;

(3) Business and management; and

(4) Government and employment;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission, with the cooperation of the Employees' Retirement System, is requested to:

(1) Review and evaluate the State's existing pension and retirement law;

(2) Compare Hawaii's retirement system with retirement systems in other states;

(3) Compare Hawaii's retirement system with retirement systems in the private sector; and

(4) Make recommendations, including proposed legislation to reform the Employees' Retirement System law;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission is requested to submit a report with its findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, if necessary, to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the Administrator of the Employees' Retirement System, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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