Retirement plan administration changes adopted

Lawmakers gave final approval Feb. 28 to a bill that makes a number of governance and administrative changes to the Public Employees Retirement Board (PERB), Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System (NPERS), Nebraska Investment Council, Class V School Employees Retirement Plan and the Class V plan’s board of trustees.

Introduced by Seward Sen. Mark Kolterman, LB33:
• increases the per diem for PERB members from $50 to $75;
• exempts legal compliance audit contracts from bidding requirements;
• increases from one to two the number of three-year extensions on actuarial contracts that the PERB may issue; and
• changes the presentation date of the NPERS and Nebraska Investment Council annual reports to the Legislature from March 31 to April 10, beginning in 2020.

Finally, the bill grants the Class V School Employees Retirement Plan employer and its board of trustees the same exclusion from the state’s public records law that applies to all other plans administered by the PERB.

LB33 passed on a 47-0 vote and takes effect immediately.