State government panel approves omnibus pension, retirement

Fourteen largely non-controversial bills approved by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement have been rolled into an omnibus pension and retirement bill.

Sponsored by Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park), HF4017, as amended, was approved 12-1 Thursday by the House State Government Finance and Elections Committee and sent to the House Ways and Means Committee. Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont) sponsors the companion, SF3540, which awaits action by the Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee.

“Our pensions are earned by our employees every day that they work, every hour that they work,” Nelson said. “They pay in money to these pensions with the promise that at the end of their working life they will have an income that will sustain them for the rest of their life.”

[MORE: In-depth bill summary]

The lone proposal with a fiscal impact would require the Department of Labor and Industry to study benefit adequacy for disabled or injured police officers. A report would be due the commission and Legislature by Jan. 15, 2023. A fiscal note shows a $125,000 cost in fiscal year 2022.

A 2008 law to help a former Minneapolis bomb squad commander who suffered a debilitating injury called for such a study by the Public Employees Retirement Association but was never conducted.

Minnesota law lets retirees return to public employers and continue to receive pension payments, provided they work less than a full-time schedule.

Similar to what was done for health care workers earlier this session to help in the fight against COVID-19, the bill would allow teachers to return to teaching at a public school without having their pensions reduced.

Other provisions in the bill would:

• expand the right to purchase up to five years of service credit for periods of military service beyond rights in current law;
• allow residential program leads and dental hygienists, eligible to join the Minnesota State Retirement System Correctional Plan, to transfer prior eligible service from the General Plan;
• permit the surviving spouse of a deceased state employee to purchase one month of service credit to make her eligible for an annuity death benefit;
• to fix an administrative error, allow a Corrections Department employee to transfer prior service credit from the General Plan to the Correctional Plan;
• exempt Duluth Transit Authority employees covered by a Teamsters pension plan from Public Employees Retirement Association membership, and non-union employees would receive vesting credit when they become public employees;
• make several largely technical changes — recommended by the State Auditor’s Volunteer Fire Relief Association Working Group — to provisions governing volunteer firefighter relief associations;
• require the state auditor to provide an investment report to each firefighter relief association comparing their investment returns to those made by the State Board of Investment;
• authorize advanced practice registered nurses to provide disability assessments; and
• make administrative and technical changes clarifying the classification of State Board of Investment professional employees.

These bills have been incorporated in part or in whole into the omnibus pension and retirement bill:

• HF1577 (Koznick)
• HF2610 (Rasmusson)
• HF2690 (Lueck)
• HF2964 (Hertaus)
• HF3266 (Bahr)
• HF3671 (Frederick)
• HF3777 (Huot)
• HF3794 (Sundin)
• HF4012 (Masin)
• HF4017 (Nelson, M.)
• HF4018 (Nelson, M.)
• HF4139 (Olson, L.)
• HF4186 (Pfarr)
• SF2546 (Pappas)