Recent News

Baton Rouge — The TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 5 runoff election at its December meeting.
 
Tamara Ross (Monroe City School District) was elected as the District 5 representative with 54.21% of the vote. Jonathan L Loveall (East Feliciana Public Schools) received 45.79%.
 
Ross is a literacy coach at Carroll Junior High School in the Monroe City School District. She has more than 20 years of classroom teacher experience at the lower elementary and middle school grade levels. She is the president of the Monroe City Association of Educators, a local affiliate of the Louisiana Association of Educators.
 
Ross’ four-year term will begin in January 2025. District 5 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin, Jackson, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Union, West Carroll, and West Feliciana.
 
The TRSL Board of Trustees meets monthly to develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan, monitor investment performance, and review system operations. The Board is responsible for safeguarding and managing the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for system members.
 

Baton Rouge, La. — At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 5 and District 6 elections.

District 5

No candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the District 5 election, which means a run-off will be held between the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.

Advancing to the run-off are Tamara Ross (Monroe City School District) with 48.7% of the vote and Jonathan L Loveall (East Feliciana Public Schools) with 28.7% of the vote. The third candidate in the race, Charles William Anderson Jr. (Concordia Education Center), received 22.6% of the vote.

Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on Oct. 18. The deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18.

Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board’s December meeting. The candidate receiving the most votes will represent actively working TRSL members in Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin, Jackson, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Union, West Carroll and West Feliciana parishes for a four-year term beginning January 2025.

District 6

Marcella Fisher (St. Landry Parish School District) was re-elected to serve as the District 6 Board of Trustees representative after receiving the most votes in an election against Gary D. Brown (Rapides Parish School Board). Fisher received 57.74% of the vote while Brown received 42.26%.

Fisher is risk manager for the St. Landry Parish School District. She’s worked as a teacher, a literacy instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. 

​​​​​​​Fisher’s four-year term will begin in January 2025. District 6 represents actively working TRSL members in Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Evangeline, Grant, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and Winn parishes.

Baton Rouge — The TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 2 runoff election at its December meeting.
 
Mark Curry-Theriot (St. Tammany Parish Public Schools) was elected as the District 2 representative with 66.91% of the vote. Lotte T. Delaney (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) received 33.09%.
 
Curry-Theriot is an educator at Folsom Junior High School in St. Tammany Parish with eight years of experience teaching regular, honors, Students with Exceptionalities and English Language Arts. He has twice been named Teacher of the Year.
 
Curry-Theriot’s four-year term will begin in January 2024. District 2 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Orleans, St. Tammany and Washington.
 
The TRSL Board of Trustees meets monthly to develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan, monitor investment performance, and review system operations. The Board is responsible for safeguarding and managing the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for system members.
 

Baton Rouge, La. — At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 2 and District 4 elections.

District 2
No candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the District 2 election, which means a run-off will be held between the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.

Advancing to the run-off are Mark Curry-Theriot (St. Tammany Parish Public Schools) with 46.29% of the vote and Lotte T. Delaney (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) with 28.78% of the vote. The third candidate in the race, John G. Parauka (Benjamin Franklin High School in Orleans Parish), received 24.93% of the vote.

Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on Oct. 20. The deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20.

Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board’s December meeting. The candidate receiving the most votes will represent actively working TRSL members in Orleans, St. Tammany and Washington parishes for a four-year term beginning January 2024.

District 4

Marco D. French (Caddo Parish Public Schools) will serve as the District 4 Board of Trustees representative after receiving the most votes in an election against Gwenzetta J. Bradford (Webster Parish School Board). French received 73.28% of the vote while Bradford received 26.72%.

French is the principal of Queensborough Elementary School in Caddo Parish. He is a past Louisiana State Principal of the Year and a National Milken Award Educator.
French’s four-year term will begin in January 2024. District 4 represents actively working TRSL members in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and Webster parishes. 

Baton Rouge, La. – Legislation to create a new, more predictable model for funding future permanent benefit increases (PBIs) for retirees and beneficiaries of the four state retirement systems, including TRSL, won final legislative passage yesterday. Senate Bill 18, which was sponsored by state Sen. Ed Price and co-sponsored by Senate President Page Cortez, now goes to the governor’s desk for his consideration.

“Clearing the Legislature with such overwhelming support is a huge win for current and future retirees,” said TRSL Director Katherine Whitney. “Every legislator recognized that even a lifetime benefit loses value over time without regular benefit increases.”

Under the current funding model, PBIs have been infrequent and unpredictable because they are tied to market performance. With this legislation, the four state systems move to a straightforward, transparent and predictable funding model.

“As a TRSL board member who’s represented retirees since 2015, this is a proud moment for me,” said James A. Taylor Sr. “PBIs are vital to ensuring retirees can manage increasing prices at the grocery store and the pharmacy. And, with most of our retirees living in Louisiana, periodic benefit increases will mean these retirement dollars will go even further in every local economy.”

“Creating a more reliable PBI model has been a work in progress for several years because cost-of-living increases are such an important financial issue for retirees,” said Clyde F. Hamner, who also represents retired members on the TRSL Board. “A 2% PBI every few years will be a substantial investment in our retirees.”

For more information about SB 18, please read our Protecting Purchasing Power FAQ.
 

Elections to be held for two other board seats

​​​​​Baton Rouge, La. — Tia T. Mills, Ed.D., was re-elected without opposition to her trustee position on the TRSL Board. Elections will be held later this year for two other seats on the board, which helps safeguard and manage assets for thousands of retirees and beneficiaries.
 
Mills serves as president of the Louisiana Association of Educators and is employed in the Exceptional Student Services department in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. She has represented District 3 since 2014. District 3 includes actively working TRSL members in Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.
 
Mills will take the oath of office for her new four-year term in January.
 
The two seats that will be decided by an election represent District 2 and District 4. The election opens Aug. 11 for these seats.
 
The trustee for District 2 represents actively working TRSL members in Orleans, St. Tammany and Washington parishes. Three candidates qualified:

• Lotte T. Delaney, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
• John G. Parauka, Benjamin Franklin High School (Orleans Parish)
• Mark Curry-Theriot, St. Tammany Parish Public Schools

 
The trustee for District 4 represents actively working TRSL members in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and Webster parishes. Two candidates qualified:

• Gwenzetta J. Bradford, Webster Parish School Board
• Marco D. French, Caddo Parish Public Schools

 

Baton Rouge, La. - At its December meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received final voting results for the special District 6 election and the Colleges/Universities’ run-off election.  

District 6
​​​​​
Marcella Fisher (St. Landry Parish School Board) will serve as the District 6 Board of Trustees representative after receiving the most votes in a special election against Lea Ann Hawkins-Fisher (Rapides Parish School Board). Fisher received 53.77% of the vote, while Hawkins-Fisher received 46.23%. 
 
Fisher has worked for the St. Landry Parish School Board for 16 years and currently serves as risk manager for the school district. She’s worked as a teacher, a literacy instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. 
 
Fisher will fill the remainder of the current District 6 term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2024. District 6 includes actively working TRSL members in Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Evangeline, Grant, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and Winn parishes.

Colleges/Universities
 
Tom Stafford (Louisiana Tech University College of Business) was re-elected to serve as the representative for active members employed in a college or university after receiving the most votes in a run-off election against Jennifer Cook, M.Ed. (Louisiana State University). Stafford received 63.59% of the vote, while Cook received 36.41%.


Stafford joined the Louisiana Tech University College of Business as the J.E. Barnes Eminent Scholar Chair of Computer Information Systems in 2016. He holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Richmond, an M.A. in journalism and communications from the University of Florida, a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in management information systems from the University of Texas Arlington.

Stafford’s new four-year term begins January 2023.
 

Baton Rouge, La. - At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 7 and Colleges/Universities elections.  

District 7

Phillip P. Oliver (Calcasieu Parish School Board) will serve as the District 7 Board of Trustees representative after receiving the most votes in an election against Christen P. DeRise (Iberia Parish School Board). Oliver received 50.66% of the vote, while DeRise received 49.08%. 
Oliver has worked for the Calcasieu Parish School Board for 13 years and currently serves as the school district’s visual arts consultant. He is a third-generation educator who attended McNeese State University and Lamar University.

Oliver’s four-year term will begin in January 2023. District 7 includes actively working TRSL members in Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Vermilion parishes.
 
Colleges/Universities
 
Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the Colleges/Universities election, a run-off will be held with the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.
 
Moving forward in the run-off will be Tom Stafford (Louisiana Tech University College of Business) with 42.83% of the vote and Jennifer Cook, M.Ed. (Louisiana State University) with 31.10% of the vote. Additional voting results are as follows: 

• John D. McKay (Louisiana State University’s Louisiana Small Business Development Center) received 15.46% of the vote.
• Don Ator (Louisiana State University) received 10.24% of the vote.

 
Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on Oct. 20, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 21.
 
Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in December. The candidate receiving the most votes will represent active TRSL members employed in a college or university for a four-year term beginning January 2023.
 

The TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the retiree runoff election at its September meeting.

• James A. Taylor Sr., J.D., Ph.D. (Baton Rouge), was reelected as retiree representative with 55.80% of the vote.
• Dr. Sheryl R. Abshire (Spring, Texas) received 44.06%.

Taylor is an educator and attorney. His third term on the TRSL Board begins January 2023.

​​​The TRSL Board of Trustees meets monthly to develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan, monitor investment performance, and review system operations. The Board is responsible for safeguarding and managing the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for system members.

At its July meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the retiree election.
 
As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election will be held with the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.
 
Moving forward in the run-off will be James A. Taylor Sr., J.D., Ph.D. (Baton Rouge) with 31.66% of the vote and Dr. Sheryl R. Abshire (Spring, Texas) with 29.34% of the vote. Additional voting results are as follows: 

• Donald Songy of Prairieville received 9.98% of the vote.
• Terry Young of Metairie received 7.98% of the vote.
• Jaqualine “Jackie” McGee of Bossier City received 5.08% of the vote.
• Scott Herrington of Heflin received 3.44% of the vote.
• Mrs. Juanita Hall of Carencro received 3.18% of the vote.
• Cherryl C. Matthews of Baton Rouge received 2.88% of the vote.
• Bob Crowley of New Orleans received 2.57% of the vote.
• Michael DiCarlo of Ruston received 1.87% of the vote.
• Irvin R. West, Ed.S. of Hammond received 1.85% of the vote.

Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on July 25, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 25.
 
Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in September. The candidate receiving the most votes will represent retired TRSL members for a four-year term beginning January 2023.

Elections to be held for three other board seats

 
Baton Rouge, La. — Neshelle S. Nogess and Paul E. Nelson were re-elected without opposition to their trustee positions on the TRSL Board. Elections will be held later this year for three other seats on the board, which helps safeguard and manage assets for thousands of retirees and beneficiaries.
 
Nogess serves as the administrative director of revenue & taxation for the St. James Parish School Board. She has represented District 1 since 2016. District 1 includes actively working TRSL members in Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes.
 
Nelson is a 30-year veteran educator and currently serves as superintendent of schools in Tensas Parish. He previously served as superintendent of schools in Concordia Parish. He has represented active members employed as city or parish school superintendents since 2017.
 
Nogess and Nelson will take the oath of office for their new four-year terms in January.
 
The three seats that will be decided by an election represent retirees, District 7, and colleges and universities.
 
The trustee for retirees represents all retired members. Eleven candidates qualified. The election opens June 1 for the seat.
 
The trustee for District 7 represents actively working TRSL members in Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary and Vermilion parishes. Two candidates qualified. The election opens Aug. 8 for the seat.
 
The trustee for colleges and universities represents active members employed in higher education. Five candidates qualified. The election opens Aug. 8 for the seat.

Baton Rouge, La. — At its November board meeting yesterday, the TRSL Board of Trustees recommended that a 2% COLA be paid to eligible retirees next year.

In a resolution addressed to the Louisiana Legislature, the board took the first step in the granting process for what would be the first regular permanent benefit increase (also called COLA or PBI) since 2016.

The next step is for a bill granting the COLA to be filed for consideration in the 2022 legislative session that begins in March. The bill would need to be approved by at least two-thirds of the Legislature and become law.
 
Once the bill is enacted, TRSL would be able pay the COLA on July 1, 2022 to all TRSL retirees and beneficiaries meeting eligibility criteria by that date.
 
To be eligible for the COLA, the following requirements must be met on or before July 1, 2022.

• Regular retiree: Must have received a benefit for at least one year and be at least 60 years of age
• Disability retiree: Must have been retired at least one year regardless of age
• Beneficiary of retiree: Retiree or beneficiary (or both combined) must have received a benefit for at least one year, and the deceased retiree would have been at least 60 years of age at the time the PBI is payable
• Survivor of non-retired member: Must have received a benefit for at least one year and the benefits must have originated from the service of a deceased member who would have been at least 60 years of age at the time the PBI is payable

The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) earned a record 35.7% return on investments for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.

The historic return generated more than $6.5 billion in the 12-month period, bringing the System’s assets to an all-time high of $26.9 billion.

“The market proved to be very favorable for investors throughout FY 2021,” said Philip Griffith, TRSL Chief Investment Officer. “Our assets in both the domestic and international equity space performed very well as did our alternative assets and real estate investments.”

Griffith acknowledged the TRSL Board’s commitment to ensuring the primary feature of the retirement system’s portfolio is diversification among investment assets.

“The board has always understood the importance of a highly diversified portfolio, and has been diligent in ensuring system assets are spread over a variety of asset classes,” Griffith said. “Diversification is the best protection against risk and essential to generating returns that meet the long-term investment goals of the System.”

Over the longer 10-year period, the retirement system has earned 10.18% on its investments. TRSL’s investment assets are used to fund monthly retirement benefits for retirees and beneficiaries.

“The board couldn’t be more pleased with the returns for this fiscal year,” said TRSL Board Chair Holly Gildig. “Our investment decisions are based on the long-term health of the System, and are always made with the best interests of the System, its members, and participating employers in mind. We understand the importance of TRSL benefits to the local economies of this state.”

In FY 2021, TRSL paid out more than $2.2 billion in retirement benefits to more than 82,000 retirees and beneficiaries. Almost 90% of the retirement dollars TRSL paid out goes to individuals who live in Louisiana where they buy local goods and services.
By region, $269.7 million was paid to members and beneficiaries living in the New Orleans region; $507.1 million in the Florida Parishes; $616.3 million in Acadiana; $195.5 million in Central Louisiana; and $422.5 million in North Louisiana.

For detailed information information about benefits by parish, click here.

The TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the retiree runoff election at its September meeting.

• Clyde F. Hamner (Houma) was elected as retiree representative with 57.39% of the vote.
• Debbie Meaux (Lafayette) received 42.61%.

 Hamner retired after 33 years of teaching and administrative service in Terrebonne Parish. His four-year term on the TRSL Board begins January 2022.

The TRSL Board of Trustees meets monthly to develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan, monitor investment performance, and review system operations. The Board is responsible for safeguarding and managing the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for system members.

Baton Rouge — At its July meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the retiree election.
 
As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election will be held with the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.
 
Moving forward in the run-off will be Clyde F. Hamner (Houma) with 22.57% of the vote and Debbie Meaux (Lafayette) with 11.29% of the vote. Additional voting results are as follows: 

• Donald Songy of Prairieville received 10.92% of the vote.
• Terry Young of Metairie received 9.55% of the vote.
• Nita Chambers of Alexandria received 5.30% of the vote.
• Vickey Range, Ed.S. of Bossier City received 4.89% of the vote.
• Jaqualine Re’Nee McGee of Bossier City received 4.31% of the vote.
• Irvin R. West, Ed.S. of Hammond received 4.28% of the vote.
• Gloria Williams Hearn of Pineville received 4.23% of the vote.
• Linda F. Clarke, Ph.D. of Austin, TX received 3.81% of the vote.
• Robert Lawyer of New Orleans received 3.18% of the vote.
• Scott Herrington of Heflin received 2.82% of the vote.
• Sharon Parsons, Ph.D. of W. Palm Beach, FL received 2.57% of the vote.
• John Angelos of Baton Rouge received 2.15% of the vote.
• John H. Ristroph of Lafayette received 2.00% of the vote.
• Darlene Maumus Cockfield of Paoli, PA received 1.95% of the vote.
• Kevin J. Guitterrez of Kenner received 1.93% of the vote.
• Jennifer L. Gary of Lafayette received 1.91% of the vote.

 Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on July 26, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Thurs., Aug. 26.
 
Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in September. The candidate receiving the most votes will represent retired TRSL members for a four-year term beginning January 2022.

Baton Rouge — At its June meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 7 special
run-off election.

Suzanne Breaux (Vermilion Parish Schools) will serve as the District 7 Board of Trustees representative after receiving the most votes in a special election run-off against Kelly Allen, M.A. (St. Mary Parish Schools).  Breaux received 64.86% of the vote, while Allen received 35.14%. 

Breaux has been an educator for more than 19 years and is currently an educational diagnostician with the Vermilion Parish School Board. She holds a bachelor's degree in education from LSU and a master's degree in educational leadership from McNeese State University. 

Breaux will take the oath of office next month and serve the remainder of the seat's four-year term which ends December 31, 2022. The District 7 seat was previously held by Suzette Riddle, who resigned from the position last December.

District 7 includes actively working TRSL members in Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Vermilion parishes.

TRSL Director Katherine Whitney discusses COLAs at virtual LRTA Spring Meeting

 
TRSL Director Katherine Whitney used her time at this year’s virtual LRTA Spring Meeting to walk attendees through the basics of cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), including how they are funded and when they are granted. She also discussed the findings from a recent COLA report (requested by the legislature) on new ways to fund COLAs. To watch her presentation, click here.
 

Baton Rouge— At its April meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 7 special election. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election will be held between the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.
 
Moving forward in the run-off election will be Suzanne Breaux (Vermilion Parish Schools) with 50% of the vote and Kelly Allen, M.A. (St. Mary Parish Schools) with 25.14% of the vote. Vicki Chauvin Guilbeau (Lafayette Parish Schools) received 24.86% of the vote.
                                      
Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on April 19, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 19. Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in June. The candidate receiving the most votes will take the oath of office and represent TRSL members in District 7 for the remainder of the four-year term which ends December 31, 2022.
 
District 7 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Vermilion.

Baton Rouge—The latest actuarial valuation report for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) was approved by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC) today.

The valuation report shows the System’s funded status continues to climb, reaching 67.9% up from 67.1%, last year. The funded ratio is a measure of the retirement system’s assets against its liabilities and is a metric commonly used to gauge a pension plan’s financial position. The funded status has increased almost 25% from 2010 when the System experienced the full impact of the 2008 economic market downturn. 

Additionally, TRSL’s valuation assets again set an all-time high, reaching $21.97 billion—an increase of $788 million over last year—and the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) decreased to $10.36 billion from $10.39 billion last fiscal year. Principal and interest on this debt has now been paid for the eighth consecutive year.


DROP interest: The valuation report also included the FY 2020 DROP interest rate for accounts belonging to members who were eligible to participate in the program prior to January 1, 2004. Those DROP accounts will earn 6.30%.

DROP accounts for members who were eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate of return, which averaged 1.0797% in FY 2020.

Baton Rouge—Holly Bridges Gildig, M.Ed. and Ricky Julien, Sr., M.Ed. were re-elected to their trustee positions on the TRSL Board. Results of the 2020 elections were announced at the board’s October meeting.
 
DISTRICT 5: Holly Bridges Gildig, M.Ed., of Albany, received 59.85% of the vote. Other candidates, Chris Pealer (Monroe) and Gavin Vitter (Madisonville), received 20.82% and 19.33% of the vote, respectively.           
                                                                         
“I appreciate the continued support of District 5 members,” said Gildig, who has served on the TRSL Board since January 2011. “The board’s top priority is to protect the interests of the retirement system and its members. I look forward to continuing this important work.”

Gildig is a 26-year veteran educator who currently teaches in the Livingston Parish School System. District 5 includes actively working TRSL members in Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin, Jackson, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Union, West Carroll, and West Feliciana parishes.

DISTRICT 6: Ricky Julien, Sr., M.Ed., of Sunset, was re-elected with 54.19% of the vote. John J. McCloskey, of Pineville, received 45.81% of the vote.
 
“I am honored that District 6 members have again chosen me to represent them on the board,” Julien said. “I am committed to doing all I can to ensure our members can count on a secure financial future with TRSL.” 

Julien has 16 years of service in public education, and is currently the principal of Opelousas High School in St. Landry Parish. He has been the District 6 representative since January 2017. District 6 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Evangeline, Grant, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and Winn.

Gildig and Julien will take the oath of office for their new four-year terms in January.

At its July meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees selected Katherine Whitney to become the next director of the retirement system. 

Whitney will replace Dana L. Vicknair, who is retiring after 32 years of public service—all but six of which were served at TRSL.

“I have had a wonderful career and enjoyed serving the members and retirees of this system for over 25 years,” Vicknair said. “I am so excited for Katherine and the future of TRSL. I have every confidence in her ability to lead TRSL for many years to come.”

Whitney is a familiar face to many members and employers. She has been with TRSL since 2008 and currently serves as TRSL’s deputy director. Prior to that role, she was the retirement system’s deputy general counsel.

“I am honored that the board has entrusted me to lead the retirement system,” Whitney said. “Dana’s incredible knowledge of the system has served our membership well for so many years. I look forward to continuing the high standard of service our members expect of us.”

Whitney has also worked at the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office. She is a product of Louisiana’s public schools—graduating from South Terrebonne High School and receiving her bachelor’s degree from Nicholls State University and her juris doctorate from LSU. She is a member of the Louisiana Bar Association.

Whitney’s appointment begins October 5, 2020.

As Phase 1 of reopening the state begins, TRSL would like to remind members that they can continue to get answers to their retirement/benefit questions and other member services through phone, email, and TRSL’s secure online Member Access.
Members can also continue to submit documents through normal delivery methods, including mail, email, and fax. 

TRSL Building: We have not yet opened the TRSL building for in-person counseling. However, we will let members know when this and other on-site services will resume.

Self-service with Member Access: Remember, you can view information about your personal TRSL account, including your retirement status and benefit payments. If you need assistance registering for or logging on to Member Access, contact our HelpDesk at 225-925-6460 or helpdesk@trsl.org.

COVID-19 Information Central: We've also added a dedicated COVID-19 webpage to our website. It has answers to your COVID-19 related questions, including how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act impacts retirement accounts, including whether hardship loans are allowed. We encourage you to check out this resource which is accessible from the www.TRSL.org homepage.


CONTACT US:

• Phone: 225-925-6446
• Toll free (outside Baton Rouge): 1-877-275-8775 (1-877-ASK-TRSL)
• Deaf & hard of hearing members can contact TRSL via the La. Relay Service:
  • For TTY/TDD users: 1-800-846-5277
  • For voice users: 1-800-947-5277
• Member Access HelpDesk: 225-925-6460 or helpdesk@trsl.org
• Email: web.master@trsl.org
• Fax (to submit forms and general correspondence): 225-925-4779
• Mailing address: P.O. Box 94123, Baton Rouge LA 70804-9123

The federal stimulus bill became law last Friday and is now known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The CARES Act addresses the economic impact the United States and the American people face as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Most notably, the CARES Act is set to provide individuals and families funding in the form of tax rebates to help relieve some of the financial burden felt by all. Tax rebate checks will be issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) based on the information contained in the tax return you filed for either 2018 or 2019, or based on Social Security records.

Important information for TRSL retirees:

Some TRSL retirees may not have been required to file a 2018 or 2019 tax return due to the amount of their income. Additionally, most TRSL retirees (with the exception of Plan B retirees) did not participate in Social Security through their TRSL-covered employment, and therefore would not have received a 1099 from the Social Security Administration (SSA-1099).

If either of these circumstances applies to you, TRSL encourages you to file a 2019 tax return immediately so that you can receive a CARES Act tax rebate.

The deadline to file a tax return has been extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. Filers who have zero tax liability can file for free on the IRS website, https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free.

More information from the IRS: Economic Impact Payments: What you need to know
 

Protect yourself from scams

Because many Americans are set to receive stimulus payments, the IRS and the Louisiana Department of Revenue are warning people to be aware of potential scams aimed at stealing their money. Please read this important information to keep you and your finances safe:

• Neither the IRS nor the Louisiana Department of Revenue will contact you to ask for your personal information.
• No government agency will charge a fee of any kind for the delivery of stimulus funds.
• Beware of "phishing" scams that seek to get your personal information (such as Social Security numbers) to commit identity theft.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury website offered this advice about potential scams: If you receive calls, emails, or other communications claiming to be from the Treasury Department and offering COVID-19 related grants or stimulus payments in exchange for personal financial information, or an advance fee, or charge of any kind, including the purchase of gift cards, do not respond.

Additionally, Louisiana residents who suspect they are victims of identity theft can take steps to protect themselves by reporting the crime to the police, reporting suspected fraud to the three major credit-reporting bureaus, and submitting a Louisiana Identity Theft Affidavit to the revenue department's Criminal Investigations Division.

To comply with the statewide Stay at Home order, the TRSL office is closed to the public until further notice.

While our offices are closed to the public, we will continue to provide service to the membership through phone, email, and online Member Access. Remember, with Member Access, you can view information about your personal TRSL account, including your retirement status and benefit payments.

If you need assistance registering for or logging on to Member Access, contact our HelpDesk at 225-925-6460 or helpdesk@trsl.org.

TRSL Benefit Payments: Rest assured, benefit payments will not be impacted. You will continue to receive your monthly benefits and DROP withdrawal payments without interruption.

Keep in mind, the hand delivery of documents to the TRSL office is suspended until further notice. Members can continue to submit documents through normal delivery methods, including mail, email, or fax.

For ongoing closure updates, please check our website at www.TRSL.org.

CONTACT US: 

• Phone: 225-925-6446
• Toll free (outside Baton Rouge): 1-877-275-8775 (1-877-ASK-TRSL)
• Deaf & hard of hearing members can contact TRSL via the La. Relay Service:
  • For TTY/TDD users: 1-800-846-5277
  • For voice users: 1-800-947-5277
• Member Access HelpDesk: 225-925-6460 or helpdesk@trsl.org
• Email: web.master@trsl.org
• Fax (to submit forms and general correspondence): 225-925-4779
• Mailing address: P.O. Box 94123, Baton Rouge LA 70804-9123

TRSL members can rest assured that their defined benefits are secure, even as financial markets react to the uncertainties of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. If you receive a TRSL benefit, you will continue to receive it—as usual.

We are monitoring the changing economic environment. It's important to know that the TRSL investment portfolio is intentionally designed to withstand the most dramatic of market fluctuations, even those we have witnessed over the past few days. Our investment strategies are long-term, and our portfolio is highly diversified across multiple asset classes, hundreds of firms and thousands of securities. 

Additionally, retirement benefits for TRSL members who participate in the defined-benefit plan are guaranteed by the state constitution. These benefits are based on the member’s years of service, average salary, and a benefit accrual factor—usually 2.5%; they are not based on the value of the TRSL trust. 

Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP): 
Members with DROP accounts can take comfort that these accounts are safe, too. While the interest rate earned on these accounts varies with the market, the funds already on deposit are secure.  

Optional Retirement Plan (ORP): 
Some employees who work in the field of higher education opted to participate in the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP)—a defined-contribution plan—rather than become members of TRSL’s defined-benefit plan. These individual retirement accounts are self-directed and account balances are determined by the value of the investments the ORP participant selected. 

It is good practice for all ORP participants to regularly review their investment portfolios with their ORP carriers or financial advisors. This helps ensure that participants use thoughtful, deliberate investment strategies that match the level of risk with which they are comfortable.  

At TRSL, your retirement security is our foremost concern.  
And as always, we are committed to managing your retirement system in a manner that creates the highest degree of confidence in our integrity, efficiency, fairness, and financial responsibility.

Due to changing circumstances involving coronavirus (COVID-19), TRSL has made the decision to only provide customer service by phone and email, starting Monday, March 16 until further notice. 

To protect our membership and staff, all scheduled appointments have been canceled, and walk-in appointments will be discontinued. TRSL staff will carry on with all other retirement system business at this time.

If you were planning to hand deliver time-sensitive documents to TRSL's office, you can place them in a DROP BOX at our building. Otherwise, please submit them through normal delivery methods, including mail, email, or fax. 

TRSL will continue to monitor the developments and safety recommendations related to COVID-19 and provide updates should they directly impact our business.

Important information about payment of benefits

These temporary changes to TRSL business operations will not impact payment of any TRSL benefits or DROP withdrawals. Members will continue to receive their benefits and withdrawal payments without interruption.

• Phone: 225-925-6446
• Toll free (outside Baton Rouge): 1-877-275-8775 (1-877-ASK-TRSL)
• Deaf & hard of hearing members can contact TRSL via the La. Relay Service:
  • For TTY/TDD users: 1-800-846-5277
  • For voice users: 1-800-947-5277
• Email: web.master@trsl.org
• Fax (to submit forms and general correspondence): 225-925-4779
• Mailing address: P.O. Box 94123, Baton Rouge LA 70804-9123

The health and safety of our members, staff, and communities are top priorities at TRSL. As the situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19) evolves, we remain committed to being responsive to your needs as well as providing you with a high level of service.

We are mindful of safety recommendations to help limit the spread of COVID-19, and encourage members to contact us by phone or email during our normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Those who wish to visit our Baton Rouge office are still welcome to do so.

TRSL's digital tools and self-service resources are also available for your use. Visit our website, www.TRSL.org, for information about TRSL, or log in to our secure Member Access portal to view your personal TRSL account. If you need help registering or logging in to Member Access, contact our HelpDesk at 225-925-6460 or helpdesk@trsl.org.

TRSL will continue to monitor the developments and safety recommendations related to COVID-19 and provide updates should they directly impact our business.

Contact information:

• Phone: 225-925-6446
• Toll free (outside Baton Rouge): 1-877-275-8775 (1-877-ASK-TRSL)
• Deaf & hard of hearing members can contact TRSL via the La. Relay Service:
  • For TTY/TDD users: 1-800-846-5277
  • For voice users: 1-800-947-5277
• Email: web.master@trsl.org
• Fax (to submit forms and general correspondence): 225-925-4779

Baton Rouge — David A. Hennigan, of Shreveport, has been re-elected to serve on the TRSL Board of Trustees as the District 4 representative. Results from the run-off election were announced at the Board’s December meeting.
 
Hennigan, who is an accountant with the Bossier Parish School Board, received 55% of the vote, ahead of Cynthia Y. Henderson, also of Shreveport, who received 45% of the vote.
 
In January, Hennigan will take the oath of office for his new four-year term. District 4 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster.

Baton Rouge—The latest actuarial valuation report for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) shows the System’s funded status continues to climb, reaching 67.1%, up from 65.8% last year.

The funded ratio is a measure of the retirement system’s assets against its liabilities and is a metric commonly used to gauge a pension plan’s financial position. The funded status has increased 23% from 2010 when the full economic impact of the 2008 market downturn was felt by the System.

Additionally, TRSL’s valuation assets again set a new all-time high, reaching $21.2 billion—an increase of $863 million over last year, and the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) decreased to $10.3 billion from $10.5 billion last fiscal year. Principal and interest on this debt has now been paid for the seventh consecutive year.

DROP interest: The valuation report projected the FY 2019 DROP interest rate for accounts belonging to members who were eligible to participate in the program prior to January 1, 2004. Those DROP accounts will earn 6.98%, subject to approval of the TRSL’s valuation report by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC).

DROP accounts for members who were eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate of return, which averaged 1.8940% in FY 2019.
 

At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 2 and District 4 elections.
 
DISTRICT 2:
 
Lotte T. Delaney, of Slidell received 55.1% of the vote in the District 2 election, ahead of John George Parauka of Mandeville, who received 44.9% of the vote.

In January, she will take the oath of office for her new four-year term as District 2 representative. Delaney is the Chief Financial Officer at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). District 2 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Orleans, St. Tammany, and Washington.
 
DISTRICT 4:
 
In the District 4 election, no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. A run-off election will be held with the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.
 
Moving forward in the run-off election will be David Hennigan (Shreveport) with 39.58% of the vote and Cynthia Y. Henderson (Shreveport) with 37.08% of the vote. John A. Allen of Natchitoches received 16.66% of the vote, and Glenn Sullivan of Benton received 6.66% of the vote.
                                                   
Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on October 18, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Monday, November 18. Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in December. The candidate receiving the most votes will represent TRSL members in District 4 for a four-year term beginning January 2020.
 
District 4 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster.
 
DISTRICT 3 UPDATE:
 
In other election news, Tia T. Mills, Ed.D., of Baton Rouge, was elected to the District 3 seat without opposition earlier this year. Mills will take the oath of office in January and begin serving her four-year term. District 3 includes actively working TRSL members in Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes.
 

The IRS has released the new Tax Withholding Estimator, which makes it easier for retirees to pay the correct amount of tax.

This tool helps you tailor the amount of tax withheld from your income to target a tax due amount close to zero or a refund amount.

Also, new features for pension income provide more accurate estimates of withholding, and it even automatically calculates any taxable Social Security benefits. 

Use the Tax Withholding Estimator’s recommendations to complete a new Form W-4P, if needed, and give it to your payer.

The IRS encourages everyone to use the Tax Withholding Estimator to perform a quick retirement benefit “checkup.” This is even more important following the recent changes to the tax law for 2018 and beyond.

There are several reasons to check your withholding:

• Helps protect against having too little tax withheld and facing an unexpected tax bill or penalty at tax time next year 
• Allows you to adjust your withholding to have less tax withheld up front and receive more in your retirement benefit (The average refund tops $2,800.) 

Click here to use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator

Tips for using the Estimator

The Estimator will ask you to estimate values of your 2019 income, the number of children you will claim for the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and other items that will affect your 2019 taxes.

• Gather your most recent pay stubs.
• Have your most recent income tax return handy. A copy of your completed Form 1040 will help you estimate your 2019 income and other characteristics and speed the process. 
• Keep in mind that the Estimator’s results will only be as accurate as the information you provide. If your circumstances change during the year, come back to this Estimator to make sure that your withholding is still correct.
• The Tax Withholding Estimator does not ask you to provide sensitive personally-identifiable information like your name, Social Security number, address or bank account numbers. The IRS does not save or record the information you enter on the Estimator.

Update your tax withholding with TRSL

You can use the results from the Estimator to adjust your income tax withholding.  There are two ways to update your tax withholding:

• Log into your TRSL Member Access account, click on the "My Self Service" drop down menu, then select "Change Your Federal Income Tax Withholding."
• Complete and submit to TRSL a new Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension and Annuity Payment. 

This letter to the editor was published in The Advocate on June 13, 2019.

The close of the 2019 legislative session and the departure of many respected legislators is a fitting time to reflect on strides the state has made to protect the health of its two largest pension plans that provide retirement benefits to public school teachers and state employees.

For those who are unaware, Louisiana has been a frontrunner in the nation for implementing meaningful pension reforms. An enormous amount of credit is due to legislators who have made hard choices to not only retire substantial debt accrued from decades of underfunding, but also to control costs going forward.

These choices include making the required payments to properly fund the systems; directing more excess investment returns earned by each system to pay down debt rather than grant cost-of-living increases; implementing various benefit structure changes that include raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 for new hires; requiring 2/3 legislative approval for benefit changes with a cost; and strategically lowering expected investment return assumptions to better reflect future market conditions. These reforms are working, and taken together, they have a projected long-term savings for the state of $8 billion.

In fact, these efforts were validated in a report from the legislative auditor’s office that found the retirement plans administered by TRSL and LASERS are definitely sustainable. And, an analysis of state public pension plans by the Pew Charitable Trust and reported in Governing magazine showed that Louisiana’s pension plans are among the top five plans in the country with policies in place to pay down pension debt.  We appreciate these affirmations by independent organizations, and are grateful to legislators, past and present, whose work helped make them possible.

At TRSL and LASERS, we are proud that our state has led the country in making retirements sustainable for our members. And, we look forward to a continued partnership with current and future lawmakers to ensure the viability of our retirement systems through thoughtful and measured action.

Dana L. Vicknair
TRSL Director

Cindy Rougeou
LASERS Executive Director

Baton Rouge — Thomas F. Stafford, Ph.D., of West Monroe, has been elected to serve on the TRSL Board of Trustees as the representative for active members employed in a college or university. Results from the run-off election were announced at the Board’s December meeting.
 
Stafford, who is a professor at Louisiana Tech University, received 69.55% of the vote against Cyrille M. Frey of Destrehan. His four-year term on the TRSL Board begins January 2019.
 
The TRSL Board safeguards and manages System assets held in trust to provide retirement income to retirees and beneficiaries. Board trustees monitor investment performance, review System operations, and develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan.

UPDATE: At its November meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees adopted revisions to the projected employer contribution rates for FY 2019-2020 due to changes in investment earnings assumptions. The revised contribution rates for all employers represent a decrease from current contribution rates. For K12 employers, the revised rate will be 26.0%, and for higher education employers the revised rate will be 25.3%. These revised rates are subject to approval by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC), which typically meets before March.

The latest actuarial valuation report for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) held positive news about the pension plan that provides retirement benefits and services for more than 195,000 members. According to the report, the System’s assets and funded status increased over last fiscal year, and projected employer contributions for the next school year will go down.

TRSL’s valuation assets increased by $1.1 billion over the previous fiscal year, bringing them to an all-time high of $20.3 billion. The System’s funded status, a metric commonly used to gauge a pension plan’s financial position, has been steadily climbing since the 2008 market downturn, and now stands at 65.8%—an increase of 1.3 percentage points over last fiscal year.

The report also showed the projected employer contribution rate (aggregate) will drop to 25.6% for Fiscal Year 2020 from its current rate of 26.5%. The unfunded accrued liability (UAL), which is debt owed by the state to TRSL, held steady at $10.5 billion.

“This year’s valuation recognized several assumption changes to the plan, including adjustments to mortality rates; but our investment performance and the state’s required annual payments to the debt kept the UAL flat,” said TRSL Director Dana L. Vicknair. “If not for those assumption changes, the UAL would have decreased by almost $700 million, resulting in a balance of less than $10 billion.”

The System’s actuarial rate of return for FY 2018 was 9.48%, exceeding its assumed rate of 7.70%. Over the longer term, TRSL’s 30-year average actuarial rate of return is 8.26%.

DROP interest: Fiscal Year 2018 interest for DROP accounts belonging to members who were eligible to participate in the program prior to January 1, 2004, is 8.98%. DROP accounts for members who were eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate of return, which averaged 0.9538% in FY 2018.

The actuarial valuation report, which includes the recommended 8.98% DROP interest rate, must now be approved by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC). 

NOTE: Data in the actuarial valuation report is calculated by recognizing the System’s investment gains and losses over a five-year period to project funding requirements. Therefore, actuarial data, which includes investment returns and asset value, is not the same as market data which can vary on a daily basis.

Baton Rouge - At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees made an interim appointment to the District 1 seat and received voting results for the colleges and universities election.

DISTRICT 1:
The board appointed Neshelle S. Nogess, M.B.A. of Lutcher to serve the remainder of the unexpired term of former District 1 trustee Britt Colon who resigned from the board in July. Nogess will serve as an interim trustee until December 31, 2018.

In January, she will take the oath of office for her new four-year term as District 1 representative. She was elected without opposition to the seat upon the withdrawal of John McCloskey from the race.

Nogess, a former District 1 trustee (2016-2017), is the Director of the Sales and Use Tax Department with the St. James Parish School Board. District 1 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John.

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES:
In the election for the higher education seat on the Board, no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. A run-off election will be held with the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.

Moving forward in the run-off election will be Thomas F. Stafford, Ph.D. (Louisiana Tech University) with 16.97% of the vote and Cyrille Frey (LSU Health Science Center-New Orleans) with 14.68% of the vote.

Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters on October 19, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Monday, November 19.

Run-off results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in December. The person receiving the most votes will represent TRSL members employed in higher education for a four-year term beginning January 2019.

DISTRICT 7 UPDATE:
In other election news, Suzette Stelly Riddle of Abbeville was elected without opposition to the District 7 seat. Riddle is a classroom teacher/librarian at Indian Bayou Elementary School in Vermilion Parish.

She will take the oath of office in January and begin serving her four-year term. District 7 includes actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Vermilion.

Baton Rouge – The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) ended Fiscal Year 2018 with an 11.56% market rate of return (net of fees), making it #1 among public pension plans with assets greater than $1 billion.

“We are extremely pleased with the performance of our investments,” said TRSL Director Dana Vicknair. “Thanks to our strong market return, TRSL has $21.05 billion in assets—up $1.5 billion over last year.”

In addition to its number one ranking for FY 2018, TRSL’s investment performance has clinched the #1 spot for the past nine years, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS)—the most widely accepted comparison service for public pension fund investment performance.

“Our asset allocation continues to provide diversification and strong returns,” said Philip Griffith, TRSL chief investment officer. “Venture capital was our top performing asset class in FY 2018, returning 25.6%. Last fiscal year, commodities held the top spot with a 28.8% return.”

Baton Rouge — Receiving 77.4% of the vote, James A. Taylor, Sr., J.D., Ph.D., of Baton Rouge, has been re-elected to the TRSL Board of Trustees as a retiree representative. Results from the run-off election between Taylor and Nita Chambers of Alexandria were announced at the Board’s September meeting.

“I am grateful for the support I received and pledge to continue to help make TRSL the most effective and efficient retirement system in the country,” Taylor said. “I ask that all TRSL retirees continue to support their retirement system.”

Taylor retired from the St. Charles Parish Public Schools in 1998 after 30 years of service. He also has many years of service in higher education. His new four-year term on the board begins January 1, 2019.

The TRSL Board safeguards and manages the System assets held in trust to provide retirement income to retirees and beneficiaries.

TRSL retirees and beneficiaries:

Following the passage of the 2017 Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and subsequent changes to 2018 federal withholding tax tables, the IRS created a withholding calculator to help taxpayers determine the correct amount of federal income tax to withhold.

Throughout 2018, the IRS has been reminding taxpayers to review their tax situations and use the IRS withholding calculator to ensure that they will have the correct amount of taxes withheld from their 2018 income.

The withholding calculator is the easiest, most accurate way for taxpayers with complicated tax situations to determine the correct withholding.

The IRS strongly advises two-income families, persons working multiple jobs, and persons who itemize deductions to check their withholding immediately to prevent being over-withheld or under-withheld when the 2018 tax returns are filed in 2019.

Taxpayers can use the results from the withholding calculator to determine if they should complete a new Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments and if so, what information to put on the form. Also, taxpayers whose personal circumstances change during the year should use the withholding calculator to determine if their withholding should be adjusted.

Both the IRS Withholding Calculator and Form W-4P  can be accessed via the IRS website. Form W-4P is also available through TRSL's secure online Member Access.
 

Baton Rouge — In the recent retiree election for the TRSL Board of Trustees, no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. A run-off election will be held with the top two candidates who received the most votes in the primary.

Moving forward in the run-off election will be James A. Taylor, Sr., J.D., Ph.D. of Baton Rouge with 47.77% of the vote and Nita Chambers of Alexandria who received 10.28% of the vote.

Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters at the end of this month, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, August 29. Run-off election results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in September.

The person receiving the most votes will represent retired members on the board for a four-year term beginning January 1, 2019.

Carleton C. Page, who directed TRSL under the title Secretary-Treasurer from 1974-1989, died April 23 in Plano, TX.

Dr. Page led the retirement system when Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring the system to be actuarially funded—one of the most significant and beneficial developments in TRSL history.

“We consider passage of that constitutional amendment to be the first major step the state took toward ensuring the fiscal soundness of the retirement system,” said current TRSL Director Dana L. Vicknair. “Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Page back then, the system became one of the few in the country to be funded properly.”

Also during his tenure, the TRSL office moved to its current location at the Retirement Systems Building on Essen Lane in Baton Rouge.

Dr. Page was born July 20, 1932 in McComb, MS. He is survived by his wife, Myrtle Glynn Daigle. Funeral mass and Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m., June 9 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in McComb.

News journal, Pensions & Investments, recently ranked TRSL #2 on its list of the “10 best performing public pension plans for 2017.”

TRSL’s investments earned a top spot with a market return of 15.93% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017.

“I was pleased that we ranked #2 for best performing public plans in 2017. I’d add that this year’s investment performance is consistent with our longer term ranking,” said Philip Griffith, TRSL’s chief investment officer. “Our seven-year return of 10.81% places us in the #1 spot for large public plans according TUCS.”

Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service’s (TUCS) is the most widely accepted comparison service for public pension fund investment performance.

To view all plans on the list, follow this link.

Baton Rouge—The TRSL Board of Trustees received good news at its October meeting when results of the system’s annual valuation report were presented. According to the report, TRSL’s assets and funded status are up, and employer contributions will remain stable.

The system’s valuation assets increased by almost $1 billion over the previous fiscal year. Assets now stand at an all-time high of $19.2 billion, increasing the system’s funded status to 64.5%. The report also showed the employer contribution rate will hold steady at 26.5% (aggregate rate). Additionally, the unfunded accrued liability (UAL), which is debt owed by the state to TRSL, decreased by $466 million. TRSL’s actuarial rate of return for FY 2017 is 9.15%, exceeding its assumed rate of 7.70%. Over the long-term, TRSL’s 30-year average actuarial rate of return is 8.08%.

 “We are very pleased with the results of this valuation report,” said TRSL Director Dana L. Vicknair. “It shows that the work done over the past 25 years to protect the soundness of the retirement system is paying off.”

DROP interest: Fiscal Year 2017 interest for DROP accounts belonging to members who were eligible to participate in the program prior to January 1, 2004, is 8.65%. DROP accounts for members who were eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate of return, which averaged 0.2214% in FY 2017.

The valuation report, which includes the recommended 8.65% DROP interest rate, must now be approved by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC). 

Fiscal Year 2017 Valuation Highlights

• Valuation assets - $19.2 billion
• Actuarial rate of return - 9.15%
• Funded ratio - 64.5%
• DROP interest (eligibility prior to Jan. 1, 2004) - 8.65%
• DROP interest (eligibility on/after to Jan. 1, 2004) - 0.2214%

Baton Rouge--At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the District 1 and Superintendents special elections.

District 1 (special election): Britt L. Colon, of Geismar, received 58% of the vote, ahead of Neshelle S. Nogess, of Paulina, who received 42% of the vote.

Mr. Colon is principal of Spanish Lake Primary School in Ascension Parish. He will take the oath of office in November and serve the remainder of the position’s four-year term, which lasts through December 31, 2018. District 1 includes actively working TRSL members in Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John parishes.

Superintendents (special election): Tensas Parish Superintendent Paul E. Nelson, Ph.D., of Vidalia, won election to the TRSL Board with 76% of the vote. East Feliciana Superintendent Carlos J. Sam, of Baton Rouge, received 24% of the vote.

Dr. Nelson will take the oath of office next month and serve the remainder of the position’s four-year term, which lasts through December 31, 2018. The Superintendent seat represents actively working TRSL members employed as parish/city superintendents of public schools in Louisiana.

In other election news: Kelly F. Thompson, RD, LDN, of Jena, was elected without opposition to the TRSL Board School Food Service Personnel seat earlier this year.

Ms. Thompson is the supervisor of child nutrition programs for the LaSalle Parish School Board. Her four-year term starts in January 2018. The School Food Service Personnel seat represents actively working TRSL members paid with school food service funds.

Baton Rouge—At its September meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees selected Dana L. Vicknair to become director of the $18.7 billion retirement system.

Vicknair currently serves as TRSL’s assistant director. She joined TRSL in 1995 and was chief financial officer for six years before her appointment as assistant director in 2004.

She will replace Maureen H. Westgard, who is retiring to become the executive director for the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR).

Vicknair received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southeastern Louisiana University. She is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and has served on its Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration. She is also a member of the organization, Women in Management. 

Baton Rouge – Jerry J. Baudin, Ph.D., of Baton Rouge, has been re-elected to serve on the TRSL Board of Trustees as a retiree representative. Results from the 2017 retiree run-off election were announced at the board’s September meeting.

Baudin, who currently serves as chairman of the TRSL Board, received 72.34% of the vote against David E. Gullatt, of Simsboro, who finished with 27.66%.

His new four-year term on the TRSL Board begins January 1, 2018, and he will continue to serve as board chair through 2018.

“I am honored that my fellow retirees have placed their trust in me to continue to represent them on the board,” said Baudin. “Protecting the benefits our members have worked for throughout their careers and maintaining the health of the retirement system have and will continue to be my top priority.”

Baudin previously served on the TRSL Board for 22 years, representing actively working members employed at a Louisiana public college or university. After retiring from LSU, he won election to the TRSL Board as a retiree representative in 2013.

The TRSL Board safeguards and manages the System assets held in trust to provide retirement income to retirees and beneficiaries. Board trustees meet monthly to monitor investment performance, review System operations, and develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan. 

The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) ended Fiscal Year 2016-17 with a net 15.93% market rate of return, taking assets to a new high of $18.7 billion.

“The board is very pleased with our investment performance,” said TRSL Board Chair Jerry. J. Baudin, Ph.D. “The strong market return pushed our assets up $1.9 billion over last year.”

The System’s fiscal year performance puts TRSL in the top 2nd percentile of 87 public pension funds with assets exceeding $1 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS)—the most widely accepted comparison service for public pension fund investment performance.

“Several asset classes, including our investment in commodities and equities, delivered exceptional returns,” said Philip Griffith, TRSL chief investment officer. “We’ve structured a well-diversified investment portfolio with long-term performance in mind.”

Over the long-term, TRSL ranks #1 among similarly sized public pension funds, with a 10.8% return for the seven-year period ended June 30, 2017, according to TUCS.

With more than 180,000 members, TRSL is the largest public retirement system in the state and provides more than $2 billion in annual benefits to retirees and beneficiaries.

• DISTRICT 1 (special election): includes actively working members employed in the parishes of Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John.
•  
• SUPERINTENDENTS (special election): includes actively working members employed as parish/city superintendents of public schools in Louisiana.

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763

Congratulations to TRSL trustee Tia T. Mills, Ed.D. who was recently awarded the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Mills was one of five educators in the country chosen for the honor, which comes with $10,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C.
 
The award, sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA) Foundation and Horace Mann Insurance, recognizes teachers who excel in professional practice, advocacy for the profession, community engagement, professional development, and attention to diversity.
 
Dr. Mills is a board member for the Louisiana Association of Educators and teaches at Baton Rouge’s Eden Park Superintendent’s Academy. She and the other four awardees will next be considered for the NEA Member Benefits Award Teaching Excellence—the foundation’s top teaching award—which will be announced in February. 
 
Dr. Mills has been a member of the TRSL Board since 2015, representing actively working TRSL members in the parishes of Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, and Terrebonne.

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763

Request a paper ballot: Click here to have a paper ballot mailed to you. Deadline to request a paper ballot is 4:30 p.m., Thursday, August 17.

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763

Request a paper ballot: Click here to have a paper ballot mailed to you. Deadline to request a paper ballot is 4:30 p.m., Thursday, August 17.

Baton Rouge, LA--Maureen H. Westgard will retire from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) after more than 12 years leading the state’s largest public pension system. Her retirement is effective December 31, 2017.

Westgard became TRSL director in August 2005, and has become a familiar and trusted voice in Louisiana for her work with state legislators to provide retirement security to the state’s educational community.

“Maureen has provided exceptional leadership and demonstrated unfailing integrity during her time at TRSL,” said TRSL Board Chair Jerry J. Baudin, Ph.D. “She has worked effectively with legislators to provide an affordable and secure retirement to Louisiana teachers.”

Westgard has accepted the position of executive director for the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR), an independent association that advocates on behalf of public retirement systems for teachers in the U.S. and its territories.

“I will certainly miss working directly with Louisiana’s teaching community, but I am pleased that I will be staying in the field of teacher retirement,” Westgard said. “It is so important to me that those individuals, who have one of the most important jobs in our society, can retire with dignity and the peace of mind that comes with having a reliable source of income after leaving the workforce.”

Within the next two weeks, the following TRSL members will receive important information needed to vote for their representative on the TRSL Board of Trustees:

• DISTRICT 1 (special election): includes actively working members employed in the parishes of Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John.
• SUPERINTENDENTS (special election): includes actively working members employed as parish/city superintendents of public schools in Louisiana.

Everyone Counts, Inc. of La Jolla, CA, will mail this information directly to eligible voters. If you're eligible to vote in one of these elections, and you don't receive voting information by August 18, please contact TRSL at:

• Phone: (225) 925-6446, ext. 6109
• Toll-free: 1-877-275-8775, ext. 6109
• Email: lisa.honore@trsl.org

The deadline to vote is Tuesday, September 12.

Within the next two weeks, eligible voters will receive voting information for the upcoming retiree runoff election on the TRSL Board of Trustees.

Everyone Counts, Inc. of La Jolla, CA, will mail this information directly to you. If you don't receive this information by August 9, please contact us:

Phone: (225) 925-6446, ext. 6109
Toll free: 1-877-275-8775, ext. 6109
Email: lisa.honore@trsl.org

The voting deadline is 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, August 30, 2017.

For more information, see our Elections webpage.

Baton Rouge—In the recent retiree election for the TRSL Board of Trustees, no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. A run-off election will be held with the top two candidates, who received the most votes, on the ballot.

Moving forward in the run-off election will be Jerry J. Baudin, Ph.D. of Baton Rouge and David E. Gullatt of Simsboro. The primary election results are as follows:
 

Jerry J. Baudin, Ph.D. (Baton Rouge)	47.40%
David E. Gullatt (Simsboro)	16.83%
Eula M. Brown Beckwith (New Orleans)	9.50%
Walter C. Lee (Shreveport)	6.56%
W. Harry Ingalls (Pineville)	5.27%
Sharon Guy Hornsby (Greensburg)	4.77%
Irvin R. West (Hammond)	3.40%
Frank Vine (Zachary)	3.21%
Terrence “Terry” Young, Jr. (Metairie)	2.99%

Voting information for the run-off election will be mailed to eligible voters at the end of this month, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, August 30. Run-off election results will be announced at the TRSL board meeting in September.

The person receiving the most votes will represent retired members on the board for a four-year term beginning January 1, 2018.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW or call 1-888-907-1347

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW or call 1-888-907-1347

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763
 

Misplaced your PIN or need voting assistance?
Contact the Everyone Counts Help Desk at 1-888-492-4763

“Pensions in the Parishes,” a new report by Jeanie Donovan of the Louisiana Budget Project illustrates how Louisiana’s pension systems, including TRSL, impact each parish. The report finds that Louisiana’s state pension systems are critical to working families and retirees across the state, and also serve as key economic drivers in every city, town and parish in Louisiana.

According to the report, Louisiana’s pension systems pay out more than $4 billion in benefits to 164,000 retirees and their families every year—an amount equivalent to 2% percent of all personal income in the state.

To read the full report, click here.

TRSL investment assets reached an all-time high of $18.1 billion as of April 30, 2017. This number reflects steady growth over the past decade, and speaks good news for the system as it continues to outperform similarly sized public pension plans.

The system's one-, two-, and seven-year investment returns ranked first among public pension plans with assets over $1 billion, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS) – the most widely accepted comparison service for public pension fund investment performance.

“Our growth in asset value is a result of strong investment returns since 2010, when investments totaled $11.7 billion,” said TRSL Chief Investment Officer Philip Griffith. “Our asset allocation, too, gives us the diversification we need as long-term investors, and it’s working.”

Additionally, the system’s investment assets have earned a 9.2% annualized return over the past seven years.

Within the next two weeks, retirees will receive voting information for the upcoming election of the retiree representative on the TRSL Board of Trustees.

Everyone Counts, Inc. of La Jolla, CA, will mail this information directly to eligible voters. If you don’t receive it by June 1, please contact us:

• Phone: (225) 925-6446, ext. 6109
• Toll-free: 1-877-275-8775, ext. 6109
• Email: lisa.honore@trsl.org

From providing reliable retirement income to helping Louisiana businesses grow, TRSL has a major economic impact on the state. Our latest Investing in Louisiana report shows how TRSL benefits are at work in Louisiana—and in your parish.
Here are some highlights from Fiscal Year 2016:

• TRSL paid more than $2 billion in retirement benefits.
• Some 89% of TRSL benefit recipients live in Louisiana where they spend pension dollars in their communities.
• TRSL pensions support approximately 15,890 Louisiana jobs and nearly $693 million in income.

Click here to view the full report.

In a recent letter to Baton Rouge’s major daily newspaper, The Advocate, the president of Louisiana’s largest business lobbying group made a number of completely inaccurate statements about TRSL funding and costs.

We believe facts are important in any meaningful discussion about the retirement security of more than 75,800 retired TRSL members and 84,000 future retirees. Here are those facts.

TRSL IS FINANCIALLY SOUND.

TRSL pensions provide a targeted level of retirement income at a lower cost than most other retirement plans. TRSL employers pay less for actual employee retirements (normal cost) than they would to Social Security. With TRSL, employers pay 4.3% of payroll for K-12 teachers compared to 6.2% required by Social Security. An additional amount is paid by employers to pay down the unfunded accrued liability (UAL).

The UAL, which is debt the state owes TRSL for years of underfunding, is decreasing. In fact, in 2013—for the first time since the debt payment schedule was established almost 30 years ago—the state’s payments to TRSL began to cover both principal and interest on the debt, not just interest.

Many people in the pension industry point to a pension plan’s funded ratio as one of several measures to assess its health. The funded ratio is a measure of the plan’s assets as a percentage of its future benefit obligations.  TRSL’s funded ratio has been steadily increasing since 2010 when the system began recovering from the market downturn of 2008-2009.

TRSL IS PROACTIVE.

Unlike many states, Louisiana has made significant changes over the past two decades to protect the financial health of TRSL—starting with a constitutional amendment in 1987 that requires the state to make actuarial payments to TRSL. Actuarial payments ensure the system receives the dollars necessary to fund the cost of benefits being earned today and pay down the UAL.

TRSL and lawmakers have worked together to pass reforms that enhance the soundness of the system, including legislation enacted since 2009 that steers more of the system’s excess investment earnings toward debt payments. 

Other pension reforms include increasing the employee contribution rate to 8% of salary from 7%;  limiting enhancement of retirement benefits through salary spiking; establishing a five-year average salary calculation for new hires; raising the retirement age to 62 for new hires; requiring certain convicted felons to forfeit benefits; and adding new funding requirements for retiree COLAs. These reforms and others have a projected long-term savings of $5 billion.

TRSL’S EFFORTS ARE RECOGNIZED.

Louisiana has been a forerunner in the nation for implementing meaningful pension reforms that control taxpayer costs while continuing to provide retirement income to career educators.
 
The actuary for the Louisiana Legislative Auditor acknowledged as much in a 2015 presentation in which he described TRSL’s current defined benefit plan structure for existing and new active members as “definitely sustainable.” 

 Additionally, a recent analysis of state public pension plans by the Pew Charitable Trust and Governing magazine showed that Louisiana’s pension plans are among the top five plans in the best shape across the country. 

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about TRSL and its impact on Louisiana’s economy, read our latest Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) and our Investing in Louisiana brochure.

Interested in running for the TRSL Board of Trustees? Deadline to qualify is 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 28. Candidate eligibility requirements and qualifying procedures are available here.

Interested in running for the TRSL Board of Trustees? Deadline to qualify is 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 28. Candidate eligibility requirements and qualifying procedures are available here.

Interested in running for the TRSL Board of Trustees? Deadline to qualify is 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 28. Candidate eligibility requirements and qualifying procedures are available here.

Interested in running for the TRSL Board of Trustees? Deadline to qualify is 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 28. Candidate eligibility requirements and qualifying procedures are available here.

Interested in serving on the TRSL Board of Trustees? Find out which board positions will be up for election this year, and get information about eligibility requirements for these seats and the candidate qualifying process.

Visit our Elections webpage.

Log into your Member Access account to view and print your 2016 1099-R tax form from the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana. You will need your 1099-R to file your IRS tax return.

Once logged in to Member Access, select "Print Form 1099-R" from the "My Account" drop-down menu.

Also this week, a hard copy of your 1099-R will be mailed to the address TRSL has on file for you.I

• f you need assistance logging into Member Access, please contact the TRSL Help Desk at support@trsl.org or (225) 925-6446, ext. 6460 (toll free outside Baton Rouge at 1-877-275-8775, ext. 6460).
• If you have not received your 1099-R by February 15, contact TRSL at web.master@trsl.org to request a duplicate.

Baton Rouge—The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) saved more money, achieved higher returns, and provided better services than its public plan counterparts, according to the latest results from an independent benchmarking firm that studies public pension systems.

Analysis conducted by the Toronto-based CEM Benchmarking, Inc. compares TRSL against similarly sized U.S. pension systems in the areas of investment performance and pension administration for data collected from Fiscal Year 2015.

“This study is truly a 360-degree view of everything we do in our investment of assets and our processing of retirement benefits,” said TRSL Director Maureen H. Westgard. “TRSL is the only retirement system in the state to participate in a rigorous, third-party analysis of our operations. We use the results as a tool to ensure we manage our resources efficiently and effectively.”

CEM Benchmarking found that TRSL administers a high value, low cost investment program. Specifically, TRSL saved $11 million compared to the median cost of its peers, given the same asset allocation, primarily because TRSL has been able to negotiate lower investment management costs. Furthermore, in an analysis of short- and long-term investment performance, five years and 17 years respectively, TRSL achieved higher investment returns than the median returns of U.S. public plans in both time periods.

In the area of pension administration, TRSL’s cost per member was $90 compared to its peer average of $112. The retirement system also outscored its peers in the area of customer service primarily because of its efficiency in processing retirement benefits and educational resources offered to members.  

CEM Benchmarking conducts separate analyses for investments and pension administration. TRSL’s investment program is compared with 163 other U.S. pension funds as well as a peer group of 15 U.S. funds with a median size of $17 billion. In the area of pension administration, TRSL is compared with 72 other retirement systems, includ­ing a peer group of 12 pension systems. 

Baton Rouge – The recommended interest rate for certain Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) accounts is 6.17%, according to the latest valuation report for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL).

At its October meeting, the TRSL Board approved the valuation report presented by its actuary Shelley Johnson of Foster & Foster Actuaries and Consultants. The report includes the recommended 6.17% interest rate for DROP members who were eligible to participate in the program before January 1, 2004. These DROP accounts earn interest at TRSL’s actuarially realized rate of return, less 0.5%.

The recommended rate must be adopted by the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC) before it is considered final and interest can be posted to eligible DROP accounts.  PRSAC typically meets in February or March.

The DROP interest rate for members who were eligible to participate in the program on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate, less 0.25%. The average monthly Fiscal Year 2016 interest rate for these accounts is 0.0595%. Interest on these accounts is posted monthly.

Baton Rouge— At its October meeting, the TRSL Board of Trustees received voting results for the Districts 3 and 5 elections, and made an interim appointment to the District 1 seat.
 
District 3 (special election): Interim appointee Tia T. Mills, Ed.D., of Baton Rouge, received 60.6% of the vote in the District 3 special election, ahead of Teicha Warner Woods, of Prairieville, who received 39.4% of the vote.
 
The TRSL Board appointed Mills to the District 3 seat last November to serve until a special election could be held this year. Mills is employed at Magnolia Woods Elementary School in East Baton Rouge Parish. She will take the oath of office in November and serve the remainder of the position’s four-year term, which lasts through December 31, 2019.
 
District 3 includes TRSL members actively working in Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes.
 
District 5: Holly Bridges Gildig, of Albany, received 56% of the vote in the District 5 election. Candace Standberry Robertson (Reserve) received 23% of the vote and Grady “Andy” Allred (Farmerville) received 21% of the vote.
 
Gildig is a teacher at Hammond Eastside Magnet School in Tangipahoa Parish. She has served on the board since 2011, and her new four-year term begins January 2017.
 
District 5 includes TRSL members actively working in Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin, Jackson, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Union, West Carroll, and West Feliciana parishes.
 
Interim appointment: Neshelle S. Nogess, of Paulina, was appointed to represent active members employed in District 1. She is the director of sales and use tax at the St. James Parish School Board.
 
Nogess will be sworn in at the board’s November meeting. A special election for the District 1 seat will be held next year to fill the remainder of the position’s four-year term, which lasts through December 31, 2018.
 
District 1 includes TRSL members actively working in Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John parishes.
 
In other election news: Ricky Julien, Sr., M. Ed., of Sunset, was elected to the District 6 seat without opposition earlier this year. Julien is the director of music at Cecilia Sr. High School in St. Martin Parish. His four-year term starts in January 2017.
 
District 6 includes TRSL members actively working in Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Evangeline, Grant, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and Winn parishes.

Constitutional Amendment No. 5 is among six proposed changes to the state constitution that will appear on the ballot in the primary election set for November 8.

If passed by voters, the amendment would establish the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund and provide for the allocation of mineral revenues, a portion of which would be dedicated to pay down the balance of the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) after certain thresholds are reached.

The TRSL Board of Trustees supported the legislation to pay down the UAL. 

The IRS recently granted a waiver allowing flood victims, who have not yet retired, to access certain retirement plan accounts. Retirement plans administered by TRSL are currently not subject to this waiver.

However, TRSL members who participate in a supplemental 403(b) retirement plan or who have a deferred compensation account may be able to take advantage of this waiver. Please check with your employer if you participate in a 403(b) plan or contact Empower Retirement if you hold a deferred compensation account and are a flood victim.

Information for DROP Retirees: Options may be available that enable DROP retirees to change their DROP withdrawal method—for example, increasing the monthly withdrawal amount or withdrawing a partial lump sum. Also, a total withdrawal of all funds in the DROP account can be made at any time, even after periodic withdrawals have begun. Please note that there may be certain limitations based on your prior withdrawals as well as tax implications. 

More information is available in TRSL’s publications, DROP/ILSB Accounts: Information on Withdrawals and Interest and Special Tax Notice Regarding TRSL Payments. If you need further assistance, please contact TRSL at 225-925-6446 or toll free (outside the Baton Rouge area) at 1-877-275-8775.

Annual member statements for 2016 are now available through TRSL's secure online Member Access. Your statement details your salary, contributions, and service credit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016.

You can view and print your statement online by selecting "Member Account Statements" from the "My Account" drop-down menu at the top of the page.

Not registered for Member Access?

Click here to obtain a user ID and password. If you need assistance registering or logging on, please contact TRSL's Help Desk.

This excerpt is taken from The Week in Public Finance in Governing magazine.

Most Pensions Falling Behind

A new analysis of state public pension plans this week shows that only one in three states are actually on a path to reduce their unfunded liabilities.

The report, by the Pew Charitable Trusts, used a new metric called net amortization, which essentially measures whether a pension plan’s accounting assumptions and payment schedule are holding up over time. Only 15 states are achieving positive amortization, according to Pew. In other words, they're following contribution policies that are sufficient to pay down pension debt. The remaining 35 states are facing negative amortization, or are following contribution policies that allow the funding gap to continue to grow.

Based on the measure, the plans in the worst shape are, in order: Kentucky, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania and California. The report does note that Pennsylvania has committed to large contribution increases and is projected to reach positive amortization by 2018. The top five plans in the best shape are West Virginia, New York, Indiana, South Dakota and Louisiana.

The Takeaway: This metric gets at the true health of a pension plan better than the annual funding status because it tells us in which direction a pension plan is going. Net amortization supplies the long view, which seems appropriate when talking about a program that’s supposed to last for generations.

Case in point: 40 states reported decreased unfunded liabilities in 2014 thanks to stronger-than-expected investment returns. This is great news for the short term, But, according to the report, only a small number met the positive amortization benchmark. “Investment returns vary widely over time,” the report said, “and most governments that sponsor pension plans made contributions that were not large enough to reduce debt based on expected long-term rates of return.”

The measure helps explain why some plans -- such as Houston’s or the state of Alabama’s -- haven’t made up ground even though governments have paid their full pension bills.

TRSL resumed normal business hours on Monday, August 22. Please take note of the following updates regarding TRSL benefit payments:

• DROP withdrawals payable August 15 have been made. Please check your banking account to ensure it reflects your August 15 DROP payment.
• Member refunds scheduled for payment on August 20 will be mailed or direct deposited on August 24. If you are rolling your refund over into another qualified retirement plan, please check with that plan administrator for information on receipt of the funds.
• September 1 benefit payments will be made as normally scheduled. Members who receive their benefit payments by paper check and live in areas impacted by flooding may have to pick up their checks from their local post offices.

Our thoughts continue to be with the many TRSL members and employees who were impacted by the flooding in Louisiana.
 

Resources for flood victims

• Louisiana School Boards Association Fund for Restoring Schools
• Louisiana Association of Educators Flood Relief Fund
• A+PEL Disaster Relief Fund
• Office of the Governor - Resources for Flood Victims
• Tips for Salvaging Documents/Photographs
• Free Louisiana and Mississippi Disaster Home Cleanup Hotline Available Now

Our thoughts and prayers are with the many TRSL members and employees who have been impacted by the historic flooding in our state.
 
TRSL does not anticipate any disruption of September benefit payments via direct deposit. For individuals in flood-impacted areas who receive paper checks by mail, TRSL will monitor the situation and keep them posted regarding mail delivery issues. 
 
Some DROP checks payable August 15 and member refunds scheduled for payment later this month may be late. TRSL will get those payments out as soon as possible once the office returns to full operation. Please check www.TRSL.org for information on when the TRSL office will resume normal business hours.
 
Resources for flood victims

• Free Louisiana and Mississippi Disaster Home Cleanup Hotline Available Now

Log into TRSL's secure Member Access to see your latest quarterly DROP/ILSB statement.
 
As of July 1, quarterly DROP/ILSB statements will be available exclusively online through TRSL's secure Member Access. In our ongoing efforts to conserve resources, paper statements will no longer be mailed.
 
Sign up for Member Access today to gain access to all of your important TRSL account information. If you need technical assistance with Member Access, contact helpdesk@trsl.org.
 
How to access your online DROP/ILSB statement

The National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) recently completed a comprehensive review and compilation of public pension reforms since the Great Recession and the global financial crisis. According to the report, Significant Reforms to State Retirement Systems, the period from 2009 to 2014 marked the greatest period of change in the history of public pensions. While there were no one-size-fits-all solutions, virtually every state made modifications to one or more of its retirement plans.

Nearly every state reduced benefits, increased contributions, or both. Most did so while retaining the traditional pension plan.

• Thirty-six states increased the amount that employees are required to contribute to the pension plan.
• Twenty-nine states increased eligibility requirements for retirement, which typically took the form of an increase in age, years of employment, or a combination of both to qualify for retirement.
• Most of the reforms transferred a higher share of the risk associated with providing retirement benefits from the state or local government to its employees.

Reforms enacted in one state were not necessarily appropriate for another. Generally, states made modifications to their pension plans commensurate with the extent of their fiscal issues, to ensure the long-term sustainability of the plan.

Also, read the joint letter to the editor from TRSL and LASERS about pension reform that recently appeared in The Advocate (Baton Rouge): Letters: Optimism is alive in the form of Louisiana’s pension reform

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed three bills into law that, taken together, allow TRSL to pay a 1.5% permanent benefit increase (also called COLA) to eligible TRSL retirees and beneficiaries on July 1.

Senate Bill 2, sponsored by Sen. Barrow Peacock, authorizes the 1.5% COLA calculated on the first $60,000 of the retirement benefit. Granting of the COLA was contingent upon passage of Senate Bill 5 and Senate Bill 18, also sponsored by Sen. Peacock, and summarized below.

• Senate Bill 5 requires non‐investment related administrative expenses to be funded directly through employer contributions beginning the first fiscal year in which this change will not increase the projected employer contribution rate.

• Senate Bill 18 clarifies provisions created in Act 399 of 2014 regarding excess investment earnings, employer contributions, and cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). SB 18 also addresses the System’s amortization period for changes, gains, losses and allocations to the experience account, and authorizes re-amortization at certain times.

Who is eligible to receive the COLA?
To be eligible for the COLA, the following requirements must be met on or before July 1, 2016.

• Regular retiree: Must have received a benefit for at least one year and be 60 years of age

• Disability retiree: Must have been retired at least one year regardless of age

• Beneficiary of retiree: Retiree or beneficiary (or both combined) must have received a benefit for at least one year, and the deceased retiree would have been 60 years of age at the time the PBI is payable

• Survivor (non-retiree beneficiary): Must have received a benefit for at least one year and the benefits must have originated from the service of a deceased member who would have been 60 years of age at the time the PBI is payable

When will the COLA be paid?
The benefit increase will be reflected on retirement payments starting July 1.

Interested in running for the TRSL Board of Trustees? Deadline to qualify is 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 29. Candidate eligibility requirements and qualifying procedures are available here.

We’d love to see you at one of our Planning for Your Retirement workshops this summer. These workshops are designed specifically for people within five years of retiring or entering DROP. Come get your retirement questions answered. We’ll be in a town near you.

• Check the schedule

• Register today

Interested in running for the TRSL Board of Trustees? Deadline to qualify is 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 29. Candidate eligibility requirements and qualifying procedures are available here.

Washington, D.C.— A new report released by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) finds that women are far more likely than men to face financial hardship in retirement. The analysis finds that across all age groups, women have substantially less income in retirement than men.
 
These findings are from the report, “Shortchanged in Retirement, The Continuing Challenges to Women’s Financial Future.” The report is available here.
 
Some key findings from the report:

• Women are 80% more likely than men to be impoverished at age 65 and older, while women between the ages of 75 to 79 are three times more likely than men to be living in poverty. Widowed women are twice as likely to be living in poverty than their male counterparts. White and black women are almost twice as likely to be living in poverty than their male counterparts during retirement.
• Labor force participation among women aged 55 to 64 climbed from 53% in 2000, to 59% in 2015, with a peak of 61% in 2010. Women may be working longer in order to make up for lower retirement savings over their careers and to offset investment losses from the Great Recession.
• Social Security is an important source of income for older households with incomes less than $80,000. Women who are widowed, divorced, and over age 70 rely on Social Security benefits for a majority of their income. Black women rely largely on Social Security, while women of other ethnic groups also rely on wages to a large extent.
• Women in the health care, education, and public administration fields, where DB pension plans are more prevalent, have higher incomes in retirement and lower rates of poverty than in other industries, due to their increased participation in DB pension plans.

The good news: There are more financial planning tools now than ever before! The bad news: More than half of working-age households aren’t prepared for retirement, and new data shows that number is climbing.
 
Next week is America Saves Week. It’s an annual event to help more Americans learn about good savings behaviors and make a commitment to their own financial security.
 
To read more, click here.

Baton Rouge — Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) accounts for members who were eligible to participate in the program before January 1, 2004, will be credited with interest at 10.76%. Interest has been posted to eligible accounts.

The Public Retirement System's Actuarial Committee (PRSAC) adopted the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) actuarial valuation, which included DROP interest, on January 21.

TRSL will send these DROP participants a letter indicating the interest amount posted for Fiscal Year 2015. You can also view the interest posted to your account through our secure Member Access available at www.TRSL.org.

As we continue with our Going Green project, after April 2016, TRSL will no longer mail updated DROP/ILSB statements. Updated quarterly statements will be available online in April, July, October, and January.

NOTE: DROP accounts for members eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate.

Baton Rouge—TRSL has mailed all 1099-R forms for benefit and DROP members. Members in zip code prefix 707 and 708 should begin to receive their 1099s on Thursday, January 28. Members outside of those areas should begin to receive theirs on Friday, January 29. You will need your 1099-R to file your IRS tax return. For security, TRSL only prints the last four digits of your Social Security number on your 1099-R form.

View your 1099-R form online
The fastest way to view and print your 2015 Form 1099-R is to use TRSL's online Member Access. With Member Access, you can update your withholding status, change your email address, view your benefit summary, and more.

Contact TRSL at web.master@trsl.org to request a duplicate 1099-R if you have not received it by February 14.

Our 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is now available online for your review. To see the highlights of last year’s performance, take a moment to read our 2015 Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR). 

Baton Rouge—District 4 trustee David A. Hennigan won re-election to his seat on the TRSL Board of Trustees. The retirement board received District 4 run-off election results at its December meeting.

Hennigan of Shreveport received 54.78% of the vote, topping Breanke Mitchell, also of Shreveport, who received 45.22% of the vote.

Hennigan’s new four-year term begins January 1, 2016. District 4 includes actively working TRSL members employed in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster parishes.

Baton Rouge – The Board of Trustees for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) made an interim trustee appointment at its November meeting.

Tia T. Mills, Ed.D., of Baton Rouge, was appointed and sworn in to represent active members employed in District 3, which includes the parishes of Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, and Terrebonne. Mills is a teacher at Magnolia Woods Elementary School in East Baton Rouge Parish.

A special election for the District 3 seat will be held next year to fill the remainder of the position’s four-year term, which lasts through December 31, 2019.

The TRSL Board of Trustees meets monthly to develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan, monitor investment performance, and review system operations. The Board is responsible for safeguarding and managing the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for system members. 

The below blog is from the National Council on Teacher Retirement "Medicare Part B Premium Increase Update."

First, the bad news: Medicare Part B premiums for many, but not all, retired teachers and other public employees will still increase in 2016, despite recent action by the Congress that was signed into law by the President on November 2, 2015.  The standard premium for those enrollees who pay their premiums directly to Medicare, and who are therefore not covered by the so-called “hold-harmless” provision, will increase to $120.70 in 2016, PLUS an additional surcharge of $3, for a grand total of $123.70 per month.  For the vast majority of Medicare Part B enrollees whose standard Part B premium is already taken out of a Social Security check, the standard premium will NOT increase at all—remaining $104.90 per month—and they willNOT be subject to the monthly $3 surcharge, which will apply for the next five years.

Now the good news:  The 2016 standard premium increase for the approximately one in seven Medicare beneficiaries who will be affected, including millions of public employees who are not covered by Social Security, will NOT increase by 52 percent to $159.30, as originally scheduled.  Instead, the 2016 increase (including the $3 surcharge) will be an 18 percent hike.  Of course, as Michael Wald, an independent economics analyst and writer, points out in a recent post on FedSmith.com, this increase is far above the current rate of inflation and comes without any offsetting increase in Social Security.  Furthermore, for many Federal retirees who are subject to the increase, there will not be any cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) in 2016; the same is also true for many affected public employees who will also not see an increase in their retirement benefits in 2016.

Briefly, by way of background, Federal law protects the vast majority of Medicare Part B enrollees who receive a Social Security benefit from increases in their Medicare Part B premiums in years when no Social Security COLA is granted, such as will be the case in 2016.  However, seniors who have high incomes, seniors who have low enough incomes that they are also covered by Medicaid—in which case the state picks up the tab—and seniors who are not enrolled in Social Security—including many teachers—must absorb the premium increases scheduled for ALL beneficiaries.

The recent changes in law to address this originally-scheduled premium increase were included in the two-year budget deal reached between the bipartisan Congressional leadership and President Obama the week of October 21st.  The package would suspend the limit on Federal borrowing until March 16, 2017, raise Federal spending levels above the 2011 Budget Control Act, and increase funding by $80 billion through September 2017—thus avoiding a possible government shut-down later this year.

The legislation—H.R. 1314, the “Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015”—was passed early last Friday morning, October 30th (around 3:00 AM), by a 64–35 vote in the Senate, which followed House approval by a vote of 266–167, including the support of 79 Republicans, on October 28th.

In addition to keeping the premium hike to the amount that all enrollees would have paid in 2016, but for the “hold-harmless” provision, the amendments impose a $3 surcharge, as noted previously, which will be in effect for five years, designed to help offset the $7 billion loan from the Treasury Department that permits the lower 2016 premium for those who are not protected by the “hold-harmless.”

“I am pleased that our national leaders were able to find a way to quickly address this very serious matter,” said Meredith Williams, NCTR’s Executive Director.

On October 27th, NCTR and four other national organizations—the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), the National Education Association (NEA), the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—sent a letter to President Obama and the Congressional leadership urging them to do all in their power to find a solution as soon as was possible to block the dramatic increase in the Medicare Part B premium scheduled to take effect for millions of public sector retirees in 2016.  The letter stressed that these higher costs “could literally mean a choice between health and hunger” for many of the “oldest and most vulnerable public sector retirees.”

“I would have preferred to see no increase at all in their 2016 Medicare Part B premiums for our millions of retired teachers,” he continued, “but I find myself agreeing with others who point out that, all things considered, we were pretty lucky to have had anything included in this last-minute budget deal.”

Williams was referring to a comment by Richard Thissen, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), which has many members who also are not covered by existing law’s “hold-harmless” provision.  Thissen was quoted as saying that the fix in the budget deal “may not be perfect, but in a deeply polarized Congress, to have achieved a bipartisan compromise is a major victory.”

“I wouldn’t disagree,” observed Williams, who also noted that when similar, if less dramatic, increases were presented in 2010 and 2011, when Social Security COLAs were not provided, Congress failed to stop the premium hikes for those ineligible for the “hold-harmless.”

• R. 1314, “The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015”—see Section 601
• FedSmith.com: “Who Wins and Who Loses From The Proposed Legislation For Medicare Part B Premiums?”

To see the original article, click here (subscription required).

Baton Rouge—The TRSL Board of Trustees received good news at its October meeting when results of the system’s annual valuation report were presented. According to the report, TRSL’s assets and funded status are up, and employer contributions will go down.

The system’s assets rose by $1.4 billion—an 8% increase over the previous fiscal year.  Assets now stand at $17.5 billion, increasing the system’s funded status to 60.9%. The report also showed employers will pay $20 million less in contributions for employee retirements next school year.

Additionally, the unfunded accrued liability (UAL), which is debt owed by the state to TRSL, decreased by $785 million.

“This report shows that the work done over the past 25 years to protect the soundness of the retirement system is paying off,” said TRSL Director Maureen H. Westgard. “It also confirms the findings of a recent report by the legislative actuary which concluded that TRSL pensions are sustainable.”

TRSL’s actuarial rate of return for FY 2015 is 11.26 %, exceeding its assumed rate of 7.75%. Over the long-term, TRSL’s 30-year average actuarial rate of return is 8.6%.

View the valuation report here.

Baton Rouge—The TRSL Board of Trustees received election results for the District 4 position at its October meeting. No candidate received a majority of votes, making a run-off necessary between the top two candidates with the most votes.

David A. Hennigan and Breanke P. Mitchell, both of Shreveport, will be in the run-off. The official results for the primary election are as follows:

David A. Hennigan -  40.97%
Breanke P. Mitchell - 22.05%
Cynthia Y. Henderson - 16.93%
Dr. Fredrick L. Pinkney - 12.80%
Samuel R. Ziegler, Jr. - 7.25%

Important dates: Ballots for the run-off election will be mailed October 19, and the deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., November 20. Run-off election results will be announced at the TRSL Board meeting in December.

The person receiving the largest number of votes will represent District 4 on the TRSL Board for a four-year term effective January 1, 2016.

Baton Rouge—The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) delivers high-quality, low-cost services to its membership, according to an independent benchmarking firm that reviews cost and performance of public pension systems.

Analysis conducted by the Toronto-based CEM Benchmarking, Inc. compares TRSL against similarly sized pension systems in service levels, plan complexity, transaction vol­umes, cost environment, and economies of scale. TRSL is compared with 74 other retirement systems, includ­ing a peer group of 12 pension systems.

The latest results, for Fiscal Year 2014, show the retirement system’s administrative cost was $88 per member compared to the peer average of $108. Even with modest operating costs and more complex tasks, TRSL outscored peers in customer service largely because of its ability to assist members with their retirements and other needs in a shorter amount of time.  

“TRSL has been using this benchmarking analysis as a management tool for the past 13 years,” said TRSL Director Maureen H. Westgard. “We have consistently measured well against our peers and continue to look for opportunities to enhance our service areas that balance both their cost and benefit.”

District 3: Qualifying for special appointment underway (see requirements)

Status Updates Following U.S. Supreme Court Decision

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, finding that same-sex couples have the legal right to marry in all U.S. jurisdictions and that states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.  In compliance with Obergefell, the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) will recognize same-sex marriages in the implementation of laws governing the pension plan.  For active members and retirees who have named their same-sex spouse as a beneficiary and would like to update their status to “Spouse,” the steps below should be followed.

Active Members

• Complete a new Beneficiary Designation for Non-Retired Members (Form 3), restating your named same-sex spouse beneficiary and identifying him or her as “Spouse” in the Relation column.
• A copy of your marriage license is not necessary; TRSL will request a copy of it in instances when it is necessary. However, if you would like to provide TRSL with a copy of your marriage license, we will place it in your record.

Retired Members

• Submit a letter signed by you to TRSL which:
   1. Restates your named beneficiary;
   2. Requests that his or her status be updated to “Spouse;" and
   3. Encloses a copy of your marriage license OR if you have previously provided TRSL with your marriage license, state that  your marriage license is on file.

Members and retirees may contact TRSL at web.master@trsl.org or 1-877-ASK-TRSL (1-877-275-8775) with any questions.  

A new report details the unique challenges many women face in accessing a secure retirement. Read the report here. 

At TRSL, our members have a defined benefit retirement plan that provides a reliable source of income during retirement. Find out more about your TRSL retirement by visiting these web pages:

• What Are My Benefits?
• When Can I Retire?
• How Do I Retire?
• What About My Leave?

Did you know…

• A TRSL benefit is more affordable for employers than Social Security (4.2% rate versus 6.2% rate next year).
• At 8% of salary, teachers pay for the lion’s share of their benefits.
• The unfunded accrued liability (UAL) is mostly past debt the state owes TRSL.
• TRSL provides a modest, yet reliable source of income to more than 73,000 retirees and beneficiaries, giving them buying power in their local communities.
• Most TRSL members cannot participate in Social Security. A TRSL benefit is often their sole source of retirement income.
• TRSL pensions support approximately 18,674 Louisiana jobs and nearly $783 million in income.

For more information about the unfunded accrued liability, click here.

To read about the economic impact of TRSL benefits, click here.

Fact: People often confuse the actual cost of providing a teacher’s retirement benefit with the state’s obligation to pay down debt accrued through years of underfunding the retirement system. These are two different costs.

Fact: Teachers and employers both make contributions to fund the actual cost of a retirement benefit. This is called the normal cost.

Fact: The normal cost for this school year is 13%. Of that, teachers pay 8%, and employers pay 5%. Next school year, the normal cost will decrease to 12.2% with the employer rate dropping to 4.2% and teachers continuing to pay 8%. It’s important to note that normal cost for employers is more affordable than the 6.2% employer rate for Social Security paid in the private sector.

Fact: For years, the state underfunded the retirement system, resulting in an unfunded accrued liability (UAL). As of June 30, 2014, the UAL associated with teacher retirements totaled $11.9 billion.

Fact: In addition to employers’ normal cost contribution, they also make payments on the UAL. In 1989, lawmakers chose to attach the state’s UAL payments to employer contributions. Therefore, going forward, employer contributions would have two components, the normal cost portion and the UAL payment portion.

Fact: Louisiana has taken responsible steps to pay off the UAL and protect the sustainability of the retirement system, including passing a constitutional amendment in 1989 to make annual contributions to actuarially fund the system. Louisiana has made the required contributions since that time.

Fact: In recent years, other cost-controlling legislation has been passed that directs more of the system’s investment earnings toward reducing the UAL; requires retirement provisions with a cost to have funding source that will cover the cost within 10 years; created a new tier of retirement benefits for new hires that increases the retirement eligibility age and the final average compensation (FAC) period; and requires 2/3 legislative approval for retirement provisions with a cost.

Fact: The UAL is not hidden. TRSL’s annual report provides a full accounting of the financial position of the retirement system each fiscal year. Furthermore, TRSL complies with standards set forth by the Government Finance Officers Association, the Actuarial Standards Board, and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

This letter was originally published in The Advocate.

Inflation erodes the value of a dollar, often making it hard for families to make ends meet. Working Americans count on cost-of-living adjustments in retirement to help them protect their purchasing power.

While it would be nice to grant a COLA every year, that doesn’t happen in Louisiana. The state has rigorous requirements in place that must be met before any COLA can be granted to eligible retirees in the four public state retirement systems.

First and foremost, the systems must have enough money to pay for the COLAs.

Also, by law, payment on state debt owed to the retirement systems for teachers and state employees must be made before any money can be placed into experience accounts created to hold funds for COLA payments.

It has been at least six years since most of these retirees have seen any increase in their benefits.

Piling on additional and excessive requirements to provide periodic economic relief to retirees runs the very real risk of plunging many into poverty.

Last fiscal year, all four pension systems made enough on their investments to fund a COLA.

There are several bills in this legislative session that would provide a very modest 1.5 percent COLA to the benefits of certain eligible public retirees. The average annual benefit for regular retirees at Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana is little more than $24,500; for rank-and-file retired state workers in Louisiana State Employees Retirement System, it’s less than $24,000.

Each pension board recognizes the importance of maintaining a fiscally sound retirement system, and we have worked with legislators to implement legislation that has created significant cost savings over the past two decades. We pledge to continue this important work without sacrificing a dignified retirement for our public servants.

Maureen H. Westgard
Director, Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana

Charles Bujol
Director, Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System

Cindy Rougeou
Executive Director, Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System

Irwin L. Felps Jr.
Executive Director, Louisiana State Police Retirement System
 

The following letter to the editor from state Rep. Kevin Pearson (LA-Slidell) appeared on The Times-Picayune website, www.nola.com, on February 10, 2015. Rep. Pearson chairs the House retirement committee in the Louisiana Legislature.

Most people value and respect our teachers, police officers and firefighters to such a degree that they believe these individuals deserve fair compensation for their sacrifices. Additionally, most people are fair-minded and likely agree that any debt owed is one that should be repaid. The citizens of Louisiana deserve to know that the state is working to build and uphold a standard when it comes to fairness and compensation for its employees. This is the Louisiana that all citizens deserve.

Louisiana's teacher retirement plan requires a contribution of 8 percent of salary from employees and a contribution by employers that is determined annually. The employer contribution for K-12 teachers this school year is 5.2 percent for the actual retirement benefit. Next year, it will be 4.3 percent. All other employer payments go toward paying off debt owed to the teacher pension system for years of underfunding. Despite the assertion by columnist James Varney in a recent opinion piece that public employees are unwilling to pay their fair share of their own retirement costs, simple math shows that teachers are paying for more than half the cost of their actual future benefit.

Additionally, unlike in the private sector, Louisiana's public school teachers are prohibited from participating in Social Security. So a modest pension from the state (on average $2,102 per month) is often a retired teacher's only source of income after years of public service.

The Legislature is acutely aware of the costs associated with its retirement systems. For the state employee and teacher retirement systems, the bulk of the employer contribution rate is to liquidate debt accrued over decades of state underfunding. Our public pension systems are not on "cruise control" as Mr. Varney alleges. The state has taken significant measures in recent years to pay out this accrued debt and to control costs going forward. 

These measures include: requiring retirement provisions with a cost to have a funding source that will cover the cost within 10 years; creating a new tier of retirement benefits for new hires that increases the retirement eligibility age and the final average compensation period; requiring 2/3 legislative approval for retirement provisions with a cost; and passing legislation, in cooperation with the retirement systems and School Board representatives, to pay past debt more quickly.

Mr. Varney appears resistant to providing teachers, police and firefighters with a reasonable source of retirement income from their pension plan. On these matters, I do not share his views and pledge to continue working with my colleagues in the Legislature to ensure a reasonable and sustainable benefit structure for public employees well into the future.

State Rep. Kevin Pearson
Chairman, House Committee on Retirement
Slidell

The following response to the NCTQ study comes from the National Council on Teacher Retirement

A new “report card” from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) claims that “70 cents on every dollar contributed to state teacher pension systems pays for debt, not retirement benefits,” and gives States an average overall grade of C- for their teacher pension policies.  The report, entitled Doing the Math on Teacher Pensions: How to Protect Teachers and Taxpayers, was released on January 27, 2015, and  a press release accompanying it says the report “challenges the claims of pension boards and other groups about the cost-effectiveness, fairness and flexibility of the traditional defined benefit pension plans still in place in 38 states.”
 
According to NCTQ, States are “making it harder for teachers to receive benefits” by increasing vesting periods, and, as a result, are “cheating” teachers out of the “opportunity to build a retirement nest egg.”  NCTQ, which receives more than $800,000 in grants from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, also repeats the recent claims of other Arnold-funded “studies” that “[f]ewer than half of teachers will qualify for retirement benefits.”
 
“I am not sure how many more times this bogus claim needs to be refuted before these so-called ‘experts’ stop spreading it,” said Meredith Williams, the Executive Director of the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR).  “The facts are that in most cases, the majority of current teachers participating in public DB plans are expected to vest and a large majority of those who vest are expected to retire from the plan.”  Williams was referring to conclusions that the actuarial firm of Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company (GRS) reached in their analysis of a 2014 Arnold-funded study entitled Friends without Benefits which made claims similar to those of NCTQ regarding teacher pension benefits.
 
Furthermore, Williams pointed out that there are “many ways in which a retired teacher can receive a benefit from their pension plan without having an uninterrupted career or reaching normal retirement age, which seems to be the only standard that NCTQ claims to exist.”  As he has noted before, these include such things as receiving a disability benefit; qualifying for a vested deferred benefit; returning to employment with the same employer, thus enabling the returning teacher to re-start accrual of retirement service credit; and benefitting from reciprocity agreements between plans, usually within the same state, for those who terminate and are later employed by a different employer.
 
Williams said that he is also concerned with the NCTQ claim that “Across states, an average of 70 cents of every dollar contributed to state teacher pension systems is paying off ever-increasing pension debt” (emphasis added).  While a closer reading of the NCTQ report indicates that their claim apparently concerns contributions made only by employers, the characterization in their press release suggests that this analysis applies to all contributions, including those of employees.  Based on an analysis by Paul Zorn with GRS, such a broader statement “significantly overstates the portion of the total contributions that are used to amortize the plans’ unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities.”
 
As Mr. Zorn notes, the vast majority of teacher retirement systems require member contributions, and if these are included as payments toward the normal cost, as NCTQ appears to acknowledge they are in a footnote, “then it is very likely that the portion of total contributions going to pay down the UAAL is much smaller than 70 cents on the dollar.”
 
Williams also pointed out that the NCTQ claim was apparently based on 2014 data only.  “Such a broad generalization, made on such a narrow snap-shot in time, is irresponsible in my opinion,” William said.  He noted that in the late 1990’s, when the large majority of public pension plans were very close to being fully funded, the percentage of employer contributions devoted to paying down the UAAL would have been much less than the 70 percent NCTQ claims.  He suggested that, as plans’ funding continues to improve, NCTQ’s assertions about an “ever-increasing pension debt” will likely prove false.
 
Finally, Williams challenged the NCTQ claim that public sector DB plans were somehow “cheating” teachers out of their future retirement security.  “I have seen absolutely no data from NCTQ that support the idea that younger employees who devote only a few years to teaching would roll-over any vested monies into another tax-preferred retirement plan when they leave teaching,” Williams said.  In fact, he suggested that research would show just the opposite:  that many if not most of these former teachers cash out their retirement savings.  Indeed, younger workers ages 20 to 39 have the highest cash-out rates from 401(k) plans, with about 40 percent taking money with them when they switch jobs, according to data from Fidelity, the largest administrator of such savings plans.
 
“Indeed, this leakage problem is the unspoken danger in so many portability discussions,” warned Williams.  “Instead of rolling over their money into another retirement savings arrangement, an alarming number of young people―including young teachers, I fear―feel that cashing out makes more sense for them in today’s economy,” he continued.
 
“The fact of the matter is that the DB model provides something much more important, namely benefit portability,” Williams stressed.  Once vested―and about 60% of teacher plans have vesting periods of 5 years or less―contributions can remain in the plan and a retirement benefit, typically one that cannot be outlived, will be available to the employee at retirement no matter how many job changes they may have made after leaving the plan sponsor’s employment, Williams underscored.
 
“All too often, portability that does not result in roll-overs, but instead translates into being able to ‘cash out’ offers nothing more than a false promise of retirement security,” Williams warned.  “I therefore continue to be deeply troubled by these misleading reports that NCTQ and other Arnold Foundation surrogates are producing,” Williams observed.  “As I have said before, they are a clear effort to divide teachers, pitting newer teachers against their older colleagues,” he continued.  “Once again, all teachers work hard to prepare our children for the challenges they will confront in this new economy, and they all deserve the very best from us,” Williams stressed.
 
“Notwithstanding NCTQ’s so-called ‘report card,’ I think NCTR member systems represent a prudent, adequate, affordable, and sustainable long-term commitment to invest in every teacher’s retirement security, during his or her career and beyond,” he continued.
 
“I give NCTQ’s report a grade of F,” Williams concluded.

The following letter to the editor appeared in The Advocate (Baton Rouge) on January 29, 2015.

As a member of the Board of Trustees for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) for the past 24 years, I often get asked questions about the board’s investment goals and strategies. Our primary goal is to ensure the system’s portfolio has the right mix of investments to fund retirements in the long term.
 
A recent question about our portfolio concerned investments with Texas Pacific Group (TPG), one of the largest and most successful private equity firms in the U.S. I am pleased to report that since our initial investment with TPG seven years ago, the retirement system has earned $60 million. Like TRSL, many of the country’s largest pension systems are also TPG investors that recognize the value this firm brings to their portfolios.
 
Investment decisions at TRSL, including the decision to partner with TPG, are preceded by extensive research conducted by our credentialed investment staff and professional external advisors. This routine and long-standing practice of proper due diligence has served TRSL well considering our alternative assets and real estate portfolio has earned $2.2 billion over the past 10 years.
 
I am very proud of the work the TRSL Board and its advisors have done to grow the value of the system’s assets from $3.9 billion when I first became a trustee to $16.7 billion today. And, I am confident that we will continue to be able to do the important work of providing a secure retirement for Louisiana’s teachers in the future.
 
Sincerely,
Sheryl R. Abshire, Ph.D.
Board Vice Chair & Investment Committee Chair
Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL)

A “study” by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) actually does a disservice to the very teachers it claims will benefit from changes to retirement options currently available.

TRSL provided NCTQ with a response to the report on Louisiana’s retirement system for teachers. Here is a condensed version of our response.

TRSL is flexible and portable. It is TRSL’s position that the traditional defined benefit (DB) plan should remain as the retirement plan option available to Louisiana’s K-12 teachers. The DB plan offers a comprehensive retirement program that provides for normal retirement, disability retirement, survivor benefits, potential for retiree permanent benefit increases, and portability through service credit purchase options and reciprocity.

• Members can purchase service credit that provides mobility among public and private teaching positions and other public sector employment.
• TRSL recognizes reciprocal service credit from any other Louisiana state, municipal, or parochial retirement system, and each of those systems recognizes TRSL service credit.
• TRSL members can also purchase service credit canceled as a result of withdrawal of contributions, teaching service while on leave of absence without pay, teaching service in any nonpublic college or university or school in Louisiana, teaching service in any United States dependent school, substitute teaching service, and military service.

Louisiana has taken important steps to contain retirement costs and ensure sustainability. Since the late 1980s, Louisiana has taken steps to address the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) and increase the system’s funded status. The UAL exists because prior to 1987, the state was not making payments required to fully fund the retirement system. Since that time, necessary payments have been made. Additional measures have also been taken to contain costs, including:

• Implementing anti-spiking provisions to prevent enhancement of benefits at end of career
• Requiring retirement provisions that have a cost to identify a funding source that will cover the cost within 10 years
• Re-amortizing the UAL to provide for more level debt payments
• Applying excess TRSL investment earnings and a percentage of non-recurring general fund revenue to retirement system debt
• Creating a new tier of retirement benefits that increases the retirement eligibility age and the final average compensation (FAC) period for new hires
• Requiring 2/3 legislative approval for retirement provisions with a cost

Studies show that traditional defined benefit plans have a proven track record of attracting and retaining teachers and are more efficient in providing a target level of retirement income than defined contribution plans. A guaranteed lifetime income provides retirees with financial security, which has become increasingly important as financial markets have struggled for stability in recent years. TRSL believes Louisiana’s teachers, who cannot participate in Social Security, should not have to rely solely on defined contribution plans to provide their retirement.

More information about NCTQ can be found here.

Every year there is a restatement of the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) based upon a number of factors. Some factors such as strong investment earnings and employer contributions reduce the UAL while others add to it. Events in FY 2014 that resulted in a change in the UAL from the previous year include the following:

• Cost method changed to entry age normal. TRSL is actuarially funded, which means many factors (past, present, and projected) are taken into account to determine the costs associated with providing a TRSL benefit. There are many acceptable methods by which to project costs. In 2014, the Legislature passed Act 571 which changed TRSL’s cost method to entry age normal. As a result the costs for providing a benefit (normal cost) will be more level allowing for increased budget stability. Changing the cost method resulted in an increase in the calculated UAL of $881.1 million.

• Lowered discount rate to 7.75%. In 2014, the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC) approved lowering TRSL’s discount rate (assumed rate) from 8.0% to 7.75%. In doing this, TRSL now has a lower target rate of return to meet in order to actuarially fund the system. Future investment gains relative to the assumed rate will be greater, and future investment losses will be smaller. Lowering the discount rate added $570.9 million to the UAL.

• Experience account deposit. By law, a portion of TRSL’s excess investment returns above its target rate of return are deposited into the experience account to pay for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), now called permanent benefit increases (PBIs). TRSL investments performed extremely well last fiscal year, enabling the retirement system to pay PBIs. Furthermore, the investment gains were such that another $170.3 million was added to the experience account.

• Interest on UAL. The UAL is debt owed to TRSL by the state, and the debt has interest. For FY 2014, interest was $907.8 million. With Act 497 of 2009, the Legislature re-amortized the UAL, creating more level payments that include principal and interest.

It’s important to note that the costs associated with the entry age normal and the 7.75% discount rate were partially offset by nearly $700 million in investment gains from FY 2014. Also, TRSL’s investment gains and losses are smoothed over a five-year period, so only one-fifth of the gains realized in FY 2014 were applied to the UAL. TRSL has $1.5 billion in reserve for application in the next four years. 

In summary, had PRSAC and the Legislature not taken the approach of changing to a more conservative actuarial cost method and a more conservative discount rate, the UAL would have gone down by more than $800 million. But with these changes, the retirement system and its stakeholders will enjoy greater financial stability in the long term.

Baton Rouge – TRSL mailed all 1099-R forms today, and members should begin receiving them in the mail as soon as tomorrow. You will need your 1099-R to file your IRS tax return. For security, TRSL only prints the last four digits of your Social Security number on your 1099-R form.
 
View your 1099-R form online
You can view and print your 2014 Form 1099-R online with TRSL’s Member Access, and update your withholding status, if you choose.
 
Contact TRSL at web.master@trsl.org to request a duplicate 1099-R if you have not received it by February 14.

Starting Monday, January 26, the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) will begin operating out of the Claiborne Building in downtown Baton Rouge.

OGB’s new physical address is 1201 N. 3rd Street, Suite G-159, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 (map). However, the mailing address will remain the same—P.O. Box 66678, Baton Rouge, LA 70896.

For answers to your questions about health and life insurance coverage, including benefits, premiums, and deductions, please contact OGB or your former employer’s personnel office.

OGB Customer Service:
Phone: (225) 925-6625
Toll free: (800) 272-8451

TRSL recently received the 2014 Public Pension Standards Award for plan funding and administration excellence, marking the 12th consecutive year the retirement system has been chosen for this distinction.   
 
The Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC), a coalition of three national associations representing more than 500 of the largest pension plans in the U.S., presents the award for high professional standards in key areas of plan design and administration, financial reporting, investments, and membership communications.

Baton Rouge – At its December meeting, the Board of Trustees for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) announced results of the run-off election for the trustee representing active members employed in District 1.
 
Kimberly Flair of Metairie received 57.79% of the vote while Mark W. Gamble, CPA of Gonzales received 42.21%.
 
Flair is employed at the Jefferson Parish Public School System, and begins her four-year term on the TRSL Board in January 2015. District 1 includes the parishes of Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John.
         
Board leadership
Also at the December meeting, Robert Lawyer of New Orleans was re-elected to lead the TRSL Board of Trustees for the next two years as board chairman.
 
Lawyer is a professor at Delgado Community College, and represents active TRSL members employed in higher education. He has been a trustee since 2011.
 
Sheryl R. Abshire, Ph.D. of Lake Charles was elected to serve a two-year term as vice chairman of the board. She has been a member of the TRSL Board since 1991, representing active members employed in District 7 which includes the parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Vermilion. Abshire is the chief technology officer at the Calcasieu Parish School Board.
 
The TRSL Board meets monthly to monitor investment performance and review investment manager portfolios and System operations. The board safeguards and manages the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for System members.

Baton Rouge – The actuarial value of assets held by the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) jumped from $14.7 billion to $16.1 billion for fiscal year ended June 30, 2014—a $1.4 billion increase—as reported in TRSL’s latest valuation report. This marks the second year in a row that System assets grew by more than $1 billion.

TRSL actuary, Shelley Johnson, of Foster & Foster Actuaries and Consultants presented the annual valuation report to the TRSL Board at its October meeting. 

Johnson also reported that the retirement system’s funding status increased to 57.4% from 56.4% compared to the previous fiscal year, which means that TRSL has more money on hand to pay the cost of present and future benefits.

In more good news, the projected total employer contribution rate for FY 2015-16, decreased by 1.7% of payroll for K-12 employers. The total employer contribution rate includes a shared payment to the unfunded accrued liability (UAL). The valuation report did show an increase in the UAL.

“The increase is due to a restatement of pension liabilities based upon changes the board adopted this year,” said TRSL Director Maureen H. Westgard. “The board moved to a new valuation method for calculating assets and liabilities, and it lowered the discount rate to 7.75% from 8.0%. Both changes were approved by either the Legislature or the Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee as a means to contain future costs and ensure plan sustainability.”

In plan demographics, the number of actively employed TRSL members remained steady at 82,866, while the number of retirees grew by about 2,000 to 73,195.

Baton Rouge – The Board of Trustees for the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) announced results for two races in the 2014 board elections at its October meeting. Robert Lawyer of New Orleans was re-elected to repre­sent active TRSL members employed at a state college or university. A run-off election will be held for District 1 as no candidate received a majority of the vote in that race.

Higher Education: Lawyer received 82.11% of the vote against Eddie Hughes III of Baton Rouge, who finished with 17.89%.­ Lawyer’s new four-year term as the Colleges and University representative on the TRSL Board begins January 1, 2015. He has served on the TRSL Board since 2011 and is currently chair of the TRSL Board

District 1: Kimberly Flair (Metairie) and Mark W. Gamble, CPA (Gonzales) were the two candidates receiving the most votes. They will be in a run-off for the District 1 seat.

Flair pulled the most votes with 37.65%, while Gamble received 25.62%. Garri L. Brown (New Orleans) received 20.83%, and Trevor Smith (Belle Chasse) received 15.9%.

Run-off ballots will be mailed to eligible voters employed in District 1 on October 20. Voting ends November 21. District 1 includes active members employed in Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James and St. John the Baptist Parishes.
           
The TRSL Board meets monthly to monitor investment performance, review
System operations, and develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan. The board safeguards and manages the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for System members.

Baton Rouge - James A. Taylor, Sr., J.D., Ph.D., of Baton Rouge, has been elected to serve on the TRSL Board of Trustees as a retiree representative. Results from the 2014 retiree run-off election were announced at the board’s September meeting.

Taylor received 51.77% of the vote against Darlene L. LeBlanc, also of Baton Rouge, who finished with 48.23%.

Taylor has 30 years of service with St. Charles Parish Public Schools. During that time, he worked as a teacher, principal, and central office administrator. He also has many years of service in higher education.

Taylor’s four-year term on the TRSL Board begins January 1, 2015. He is replacing William C. “Bill” Baker, Ed.D., who has served on the TRSL Board for the last 22 years.

The TRSL Board meets monthly to monitor investment performance, review System operations, and develop policies for the administration of the retirement plan. The board safeguards and manages the assets TRSL holds in trust to provide retirement income for System members.

Baton Rouge – The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) ended Fiscal Year 2013-14 with an 18.4% market rate of return (net of fees), bringing its assets to an all-time high of $16.9 billion.

“We are extremely pleased with the performance of the system’s investments,” said TRSL Director Maureen H. Westgard. “Thanks to the portfolio’s strong market return, TRSL assets are up $2.2 billion over last year.”

TRSL ranks in the top 12th percentile of public pension funds with assets exceeding $1 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS)—the most widely accepted comparison service for public pension fund investment performance.

“Our equities really delivered in both the private and U.S. public space,” said Philip Griffith, TRSL chief investment officer. “Our asset allocation continues to provide diversification and strong returns.”

Baton Rouge – A run-off election for a retiree representative on the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) Board of Trustees will be necessary as no candidate received more than 50% of the vote.

James A. Taylor, Sr., J.D., Ph.D. and Darlene L. LeBlanc, both of Baton Rouge, were the two candidates who received the most votes in the primary election, and will be on the run-off election ballot. Taylor received 22.19% and LeBlanc received 18.22%.

The primary election results are as follows:
 

James A. Taylor, Sr., J.D., Ph.D. (Baton Rouge)	22.19%
Darlene L. LeBlanc (Baton Rouge)	18.22%
Joe A. Potts, Jr. (Metairie)	16.87%
Dr. John Dr. Foster (Folsom)	15.45%
William Britt (Castor)	9.28%
Dr. Michael R. Peterson (Pearl River)	5.15%
Paul W. Wilson, Ph.D. (Gonzales)	3.74%
Frank Vine (Zachary)	3.30%
Irvin R. West, Jr. (Hammond)	3.09%
Dr. Wendell C. Wellman, Ed. D. (Natchitoches)	2.71%

Retirees should expect to receive run-off election information and ballots in the mail at the end of this month. The voting deadline is 4:30 p.m., Thursday, August 28.

Baton Rouge – The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) recently received three prestigious honors for its financial reporting and system management.

For the 23rd consecutive year, TRSL was honored for its 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, and the system’s 2013 Popular Annual Financial Report received recognition for the 12th consecutive year. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) presented TRSL with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, for both its comprehensive annual report and its less technical, summary report. The GFOA recognizes state and local governments that go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure.

Additionally, TRSL was awarded the Public Pension Standards Award for Funding and Administration by the Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC), a coalition of three national associations that represent more than 500 of the largest pension plans in the U.S. Public pension standards are used to measure public defined benefit plans in the areas of management, administration, and funding. This was the 11th year TRSL received the PPCC standards award.

Baton Rouge – At its May meeting, the TRSL Board received the list of candidates qualifying for the five trustee positions up for election this year. Two TRSL board members were re-elected without opposition.

Sheryl R. Abshire, Ph.D. (District 7) and Alonzo R. “Lonnie” Luce, Ph.D. (Superintendents) were the sole qualifying candidates in their respective districts. Both will serve four-year terms beginning January 1, 2015.

Dr. Abshire is the Chief Technology Officer for Calcasieu Parish School Board. As a TRSL board member, she represents active TRSL members employed in District 7, which includes Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Vermilion parishes. Dr. Abshire has served on the TRSL Board since 1991.

Dr. Luce is superintendent of the St. James Parish School Board. He has been a TRSL board member since 2012, representing active TRSL members employed as city or parish school superintendents.

Upcoming elections:

Retirees – Retired TRSL members will receive ballots and candidate information next week to vote for one of the two retiree representatives on the TRSL Board. The deadline to vote is 4:30 p.m., June 27.

Active Members – Two other active member elections are scheduled to be held this year—District 1 and Colleges & Universities. Eligible voters in those districts will receive ballots in August.

District 1 includes active TRSL members employed in Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John parishes. TRSL members employed at a Louisiana college or university are eligible to vote in the Colleges & Universities election.

The TRSL Board meets monthly to monitor investment performance, and review investment manager portfolios and System operations. The Board safeguards and manages the $16.4 billion in assets held in trust to provide retirement income for members and beneficiaries.

Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) accounts for members who were eligible to participate in the program before January 1, 2004, will be credited with interest at 12.91%. Interest will be paid by the end of April.

The Public Retirement Systems’ Actuarial Committee (PRSAC) adopted the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) actuarial valuation, which included DROP interest, on March 18.

TRSL will send these DROP participants a letter indicating the interest amount posted for Fiscal Year 2013.

NOTE: DROP accounts for members eligible to participate on or after January 1, 2004, earn interest at the liquid asset money market rate. 

Baton Rouge – The Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) recently received notice that its investment performance ranked in the top 12th percentile of public pension funds with assets exceeding $1.0 billion for the 10-year period ending March 31, 2014.

The ranking is done by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS)—the most widely accepted comparison service for public pension fund investment performance.

“This ranking shows that over a sustained period of time, TRSL performs better than most large institutional investors in the U.S.,” said Philip Griffith, the system’s chief investment officer.

Griffith also reported that TRSL added more than $3 billion to the system’s trust over the last two fiscal years, bringing its total assets to $16.4 billion. TRSL’s investment return is 14.3% (net of fees) as of April 30, 2014.