SENATE BILL No. 722

 

 

December 12, 2013, Introduced by Senator MEEKHOF and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1980 PA 300, entitled

 

"The public school employees retirement act of 1979,"

 

by amending section 131a (MCL 38.1431a), as added by 2012 PA 300.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 131a. Tier 2 accounts are subject to the following terms

 

and conditions:

 

     (a) On or before January 1, 2013, the retirement system shall

 

design an automatic enrollment feature that provides that unless a

 

qualified participant who makes contributions under this act elects

 

to contribute a lesser amount, the qualified participant shall

 

contribute the amount required to qualify for all eligible matching

 

contributions under this act. The retirement system shall implement

 

this automatic enrollment feature on or after January 1, 2013, as

 

determined by the retirement system.

 


     (b) Employer matching contributions do not have to be made to

 

the same plan or account to which the elective employee

 

contributions were contributed as the basis for the matching

 

contributions.

 

     (c) Elective employee contributions shall not be used as the

 

basis for more than an equivalent amount of employer matching

 

contributions or, in the case of matching contributions under

 

section 131(2) and (6), 50% of the employer matching contributions.

 

     (d) The retirement system shall design and implement a method

 

to determine the proper allocation of employer matching

 

contributions based on elective employee contributions as provided

 

in this section.

 

     (e) Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary,

 

a reporting unit may designate its own Tier 2 contracts or account

 

plans by an alternate provider to offer to its employees who are

 

qualified participants of Tier 2. A reporting unit shall

 

substantially comply with this act in designating Tier 2 contracts

 

or account plans under this subdivision and shall comply with

 

applicable state rules and federal regulations with regard to

 

retirement plans. A reporting unit shall not offer a defined

 

benefit option, in whole or in part, under this subdivision. A

 

reporting unit shall offer the same benefits and vesting provisions

 

as described in section 133 in designating Tier 2 contracts or

 

account plans under this subdivision. The department shall not

 

collect employer or employee contributions related to Tier 2 from a

 

reporting unit that designates a Tier 2 contract or account plan

 

under this subdivision unless authorized to do so by the reporting

 


unit. If a reporting unit designates an alternate provider under

 

this subdivision, this state and the reporting unit do not have a

 

duty to monitor the alternate provider's performance. This state

 

and the reporting unit are not liable to employees for damages

 

relating to the performance of the alternate provider.

 

     (f) On or before July 1, 2014, the department shall implement

 

a system to facilitate the administration of Tier 2 contracts or

 

account plans designated by a reporting unit under subdivision (e).

 

All of the following apply to the administration of Tier 2

 

contracts or account plans:

 

     (i) The department may employ or contract with personnel for

 

services that the department determines necessary for the proper

 

administration of Tier 2 contracts or account plans.

 

     (ii) The department shall select a third party administrator to

 

administer Tier 2 contracts or account plans. The third party

 

administrator shall not be affiliated with an entity that provides

 

investment services to the retirement system or any reporting unit.

 

The third party administrator shall provide services to maintain

 

account values, issue statements of accounts, and facilitate

 

compliance administrators selected by reporting units to comply

 

with the internal revenue code.

 

     (iii) All materials relating to an annuity plan described in

 

section 403(a) of the internal revenue code, 26 USC 403, including,

 

but not limited to, summaries of the plan and plan marketing, that

 

are provided by the retirement system to a reporting unit, or by a

 

reporting unit to its employees eligible to participate in the

 

plan, shall not favor a specific annuity or investment provider or

 


product, including, but not limited to, an investment provider or

 

product that the retirement system offers to qualified

 

participants.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect

 

unless Senate Bill No. 727                                      

 

          of the 97th Legislature is enacted into law.