2009 Louisiana Laws TITLE 11 Consolidated public retirement :: RS 11:1145.1 Employee experience account

§1145.1.  Employee Experience Account

A.(1)  The Employee Experience Account shall be credited as follows:

(a)  To the extent permitted by Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, an amount not to exceed fifty percent of the prior year's net investment experience gain as determined by the system's actuary.

(b)  To the extent permitted by Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, an amount  not to exceed that portion of the system's net investment income attributable to the balance in the Employee Experience Account during the prior year.

(2)  In no event shall the amount in the Employee Experience Account exceed the reserve necessary to grant two cost-of-living adjustments.

B.  The Employee Experience Account shall be debited as follows:

(1)  An amount equal to that portion of the system's net investment loss attributable to the balance in the Employee Experience Account during the prior year.

(2)  An amount sufficient to fund a cost-of-living adjustment granted pursuant to Subsection C of this Section.

(3)  In no event shall the amount in the Employee Experience Account fall below zero.

C.(1)  In accordance with the provisions of this Section, the board of trustees may recommend to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives that the system be permitted to grant a cost-of-living adjustment to retirees and beneficiaries whenever the balance in the Employee Experience Account is sufficient to fully fund such benefit on an actuarial basis, as determined by the system's actuary.  If the legislative actuary disagrees with the determination of the system's actuary, a cost-of-living adjustment shall not be granted.  The board of trustees shall not grant a cost-of-living adjustment as provided in this Subsection unless such cost-of-living  adjustment has been approved by the legislature by concurrent resolution adopted by the favorable vote of a majority of the elected members of each house.  Any such cost-of-living adjustment shall be limited to and shall only be payable based on an amount not to exceed eighty-five thousand dollars of the retiree's annual benefit; however, effective for years after July 1, 2007, the eighty-five thousand dollar limit shall be increased each year in an amount equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index (United States city average for all urban consumers (CPI-U)), as prepared by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the preceding calendar year, if any.  Any cost-of-living adjustment granted pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection shall begin on July first following legislative approval, shall be payable annually, and shall equal an amount not to exceed the lesser of:

(a)  Three percent.

(b)  An amount as determined in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection.

(2)  If the increase in the Consumer Price Index (United States city average for all urban consumers (CPI-U)), as prepared by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the calendar year immediately preceding the cost-of-living adjustment is less than three percent, then the cost-of-living adjustment shall be a sum equal to the CPI-U increase for that prior calendar year, if any.

(3)  The percentage of each recipient's cost-of-living adjustment shall be based on the benefit being paid to the recipient on the effective date of the increase.

(4)(a)  Except as provided in Subparagraph (c) of this Paragraph, in order to be eligible for the cost-of-living adjustment, there shall be the funds available in the Employee Experience Account to pay for such an adjustment, and a retiree:

(i)  Shall have received a benefit for at least one year; and

(ii)  Shall have attained at least age sixty.

(b)  Except as provided in Subparagraph (c) of this Paragraph, a non-retiree beneficiary shall be eligible for the cost-of-living adjustment:

(i)  If benefits had been paid to the retiree, or the beneficiary, or both combined, for at least one year; and

(ii)  In no event before the retiree would have attained age sixty.

(c)  The provisions of Items (a)(ii) and (b)(ii) of this Paragraph shall not apply to any person who receives disability benefits from this system or who receives benefits based on the death of a disability retiree of this system.

D.  The cost-of-living increase which is authorized by Subsection C of this Section shall be limited to the lesser of either two percent or an amount determined as provided in Paragraph (C)(2) of this Section in or for any year in which the system does not earn the required actuarial rate of return as certified by the system's actuary.

E.  Effective July 1, 2007, the balance in the Employee Experience Account shall be zero.

Acts 2007, No. 333, §1, eff. July 1, 2007.