ORIGINAL SENATE ENGROSSED
FILE NO. 0124
ENROLLED ACT NO.
30, SENATE
FIFTY-SIXTH
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2001
GENERAL SESSION
AN ACT relating to the
Wyoming deferred compensation
program;
transferring program administration from the state
treasurer to the
Wyoming retirement board; eliminating the
Wyoming deferred
compensation board; continuing the
deferred
compensation board in an advisory capacity for a
limited time;
modifying retirement board membership and
specifying
implementation of modified board; modifying
deferred
compensation program participation as specified;
providing an
appropriation; providing for a study;
providing an
appropriation for the study; transferring
program accounts;
grandfathering existing contracts and
other
arrangements as specified; and providing for
effective dates.
Be It Enacted
by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 9-3-404(a)(iii),
9-3-405(a) by
creating a new paragraph (vi), 9-3-406(a), 9-3-409(a),
9-3-501(a)(ii) and (iii), 9-3-502(a), 9-3-503 and 9-3-505
through 9-3-507 are amended to read:
9-3-404. Wyoming retirement board;
responsibility for
administration
of system; composition; appointment; term;
vacancies;
meetings; election of chairman.
(a) The
responsibility for the administration and
operation of the
retirement system is vested solely and
exclusively in the
Wyoming retirement board. The board
shall be composed of
eleven (11) members, not more than six
(6) of whom shall be
from the same political party. The
members shall be:
(iii) Two (2)
members, exclusive of the public
school system, the
community colleges and the University of
Wyoming, one (1) of which is a participant in the Wyoming
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deferred compensation program established under W.S.
9-3-501 through 9-3-507;
9-3-405. Retirement board duties and
powers.
(a) In addition
to any other duties prescribed by
law, the board shall:
(vi) Through the
director employed under W.S.
9-3-406(a), administer
the Wyoming deferred compensation
program established
under W.S. 9-3-501 through 9-3-507.
9-3-406. Retirement board; employment
and
compensation
of director, consulting actuary and
assistants;
director designated secretary; compensation of
members;
quorum; seal.
(a) The board
shall employ a director and a
consulting actuary and
other professional and clerical
assistants necessary
for the administration of the
retirement system and the Wyoming deferred compensation
program established
under W.S. 9-3-501 through 9-3-507. The
compensation of
employees shall be fixed by the board,
subject to
confirmation and approval by the personnel
division and together
with all other necessary expenses of
the board shall be
paid by vouchers drawn on the state
treasurer of Wyoming.
The director shall also serve,
without additional
compensation, as secretary of the board.
9-3-409. Retirement board; rules and
regulations;
powers and
privileges required to perform functions;
requiring
employers to furnish information and keep
records.
(a) The
retirement board shall adopt rules and
regulations for the
administration of the retirement system
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and the
control and disbursement of its assets, the
administration of the
Wyoming deferred compensation program
established under W.S.
9-3-501 through 9-3-507 and shall
have the powers and
privileges required in the performance
of its functions under
this article and W.S. 9-3-501
through 9-3-507.
9-3-501. Definitions.
(a) As used in
this article:
(ii) "Board"
means the Wyoming deferred
compensation this
article
(iii) "Employee"
means any person including any
elected official
employed by and receiving compensation
from the state of
Wyoming, or
a county, city, town or other
political subdivision,
or any employee of the program
coordinator
employee under W.S. 9-2-1022(a)(xi)(F);
9-3-502. Establishment of program by
state;
administration
by Wyoming retirement board; establishment
of separate
deferred compensation by political
subdivisions;
investment permitted; limitation on amount
deferred;
taxability.
(a) As directed by The board, the administrator shall
establish and
administer the program for employees in
addition to any
retirement, pension, benefit or other
deferred compensation
programs established by the
governmental entity.
Subject to requirements of this
article, any county,
city, town or other political
subdivision may
establish and administer a deferred
compensation program
separate from the program established
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under this
article. A county, city, town or other political
subdivision which
wishes to enter into the state program
established under this
article shall adopt the plan,
provide the program to
employees in accordance with this
article and be subject
to program administration by the
administrator,
under the direction of the board.
9-3-503. Investment of deferred
compensation;
limitation on
approved investment plans; enrolling and
servicing
fees; holding of funds; limited liability of
state and
political subdivision.
(a) The administrator with the approval of the board,
may approve investment
of deferred compensation in
insurance and annuity
contracts or other investment plans
upon competitive
bidding. No investment plan shall be
approved unless the
plan is offered by a provider and is
subject to rules and
regulations of applicable federal and
state regulatory
agencies. The administrator, with the
approval of the , may establish an account for the
purpose of conducting
the daily financial operations of the
program and to avoid
having to liquidate investments prior
to maturity. The funds
in this account shall be invested
in, and be subject to
the same terms and conditions as, the
pool for investments
established under W.S. 9-1-416, known
commonly as
"Wyo-Star".
(b) The administrator with the approval of the board
may establish by
contract the fees for enrolling program
participants and
servicing participant accounts with
providers. Fees shall
be established at amounts necessary
to maintain the
account balance in accordance with W.S.
9-3-507.
(c) All
compensation deferred pursuant to this
article and all
earnings thereon shall be held in trust or
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pursuant to
custodial accounts or contracts meeting the
requirements of 26 USC
457(g) and for the exclusive benefit
of program
participants and their beneficiaries. An account
is established within
the trust and agency fund to be used
by the administrator board
for depositing deferred
compensation and
earnings on deferred compensation as
necessary to fulfill
the requirements of this article.
Funds in the account
shall be held separately from all
other funds and monies
held by the state and shall be
expended only as
provided by this article and pursuant to
written agreements
entered into under this article.
Notwithstanding the
provisions of this subsection, the
financial liability of
the state, county, city, town or
other political
subdivision is limited to the value of the
investment plan
purchased.
9-3-505. Duties of Wyoming retirement
board.
(a) The board
shall: direct
the administrator on
program
administration, including the:
(i) Investment of Invest
compensation deferred
pursuant to this
article;
(ii) Selection of Select providers
and the
evaluation of evaluate provider contracts and
provider investment
plans;
(iii) Selection of Select the
program
coordinator and the review and evaluation
of evaluate his
performance; and
(iv) Establishment of Establish policy
governing
overall operation of
the program.
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9-3-506. Program coordinator;
selection by contract
upon
competitive bid; duties.
(a) The administrator with the approval of the board
shall may contract with an
individual, firm or corporation
to serve as program
coordinator upon competitive bidding.
Selection shall be
based upon costs, background and
relevant experience,
expected performance and other
criteria imposed by
the board.
(b) The program
coordinator shall enroll program
participants, service
accounts established under the plan
for program
participants and report to the administrator
and the
9-3-507. Special account for
administrative expenses;
deposits and
expenditures; account balance specified; audit
required.
(a) The administrator board
shall deposit all fees
paid by providers
under the program for enrollment and
servicing of accounts
of program participants and all
amounts deducted from
compensation deferred by program
participants for
administrative and accounting purposes,
into an account with a
financial institution selected by
the administrator with the approval of the board. The
administrator
board shall account for all deposits into and
all authorized
payments from the account.
(b) Expenditures
from the account established under
subsection (a) of this
section shall be by the
administrator subject
to the approval of the board,
following
administrative expenses:
(i) Enrollment
of program participants;
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(ii) Servicing
of accounts established for
program participants;
(iii) Necessary accounting, and legal
and other
professional services;
(iv) Per diem
and travel expense reimbursement
to members and employees of the board for time actually
devoted to the
administration of and responsibilities
imposed under this
article; and
(v) Other
necessary administrative costs
incurred by the administrator in administering the
program.
(c) The account
balance shall not exceed the amount
necessary
administrative
expenses of the program. With the approval
of , the administrator may shall conduct contract
negotiations with
providers to establish enrolling and
servicing fees imposed
upon the program at an amount
necessary to pay
administrative expenses from the account
while providing the
maximum investment earnings and
benefits to program
participants.
(d) The board
shall provide for an independent audit
of the account on an
annual basis. A summary of the audit
and its findings shall
be included as part of the annual
report by
the state treasurer to the governor board as
required by law.
Section 2. W.S.
9-3-501(a)(i) and 9-3-504 are
repealed.
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(a) Up to fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000.00) is
appropriated from the
special account for administrative
expenses established
under W.S. 9-3-507(a) to the director
of the Wyoming
retirement system, on behalf of the Wyoming
retirement board. The
amount appropriated under this
section shall be used
to employ necessary personnel and to
arrange for necessary office
space for purposes of
implementing this act.
(b) Twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000.00) is
appropriated from the
Wyoming retirement account
established under W.S.
9-3-407(a) and twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000.00)
is appropriated from the special
account for
administrative expenses established under W.S.
9-3-507(a) in the
deferred compensation program to the
director of the
Wyoming retirement system to contract with
the Wyoming retirement
system actuary for a study of the
Wyoming retirement
system benefits.
Section 4.
(a) Notwithstanding
section 2 of this act, the
Wyoming deferred
compensation board existing as of June 30,
2001, shall serve as
the Wyoming deferred compensation
advisory board to the
Wyoming retirement board. The
Wyoming deferred
compensation advisory board shall assist
the Wyoming retirement
board in carrying out its
responsibilities
assigned under this act.
(b) The members
of the Wyoming deferred compensation
board existing on June
30, 2001, shall serve as members of
the Wyoming deferred
compensation advisory board for a term
commencing July 1,
2001, and ending December 31, 2001.
(c) For the
period beginning July 1, 2001, and ending
December 31, 2001,
members of the Wyoming deferred
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compensation
advisory board shall serve without
compensation but shall
for the actual time devoted to
advisory board duties
imposed under this section, receive
per diem and mileage
in the same manner and amount as
provided by law for
state employees.
Section 5. The
implementation of W.S.
9-3-404(a)(iii), as
amended by section 1 of this act, shall
allow all members
appointed to the Wyoming retirement board
under W.S. 9-3-404(a)(iii)
prior to the effective date of
this act to serve
their full term. The implementation of
W.S. 9-3-404(a)(iii),
as amended by section 1 of this act,
shall be such that the
change in the Wyoming retirement
board member
requirements shall be implemented as soon as
practicable, upon
expiration of the appropriate term or
upon any vacancy in
the appropriate membership, whichever
first occurs.
Section 6. The
management and control of all accounts
comprising and
otherwise pertaining to the Wyoming deferred
compensation program
pursuant to W.S. 9-3-501 through
9-3-507, including all
monies contained within these
accounts and an
accounting of such monies, shall be
transferred to the
Wyoming retirement board.
Section 7. All
rules, regulations, contracts,
agreements or other
obligations adopted, executed and
otherwise established
by the Wyoming deferred compensation
board, the state
treasurer and any consultant acting on
behalf of and
authorized by the Wyoming deferred
compensation board or
the state treasurer, are not affected
by this act and shall
continue to be in effect until such
time as the Wyoming
retirement board determines otherwise.
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Section 8.
(a) Except as
provided by subsection (b) of this
section, this act is
effective July 1, 2001.
(b) Notwithstanding
subsection (a) of this section,
section 3 of this act
is effective immediately upon
completion of all acts
necessary for a bill to become law
as provided by Article
4, Section 8 of the Wyoming
Constitution.
(END)
Speaker of
the House President of
the Senate
Governor
TIME APPROVED: _________
DATE APPROVED: _________
I hereby certify that this act originated in the
Senate.
Chief Clerk
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