Brief(1)
S.B. 382, as amended, would bring the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), and the various plans administered under KPERS, into federal compliance with all qualified plan requirements.
Background
The provisions in this bill were requested by the KPERS Board of Trustees after an extensive review of the different KPERS plans and the finding that many of the current plan elements are not in compliance with federal law and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. The bill was introduced in 1997 and carried over to the 1998 Legislature in order for an interim study to be conducted by the Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments, and Benefits. The Joint Committee recommended most of the amendments which have been incorporated into the present version of the bill.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee amendments updated a 1997 bill to reflect current federal and state provisions of law and citations. The provisions in the bill generally are technical in nature and are required for conformity with federal laws and IRS regulations to ensure that KPERS will continue to be treated as a tax exempt entity. A loss of federal tax exempt status, for instance, could lead to the taxation of employee contributions made into the retirement fund. Currently, federal taxes generally are deferred until benefits are paid after retirement.
The Senate Committee of the Whole amendment clarifies that other changes throughout the bill apply to court reporters, in addition to all other groups.
The KPERS fiscal note is $78,000 for computer program changes associated with this legislation.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.