Brief (1)
The bill would provide for the following changes concerning the operations of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS).
First, the bill would allow the KPERS Board of Trustees to serve as the procurement negotiating committee when seeking contracts with advisors and consultants. The Board would be required to continue to follow the public bidding law when seeking contracts from service providers, such as investment managers. In addition, the substitute bill would impose certain statutory reporting requirements on the Board, and would mandate reporting when contemplating any legal services contracts which might result in legal fees of $1,000,000 or more.
Second, the bill would authorize one new position to be added to a statutory list of unclassified positions that the KPERS Board of Trustees may appoint and set salaries. In addition, the titles of the Executive Secretary and Deputy Executive Secretary would be changed to Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director.
Third, the bill would incorporate into statute the authority for the KPERS Board of Trustees to continue a bonus awards program for unclassified employees.
The bill would be effective upon publication in the Kansas Register.
Background
SB 322 as passed by the Senate would have added one investment operations analyst to a statutory provision authorizing the KPERS Board of Trustees to employ and set salaries of certain designated unclassified staff. In addition, SB 322 would have provided the KPERS Board with additional flexibility in the future to designate staff as either classified or unclassified as positions might become vacant or be added. The bill would have protected the classified status of any employee currently filling such a position.
The House Budget Committee on KPERS issues recommended that HB 2537 as amended by the House Appropriations Committee be incorporated into SB 322 to make the Senate bill conform to the House position. No additional authority would be conferred upon the KPERS Board of Trustees in regards to staffing with classified or unclassified employees, as was included in the Senate passed bill. The agency would be limited to only 13 statutorily defined unclassified positions and the rest of the KPERS staff would be in the classified service under provisions of HB 2537. In addition, the House Budget Committee recommended that a proviso in HB 2557 concerning a bonus incentive program for unclassified KPERS staff be incorporated into this bill in order to codify into statute the authority for an ongoing program recommended by the Governor and approved by both the House and Senate during budget review.
The House Budget Committee also recommended incorporating HB 2534 into the House Sub. for SB 322. HB 2534, which is similar to Senate Sub. for SB 330, would authorize the KPERS Board of Trustees to serve as the procurement negotiating committee when seeking contracts with advisors and consultants. The Board would be required to continue to follow the public bidding law when seeking contracts from service providers, such as investment managers. In addition, the substitute bill would impose certain statutory reporting requirements on the Board, and would mandate reporting when contemplating any legal services contracts which might result in legal fees of $1,000,000 or more. The latter provision was not included in Senate Sub. for SB 330. The other provisions are identical in the House and Senate versions of the proposed 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.cgi