DRAFT
STATE OF CONNECTICUT
STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION

A regular meeting of the State Employees Retirement Commission (the ?Commission?) was held on February 16, 2017, in 7th Floor Conference Room at 55 Elm Street, Hartford Connecticut. The meeting convened at 9:00 a.m. and the following members of the Commission were present:

• Peter Adomeit, Chairman
• Michael Carey, Trustee
• Charles Casella, Trustee
• Robert D. Coffey, Trustee
• Richard M. Cosgrove, Trustee
• Lisa Grasso Egan, Trustee
• Steven Greatorex, Trustee
• Paul Fortier, Trustee
• Sal Luciano, Trustee
• Laila Mandour, Trustee
• Ronald McLellan, Trustee
• Claude Poulin, Trustee
• Angel Quiros, Trustee
• Martha Carlson, Deputy Comptroller, Ex Officio Member
• Laurie Martin, acting CIO, Office of the State Treasurer, Ex Officio Member
• Matthew Hart, Municipal Liaison
  

The following members of the Commission were absent:

• Sandra Fae Brown Brewton, Trustee

Also present were:

• Brenda Halpin, Director, Retirement Services Division
• Michael Rose, General Counsel to the Commission Ford Harrison
• Cindy Cieslak, General Counsel to the Commission Ford Harrison
• Bruce Barth, Robinson & Cole
• Natalie Braswell, General Counsel to the Comptroller
• Colin Newman, Office of the State Comptroller
• Amanda Alfonso, Executive Assistant, Retirement Services Division
  

A. Call to Order
Chairman Adomeit called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.

B. Chairman's Report:
A motion was needed to amend the agenda to add and item 16 and act on Carter?s declaratory ruling. At 9:10 a.m. Mr. Luciano moved and Mr. Greatorex seconded. All voted in favor. Chairman Adomeit also added the Attorney Rose and he had been have favorable meetings with the legislature and they were in search of a committee to raise their bill. Most likely the committee will be the Labor committee. Ford Harrison?s contract needs to be renewed.

C. Division Director's Report

The February 2017 retirement payroll closed yesterday totaling 206 which included 183 regular retirements, 9 Voluntary Pending, 10 Hybrid retirements and 4 disability retirements. There 4 disability cases finalized for the month. We anticipate an additional finalization of approximately 1,000 for the month of February as well.

For the ARP to Hybrid transfers there are a total of 1,917 with 436 retirees and 1,468 transfers, 4 prospective and 9 waivers. We continue to work through the backlog of transfers with 574 remaining to be completed.

Pending Disability Applications as of January 31, 2017

The next available meeting for scheduling is March 2017.

This month we have converted the payroll of the Municipal Employee Retirement System (MERS) to Core-CT. There will a payroll insert in the envelope for the checks and direct deposit advices to alert the retiree to the changes and to provide information about a new employee ID number. This new employee ID number will provide security for the retiree in that they will not have to provide a Social Security Number as primary identification.

In addition, we have a Focus meeting scheduled with four of the MERS units to discuss the changes to the filing of employee data with our office. This Focus meeting will provide our Office with any challenges that the MERS units may be facing to provide this additional employee data.

On March 1, 2017 we will be holding a meeting with all of the MERS units to provide them with an update and the changes that we are requesting to the payroll data. An update will be provided to the Retirement Commission after the meeting.

The current listing of legislative items that relate to retirement issues were included in your agenda.

Below are the backlog reporting statistics, including the finalizations (977) processed this month.

Deputy Comptroller Carlson gave an overview of the pension module's progress. After completing the audits next month the division will start dealing with the more difficult audits. For those, they will be batched to look for patterns and code will be written. The consultants in the division should be gone by June. The UCONN e-benefits are being delayed by two weeks.

There were some questions regarding the Medical Examining Board procedures but it was decided to be discussed in executive session.

D. New Matters

1. Request Commission Approval of the January 19, 2017 minutes.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the January 19, 2017 minutes.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the January 19, 2017 minutes.

 

2. Request Commission Approval of the State Employees Retirement Commission Chairman?s Per Diem Expenses.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Chairman's Per Diem Expenses.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Chairman?s Per Diem Expenses.

 

3. Request Commission Approval of the State Employees Retirement Commission Union Trustee?s Per Diem and Travel Expenses.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Union Trustee?s Per Diem and Travel Expense.
ii. Mr. Poulin abstained.
iii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iv. The Commission voted unanimously in favor, with Mr. Poulin abstaining, to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Union Trustee?s Per Diem and Travel Expenses.

 

4. Request Commission Acceptance of the January 2017 Billing from Robinson and Cole.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the billing from Robinson and Cole.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission January 2017 billing from Robinson and Cole.

 

5. Request Commission Acceptance of the January 2017 Invoices from Ford Harrison.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the billing from Ford Harrison.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission January 2017 billing from Ford Harrison.

 

6. Request Commission Approval of the Connecticut State Employees Retirement System Service Retirements for the Month of January 2017.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut State Employees Retirement System Service Retirements for the Month of January 2017.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the Connecticut State Employees Retirement System Service Retirements for the Month of January 2017.

 

7. Request Commission Approval of the Connecticut State Employees System Disability Retirements for the Month of January 2017.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut State Employees System Disability Retirements for the Month of January 2017.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the Connecticut State Employees System Disability Retirements for the Month of January 2017.

 

8. Request Commission Approval of the Connecticut State Employees System Voluntary Pending Retirements for the Month of January 2017.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve Connecticut State Employees System Voluntary Pending Retirements for the Month of January 2017.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve Connecticut State Employees System Voluntary Pending Retirements for the Month of January 2017.

 

9. Request Commission Approval of the Municipal Retirement System Retirements.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Municipal Retirement System Retirements.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the Municipal Retirement System Retirements.

 

10. Request Commission Acceptance of the Recommendations by the Medical Examining Board of the Municipal Retirement System Disability Retirement Application Approvals.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve recommendations by the Medical Examining Board of the Municipal Retirement System Disability Retirement Application Approvals.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve recommendations by the Medical Examining Board of the Municipal Retirement System Disability Retirement Application Approvals.

 

11. Request Commission Acceptance of the Recommendations by the Medical Examining Board of the Municipal Retirement System Disability Retirement Application Denials.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Recommendations by the Medical Examining Board of the Municipal Retirement System Disability Retirement Application Denials.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There was discussion. Mr. Carey wondered why there were so many denials. Mr. Carey made a motion that this item be tabled until executive session, seconded by Mr. Luciano.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to table the Recommendations by the Medical Examining Board of the Municipal Retirement System Disability Retirement Application Denials until executive session.

12. Request Commission Approval of the Probate Judges and Employees Retirement Fund Personnel Expenses for the Pay Period December 9, 2016 Through January 5, 2017.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Probate Judges and Employees Retirement Fund Personnel Expenses for the Pay Period December 9, 2016 Through January 5, 2017.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the Probate Judges and Employees Retirement Fund Personnel Expenses for the Pay Period December 9, 2016 Through January 5, 2017.

 

13. Request Commission Acceptance of the Purchasing and Other Related Matters Subcommittee Recommendation from the Meeting January 26, 2017.

i. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Purchasing and Other Related Matters Subcommittee Recommendation from the Meeting January 26, 2017.
ii. Chairman asked if there was any discussion. There being no discussion he called for a vote.
iii. The Commission voted unanimously in favor to approve the Purchasing and Other Related Matters Subcommittee Recommendation from the Meeting January 26, 2017.

Executive Session

Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to go into executive session at 9:41 a.m. Ms. Halpin, Mr. Newman, Attorney Braswell, Attorney Barth, Attorney Rose and Attorney Cieslak were invited by the Commission to stay for executive session.

1. Federal Regulation of State & Local Governmental Retirement Plans - written legal opinion - discussion.
2. IRC Section 415(b)(5) Phase-In Reductions Applicable to Participants with Less than Ten Years of Service - written legal opinion - discussion
3. In-Service Distribution Before Normal Retirement Age - Federal Tax Issues - written legal opinion - discussion.
4. MEB meetings - written legal opinion - update. At 11:45, Mr. Luciano made a motion, seconded by Mr. McLellan to have the Legal and Personnel subcommittee review the denials and make further recommendations to the Commission.

5. Carter - pending claim - update.
6. Phillips - pending claim - update.
7. Colson - written legal opinion - update.
8. Walenski - pending litigation - update.
9. Thompson - pending litigation - update.
10. Krawiec - pending litigation - update.
11. Bouchard - pending litigation - update.
12. Maturo - pending litigation - update.

14. Colson-request for reconsideration- possible action.

At 11:46 a.m., Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. McLellan to not take action to reconsider a service connected disability. It was decided to send Ms. Colson back to the MEB for a non-service connected disability hearing.

 

15. At 11:50 a.m., Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Ms. Mandour to approve the declaratory ruling as amended and the division was instructed to send it out as on February 16, 2017.

Tabled Item

Nancy Pine- Request for Reconsideration as to Her Petition for Reversal of the MEB - Discussion and Possible Action. Tabled until the March 16, 2017.

 

Adjournment

With no further business before the Commission, Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. McLellan to adjourn at 11:55 a.m. The Commission voted unanimously to adjourn.

Respectfully Submitted by:

__________________________________
Peter Adomeit, Chairman

___________________________________
Prepared by Brenda K. Halpin
Director Retirement Service Division
 

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