Subd. 1. Joint retention.

1. (a) The chief administrative officers of the Minnesota State Retirement System, the Public Employees Retirement Association, the Teachers Retirement Association, the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association, the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association, the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, and the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association, jointly, on behalf of the state, its employees, its taxpayers, and its various public pension plans, shall contract with an established actuarial consulting firm to conduct annual actuarial valuations and related services for the retirement plans named in paragraph (b). The principal from the actuarial consulting firm on the contract must be an approved actuary under section 356.215, subdivision 1, paragraph (c). Prior to becoming effective, the contract under this section is subject to a review and approval by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement.

2. (b) The contract for actuarial services must include the preparation of actuarial valuations and related actuarial work for the following retirement plans:

   1. (1) the teachers retirement plan, Teachers Retirement Association;
   2. (2) the general state employees retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement System;
   3. (3) the correctional employees retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement System;
   4. (4) the State Patrol retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement System;
   5. (5) the judges retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement System;
   6. (6) the Minneapolis employees retirement plan, Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund;
   7. (7) the public employees retirement plan, Public Employees Retirement Association;
   8. (8) the public employees police and fire plan, Public Employees Retirement Association;
   9. (9) the Duluth teachers retirement plan, Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association;
   10. (10) the Minneapolis teachers retirement plan, Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association;
   11. (11) the St. Paul teachers retirement plan, St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association;
   12. (12) the legislators retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement System;
   13. (13) the elective state officers retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement System; and
   14. (14) local government correctional service retirement plan, Public Employees Retirement Association.

3. (c) The contract must require completion of the annual actuarial valuation calculations on a fiscal year basis, with the contents of the actuarial valuation calculations as specified in section 356.215, and in conformity with the standards for actuarial work adopted by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement.

   1. (1) individual salary progression;
   2. (2) the rate of return on investments based on the current asset value;
   3. (3) payroll growth;
   4. (4) mortality;
   5. (5) retirement age;
   6. (6) withdrawal; and

   7. (7) disablement.

      The contract must include provisions for the preparation of cost analyses by the jointly retained actuary for proposed legislation that include changes in benefit provisions or funding policies prior to their consideration by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement.

   The contract must require completion of annual experience data collection and processing and a quadrennial published experience study for the plans listed in paragraph (b), clauses (1), (2), and (7), as provided for in the standards for actuarial work adopted by the commission. The experience data collection, processing, and analysis must evaluate the following:

4. (d) The actuary retained by the joint retirement systems shall annually prepare a report to the legislature, including a commentary on the actuarial valuation calculations for the plans named in paragraph (b) and summarizing the results of the actuarial valuation calculations. The actuary shall include with the report the actuary's recommendations to the legislature concerning the appropriateness of the support rates to achieve proper funding of the retirement plans by the required funding dates. The actuary shall, as part of the quadrennial experience study, include recommendations to the legislature on the appropriateness of the actuarial valuation assumptions required for evaluation in the study.
5. (e) If the actuarial gain and loss analysis in the actuarial valuation calculations indicates a persistent pattern of sizable gains or losses, as directed by the joint retirement systems or as requested by the chair of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement, the actuary shall prepare a special experience study for a plan listed in paragraph (b), clause (3), (4), (5), (6), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), or (14), in the manner provided for in the standards for actuarial work adopted by the commission.
6. (f) The term of the contract between the joint retirement systems and the actuary retained may not exceed five years. The joint retirement system administrative officers shall establish procedures for the consideration and selection of contract bidders and the requirements for the contents of an actuarial services contract under this section. The procedures and requirements must be submitted to the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement for review and comment prior to final approval by the joint administrators. The contract is subject to the procurement procedures under chapter 16C. The consideration of bids and the selection of a consulting actuarial firm by the chief administrative officers must occur at a meeting that is open to the public and reasonable timely public notice of the date and the time of the meeting and its subject matter must be given.
7. (g) The actuarial services contract may not limit the ability of the Minnesota legislature and its standing committees and commissions to rely on the actuarial results of the work prepared under the contract.
8. (h) The joint retirement systems shall designate one of the retirement system executive directors as the actuarial services contract manager.

Subd. 2. Allocation of actuarial costs.

1. (a) The actuarial services contract manager shall assess each retirement plan specified in subdivision 1, paragraph (b), its appropriate portion of the total compensation paid to the actuary retained by the joint retirement systems for the actuarial valuation calculations and quadrennial experience studies. The total assessment is 100 percent of the amount of contract compensation for the actuarial consulting firm for actuarial valuation calculations, including any public employees police and fire plan consolidation accounts of the Public Employees Retirement Association established after March 1, 1999, annual experience data collection and processing, and quadrennial experience studies.

   The portion of the total assessment payable by each retirement system or pension plan must be determined based on each plan's proportion of the actuarial services required, as determined by the retained actuary, to complete the actuarial valuation calculations, annual experience data collection and processing, and quadrennial experience studies for all plans.

   The assessment must be made within 30 days following the end of the fiscal year and must be reported to the chief administrative officers of the applicable retirement plans. The amount of the assessment is appropriated from the retirement fund applicable to the retirement plan.

2. (b) The actuarial services contract manager shall assess each retirement plan or each interest group which requested the preparation of a cost analysis for proposed legislation the cost of the actuary retained by the joint retirement systems incurred in the cost analysis preparation. With respect to interest groups, the actuarial services contract manager shall obtain a written commitment for the payment of the assessment in advance of the cost analysis preparation and may require an advance deposit or advance payment before authorizing the cost analysis preparation. The retirement plan or the interest group shall pay the assessment within 30 days of the date on which the assessment is billed. The amount of the assessment is appropriated from the retirement fund applicable to the retirement plan for cost analyses requested by a retirement plan or system.
3. (c) The actuarial services contract manager shall assess to the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement the cost of the actuarial cost analysis preparation for the proposed legislation requested by the chair of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement or by the commission executive director. The commission shall pay the assessment within 30 days of the date on which the assessment is billed.

Subd. 3. Reporting to commission.

A copy of the actuarial valuations, experience studies, and actuarial cost analyses prepared by the actuary retained by the joint retirement systems under the contract provided for in this section must be filed with the executive director of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement at the same time that the document is transmitted to the actuarial services contract manager or to any other document recipient.