Since 1952, the Legislature has revised the composition of the PERS Board on four occasions, resulting in the present ten-member board structure.
Section 7 of Senate Bill 273, Regular Session 1952 (now codified as MISS. CODE ANN. Section 25-11-15 [1972]), created a ten-member Board of Trustees of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi. The initial board consisted of the following members:
Chair, House Appropriations Committee (ex-Officio);
Chair, Senate Finance Committee (ex-Officio);
State Treasurer (ex-Officio);
State Superintendent of Education (ex-Officio);
representative of the Mississippi Supervisors Association (elected by association membership);
3The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is a national organization established to identify and develop financial policies and best practices for the professional management of governments. This and subsequent references to the GFOA’s position on retirement boards’
memberships are to a GFOA publication entitled Best Practice: Governance of Public Employee Post-Retirement Benefits Systems, approved by the GFOA Executive Board, March 5, 2010.
an individual who was not a state employee who was required to have at least ten years of experience in investment banking (appointed by the Governor);
three members of the system who each had at least ten years of creditable service, with at least one being a municipal employee (elected by the membership after initially being appointed by the Governor at the creation of the board); and,
one classroom teacher with at least ten years of teaching experience (appointed by the Governor).
As illustrated in Exhibit 2, page 17, the Legislature revised the composition of the PERS Board in 1977, 1984, 1989, and 1993. While changes that occurred in 1977 and 1993 involved the addition of a trustee to represent retirees, those that occurred in 1984 and 1989 involved more substantive revisions to the board’s composition, as discussed below:
1984 Changes to PERS Board Membership: In a 1983 decision (Alexander v. State ex rel. Allain, 441 So. 2d 1329), the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that legislators could not perform any tasks belonging to the executive branch. As a result, during its 1984 Regular Session, the Mississippi Legislature enacted legislation to remove legislators from executive branch boards and commissions, including the PERS Board.
The legislation removed the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee from the PERS Board, added a trustee to represent employees of institutions of higher learning, and reduced the size of the board to ten trustees. The 1984 legislation also provided authority to the
Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House to appoint two legislative advisors from each chamber to assist the PERS Board in its management of the trust fund.
1989 Changes to PERS Board Membership: In 1989, the Legislature amended MISS. CODE ANN. Section 25-11-15 (1972) to remove the State Superintendent of Education and the classroom teacher from the PERS Board. The legislation replaced those positions with a trustee to represent employees of public schools and junior colleges. Also, the legislation removed the investment banker from the board and provided authority to the Governor to appoint an individual who is a member of the system to the PERS Board, with that person not required to have any particular skills or qualifications. In lieu of having an investment banker as a trustee, the 1989 legislation established a three-person investment advisory board appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House. Each member of the investment advisory board was required to be someone who was not a public
Exhibit 2:
Changes in PERS Board Composition, 1952 to Present
1952 1977 1984
Ten trustees Eleven Trustees Ten Trustees
House Appropriations Chair House Appropriations Chair State Treasurer
Senate Finance Chair Senate Finance Chair State Education Superintendent
State Treasurer State Treasurer Retiree
State Education Superintendent State Education Superintendent IHL employee
County Supervisor County Supervisor County employee
Investment banker Investment banker Investment banker
Municipal employee Municipal employee Municipal employee
State employee State employee State employee
State employee State employee State employee
Classroom teacher Classroom teacher Classroom teacher
Retiree
Two Senate legislative advisors Two House legislative advisors
1989 1993
Nine Trustees Ten Trustees
State Treasurer State Treasurer
Gubernatorial representative Gubernatorial representative
State employee State employee
State employee State employee
Municipal employee Municipal employee
County employee County employee
IHL employee IHL employee
Public school/Junior college employePublic school/Junior college employee
Retiree Retiree
Retiree
Two Senate legislative advisors Two Senate legislative advisors Two House legislative advisors Two House legislative advisors
3-Member Investment Advisory Boar 3-Member Investment Advisory Board*
*During the 2008 Regular Session, the Legislature enacted into law House Bill 833, which amended MISS. CODE ANN.
Section 25-11-15 (1972) and deleted the provision establishing the Investment Advisory Board.
SOURCE: PEER analysis of state laws.
employee but who had at least ten years’ experience in investment banking or commercial banking or at least ten years’ experience in managing investments. The final impact of the 1989 legislation was to reduce the number of trustees from ten to nine.
As stated on page 16, the Legislature added a trustee in 1993 to represent retirees, resulting in the PERS Board again having ten trustees. With the exception of the State Treasurer and the Governor’s appointee, all trustees are elected by members of the system and represent various constituency employee groups--i. e., state, municipal, county, institutions of higher learning, public
schools/junior colleges, and retirees.