The 53rd Legislature – First Regular Session, adjourned on May 10, 2017. The Arizona State Retirement System had five legislative initiatives pass into law. They all have relatively minor impact to members and retirees, mainly clarifying language in existing state statutes.
Below is a brief summary. You can also follow these and other retirement-related bills throughout the legislative session on our ASRS Bill Tracker.
Eight individuals have been appointed or reappointed to the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) Board of Trustees. Appointments are made by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate.
Previously serving appointees are: Tom Manos, former County Manager of Maricopa County; Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association, and Clark Partridge, State Comptroller with the Arizona Department of Administration.
On March 23, 2017, in the case of Wade and Paddock v. ASRS (No. CV-16-0087-PR), the Arizona Supreme Court held that employer-paid contributions on behalf of an employee to a tax qualified deferred compensation plan – such as a 457 or 401(k) – are compensation and therefore require ASRS contributions.
Employee-paid contributions into these plans have always been considered compensation for ASRS purposes. This ruling adds employer-paid contributions are compensation as well.
