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Administrative duties of the board - 71 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5902

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     § 5902.  Administrative duties of the board.
        (a)  Employees.--
            (1)  Effective 30 days after the effective date of this
        paragraph, the positions of secretary, assistant secretary
        and investment professional shall be placed under the
        unclassified service provisions of the act of August 5, 1941
        (P.L.752, No.286), known as the Civil Service Act, as those
        positions are vacated. All other positions of the board shall
        be placed in either the classified or unclassified service
        according to the definition of the terms under the Civil
        Service Act.
            (2)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the
        compensation of investment professionals shall be established
        by the board. The compensation of all other officers and
        employees of the board who are not covered by a collective
        bargaining agreement shall be established by the board
        consistent with the standards of compensation established by
        the Executive Board of the Commonwealth.
        (a.1)  Secretary.--The secretary shall act as chief
     administrative officer for the board. In addition to other
     powers and duties conferred upon and delegated to the secretary
     by the board, the secretary shall:
            (1)  Serve as the administrative agent of the board.
            (2)  Serve as liaison between the board and applicable
        legislative committees, the Treasury Department, the
        Department of the Auditor General, and between the board and
        the investment counsel and the mortgage supervisor in
        arranging for investments to secure maximum returns to the
        fund.
            (3)  Review and analyze proposed legislation and
        legislative developments affecting the system and present
        findings to the board, legislative committees, and other
        interested groups or individuals.
            (4)  Direct the maintenance of files and records and
        preparation of periodic reports required for actuarial
        evaluation studies.
            (5)  Receive inquiries and requests for information
        concerning the system from the press, Commonwealth officials,
        State employees, the general public, research organizations,
        and officials and organizations from other states, and
        provide information as authorized by the board.
            (6)  Supervise a staff of administrative, technical, and
        clerical employees engaged in record-keeping and clerical
        processing activities in maintaining files of members,
        accounting for contributions, processing payments to
        annuitants, preparing required reports, and retirement
        counseling.
        (b)  Professional personnel.--The board shall contract for
     the services of a chief medical examiner, an actuary, investment
     advisors and counselors, and such other professional personnel
     as it deems advisable. The board may, with the approval of the
     Attorney General, contract for legal services.
        (c)  Expenses.--The board shall, through the Governor, submit
     to the General Assembly annually a budget covering the
     administrative expenses of this part. Such expenses as approved
     by the General Assembly in an appropriation bill shall be paid
     from investment earnings of the fund. Concurrently with its
     administrative budget, the board shall also submit to the
     General Assembly annually a list of proposed expenditures which
     the board intends to pay through the use of directed
     commissions, together with a list of the actual expenditures
     from the past year actually paid by the board through the use of
     directed commissions. All such directed commission expenditures
     shall be made by the board for the exclusive benefit of the
     system and its members.
        (d)  Meetings.--The board shall hold at least six regular
     meetings annually and such other meetings as it may deem
     necessary.
        (e)  Records.--
            (1)  The board shall keep a record of all its proceedings
        which shall be open to inspection by the public, except as
        otherwise provided in this part or by other law.
            (2)  Any record, material or data received, prepared,
        used or retained by the board or its employees, investment
        professionals or agents relating to an investment shall not
        constitute a public record subject to public inspection under
        the act of June 21, 1957 (P.L.390, No.212), referred to as
        the Right-to-Know Law, if, in the reasonable judgment of the
        board, the inspection would:
                (i)  in the case of an alternative investment or
            alternative investment vehicle, involve the release of
            sensitive investment or financial information relating to
            the alternative investment or alternative investment
            vehicle which the fund was able to obtain only upon
            agreeing to maintain its confidentiality;
                (ii)  cause substantial competitive harm to the
            person from whom sensitive investment or financial
            information relating to the investment was received; or
                (iii)  have a substantial detrimental impact on the
            value of an investment to be acquired, held or disposed
            of by the fund or would cause a breach of the standard of
            care or fiduciary duty set forth in this part.
            (3)  (i)  The sensitive investment or financial
            information excluded from inspection under paragraph
            (2)(i), to the extent not otherwise excluded from
            inspection, shall constitute a public record subject to
            public inspection under the Right-to-Know Law once the
            board is no longer required by its agreement to maintain
            confidentiality.
                (ii)  The sensitive investment or financial
            information excluded from inspection under paragraph
            (2)(ii), to the extent not otherwise excluded from
            inspection, shall constitute a public record subject to
            public inspection under the Right-to-Know Law once:
                    (A)  the inspection no longer causes substantial
                competitive harm to the person from whom the
                information was received; or
                    (B)  the entity in which the investment was made
                is liquidated;
            whichever is later.
                (iii)  The sensitive investment or financial
            information excluded from inspection under paragraph
            (2)(iii), to the extent not otherwise excluded from
            inspection, shall constitute a public record subject to
            public inspection under the Right-to-Know Law once:
                    (A)  the inspection no longer has a substantial
                detrimental impact on the value of an investment of
                the fund and would not cause a breach of the standard
                of care or fiduciary duty set forth in this part; or
                    (B)  the entity in which the investment was made
                is liquidated;
            whichever is later.
            (4)  Except for the provisions of paragraph (3), nothing
        in this subsection shall be construed to designate any
        record, material or data received, prepared, used or retained
        by the board or its employees, investment professionals or
        agents relating to an investment as a public record subject
        to public inspection under the Right-to-Know Law.
        (f)  Functions.--The board shall perform such other functions
     as are required for the execution of the provisions of this
     part.
        (g)  Performance of departmental duties.--In the event the
     head of the department fails to comply with the procedures as
     mandated in section 5906 (relating to duties of heads of
     departments), the board shall perform such duties and bill the
     department for the cost of same.
        (h)  Regulations and procedures.--The board shall, with the
     advice of the Attorney General and the actuary, adopt and
     promulgate rules and regulations for the uniform administration
     of the system. The actuary shall approve in writing all
     computational procedures used in the calculation of
     contributions and benefits, and the board shall by resolution
     adopt such computational procedures, prior to their application
     by the board. Such rules, regulations and computational
     procedures as so adopted from time to time and as in force and
     effect at any time, together with such tables as are adopted
     pursuant to subsection (j) as necessary for the calculation of
     annuities and other benefits, shall be as effective as if fully
     set forth in this part. Any actuarial assumption specified in or
     underlying any such rule, regulation or computational procedure
     and utilized as a basis for determining any benefit shall be
     applied in a uniform manner.
        (i)  Data.--The board shall keep in convenient form such data
     as are stipulated by the actuary in order that an annual
     actuarial valuation of the various accounts can be completed
     within six months of the close of each calendar year.
        (j)  Actuarial investigation and valuation.--The board shall
     have the actuary make an annual valuation of the various
     accounts within six months of the close of each calendar year.
     In the year 1975 and in every fifth year thereafter the board
     shall have the actuary conduct an actuarial investigation and
     evaluation of the system based on data including the mortality,
     service, and compensation experience provided by the board
     annually during the preceding five years concerning the members
     and beneficiaries. The board shall by resolution adopt such
     tables as are necessary for the actuarial valuation of the fund
     and calculation of contributions, annuities and other benefits
     based on the reports and recommendations of the actuary. Within
     30 days of their adoption, the secretary of the board shall
     cause those tables which relate to the calculation of annuities
     and other benefits to be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin
     in accordance with the provisions of 45 Pa.C.S. § 725(a)
     (relating to additional contents of Pennsylvania Bulletin) and,
     unless the board specifies therein a later effective date, such
     tables shall become effective on such publication. The board
     shall include a report on the significant facts, recommendations
     and data developed in each five-year actuarial investigation and
     evaluation of the system in the annual financial statement
     published pursuant to the requirements of subsection (m) for the
     fiscal year in which such investigation and evaluation were
     concluded.
        (k)  Certification of employer contributions.--The board
     shall, each year in addition to the itemized budget required
     under section 5509 (relating to appropriations and assessments
     by the Commonwealth), certify, as a percentage of the members'
     payroll, the employers' contributions as determined pursuant to
     section 5508 (relating to actuarial cost method) necessary for
     the funding of prospective annuities for active members and the
     annuities of annuitants and certify the rates and amounts of the
     employers' normal contributions as determined pursuant to
     section 5508(b), accrued liability contributions as determined
     pursuant to section 5508(c), supplemental annuities contribution
     rate as determined pursuant to section 5508(e) and the
     experience adjustment factor as determined pursuant to section
     5508(f), which shall be paid to the fund and credited to the
     appropriate accounts. These certifications shall be regarded as
     final and not subject to modification by the Budget Secretary.
        (l)  Member contributions.--The board shall cause all pickup
     contributions made on behalf of a member to be credited to the
     account of the member and credit to his account any other
     payment made by such member, including, but not limited to,
     amounts collected by the Public School Employees' Retirement
     System for the reinstatement of previous State service or
     creditable nonstate service and amounts paid to return benefits
     paid after the date of return to State service or entering
     school service representing lump sum payments made pursuant to
     section 5705(a)(4)(iii) (relating to member's options) and
     member's annuity payments, but not including other benefits
     returned pursuant to section 5706(a.2) (relating to termination
     of annuities), and shall pay all such amounts into the fund.
        (m)  Annual financial statement.--The board shall prepare and
     have published, on or before July 1 of each year, a financial
     statement as of the calendar year ending December 31 of the
     previous year showing the condition of the fund and the various
     accounts, including, but not limited to, the board's accrual and
     expenditure of directed commissions, and setting forth such
     other facts, recommendations, and data as may be of use in the
     advancement of knowledge concerning annuities and other benefits
     provided by this part. The board shall submit said financial
     statement to the Governor and shall file copies with the head of
     each department for the use of the State employees and the
     public.
        (n)  Independent audit.--The board shall provide for an
     annual audit of the system by an independent certified public
     accountant, which audit shall include the board's accrual and
     expenditure of directed commissions.
     (Oct. 7, 1975, P.L.348, No.101, eff. imd.; Mar. 4, 1982,
     P.L.141, No.45, eff. imd.; Dec. 14, 1982, P.L.1249, No.284, eff.
     imd.; Aug. 5, 1991, P.L.183, No.23; Apr. 29, 1994, P.L.159,
     No.29, eff. imd.; Dec. 20, 1995, P.L.689, No.77, eff. 60 days;
     Apr. 2, 1998, P.L.229, No.41, eff. imd.; June 18, 1998, P.L.685,
     No.88, eff. imd.; May 17, 2001, P.L.26, No.9, eff. July 1, 2001;
     Oct. 27, 2006, P.L.1177, No.120, eff. imd.)

        2006 Amendment.  Act 120 amended subsec. (e). See sections 3,
     4, 5 and 6 of Act 120 in the appendix to this title for special
     provisions relating to authority of Auditor General,
     construction of law for release of records, etc., applicability
     and fees collected by State Employees' Retirement System.
        2001 Amendment.  Act 9 amended subsec. (l).
        1998 Amendments.  Act 41 amended subsec. (a) and Act 88
     amended subsec. (a) and added subsec. (a.1).
        1995 Amendment.  Act 77 amended subsecs. (h) and (j).
        Transfer of Functions.  The powers and duties of the Attorney
     General and/or the Department of Justice contained in section
     5902(h) were transferred to the Office of General Counsel by
     section 502 of the act of October 15, 1980 (P.L.950, No.164),
     known as the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, effective January 20,
     1981.
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Last modified: November 27, 2007