5902 - Administrative duties of the board.
§ 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. References in Text. The act of June 21, 1957 (P.L.390, No.212), referred to as the Right-to-Know Law, referred to in subsec. (e)(2), was repealed by the act of Feb. 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law.