Chapter 443
2012 -- S 2038
Enacted 06/25/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
EDUCATION - SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS
Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Sheehan, Bates, Ottiano, and Sosnowski
Date Introduced: January 11, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 16-2-9.5 of the General Laws in Chapter
16-2 entitled "School
Committees and
Superintendents" is hereby amended to read as follows:
16-2-9.5. Other post-employment benefits -- OPEB trusts. --
(a) Notwithstanding the
provisions of any general or special law, or the provisions of
any municipality's home rule
charter, to the contrary, for purposes of funding any
unfunded liability for other post-employment
benefits including, but not limited to, health care and dental
care benefits hereinafter referred to
as ("OPEB") in accordance with government
accounting standards board statements 43 and 45, a
school district, acting by its business manager or
superintendent, upon an approving resolution of
the school committee or school board as applicable, may
enter into a trust agreement between the
school district and a corporate trustee which shall be a
bank or trust company doing business in
the state., or a corporation established
pursuant to chapter 5 of title 45. This trust agreement shall
be in any form deemed proper by the business manager or
superintendent, and shall be executed
by its business manager or superintendent and
countersigned by the chair of the school committee
of the school district. It shall be lawful for any bank,
or trust company, or entity organized
pursuant to section 45-5-20.1 doing business in the state to act as a depository or
trustee under
this trust agreement, and to furnish indemnification and
pledge securities that may be required by
any school district.
(b) OPEB trust funds
shall be credited with all amounts appropriated or otherwise made
available by the school district for the purposes of meeting
the current and future OPEB costs
payable by the school district. OPEB trust funds shall also
be credited with all amounts
contributed or otherwise made available by employees of the
school district for the purpose of
meeting future OPEB costs payable by the school district.
Amounts in an OPEB trust fund,
including any earnings or interest accruing from the investment
of these amounts, shall be
expended only for the payment of the costs payable by the
school district for OPEB or as
otherwise permitted by the terms of the trust and applicable
law. The business manager or
superintendent, as applicable, shall invest or reinvest the amounts
in the OPEB trust fund in any
investment permitted for the state pension funds consistent with
the investment policies of the
state general treasurer's office.
(c) School districts
are hereby authorized to enter into agreements, trusts, contracts, and
other arrangements with the state and any of its
departments, agencies, boards or commissions
relating to the execution, management or operation of the OPEB
trust funds, including, but not
limited to, investments, and the state and its department,
agencies, boards and commissions are
hereby authorized to enter into such agreements, contracts
and other arrangements with school
districts. Notwithstanding any provisions of any general or
special law or principle of equity to
the contrary, the state shall have no liability to any
school district for entering into such
agreements. A school district may employ any qualified bank,
trust company, corporation, firm or
person to advise it on the investment of the OPEB trust fund
and may pay from the OPEB trust
fund for this advice and other services. Procurement for
these services shall be subject to the
procurement procedures and rules governing school districts in
state law.
(d) A school
district may employ any qualified bank, trust company, corporation, firm or
person to advise it on the investment of the OPEB trust fund
and may pay from the OPEB trust
fund for this advice and other services. Procurement for
these services shall be subject to the
procurement procedures and rules governing school districts and
municipalities in the state.
(e) School districts
are also hereby authorized to enter into agreements, trusts, contracts,
and other arrangements with any corporation created
pursuant to chapter 5 of title 45 relating to
the execution, management or operation of the OPEB trust
funds, including, but not limited to,
investments, and the corporations established pursuant to section
45-5-20.1 are hereby authorized
to enter into such agreements, contracts and other
arrangements with school districts.
(f)(d) Nothing contained herein
will prevent any school district from entering into
agreements with other school districts per section 16-2-9.2 for
the purposes of jointly pooling
their investments or collectively entering into an
agreement with a corporate trustee, as defined in
subsection (a) of this section.
(g)(e) Nothing herein shall be
construed to exempt OPEB trusts from the
Access to Public Records Act, RIGL
section 38-2-1 et seq.
SECTION 2. Chapter 45-5 of the General Laws entitled
"Councils and Governing
Bodies" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following section:
45-5-20.2. Power
of city and town councils and regional school districts to
jointly
establish a corporation to manage and operate OPEB trusts. – (a) Notwithstanding the
provisions of any general or special law to the contrary,
corporations established pursuant to
section 45-5-20.1 also shall have the power to manage and
operate such other post-employment
benefit (OPEB) trusts as are established pursuant to section
45-21-65 and section 16-2-9.5. Such
corporations shall have the powers set forth in section 45-5-20.1,
and shall have such additional
powers as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this
section.
(b) For the purpose
of OPEB trusts managed and operated pursuant to this section, the
corporation shall maintain discrete sub-trust accounts for each
of the participating entities setting
forth the contributions made by each participating entity,
the allocated income assigned to each
participating entity as it may be derived from investments and
other revenue sources, the funds
distributed to each participating entity for use in meeting its
OPEB obligations, each entity’s
allocated share of the administrative costs, including investment
management fees, for operating
the OPEB trust, and such other items as the directors of
the corporation hereby established shall
deem proper and necessary. Agreements made pursuant to
this section may provide for pooling of
administrative expenses, including investment management and
advisory services, associated
with the operation of the OPEB trust and sub-trusts.
(c) The corporation
shall ensure that a separate audit of OPEB trusts and sub-trusts is
performed annually, copies of which shall be provided to the
participating entities of the OPEB
trust and the auditor general.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00052
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