COLUMBUS House and Senate approve state pension reform bills

Votes were overwhelming in both chambers.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Legislative leaders will have to decide how to resolve differences between state pension reform bills.
"The speaker and I are going to have to talk about that," Senate President Doug White said.
White, a Manchester Republican, said he would meet soon with House Speaker Larry Householder, a Glenford Republican, to decide how to proceed with the reform bills passed by the House and Senate on Thursday.
The Senate voted 27-6 and the House voted 81-13 to approve separate pension-reform bills.
The bills, sponsored by state Sen. Lynn Wachtmann, a Napoleon Republican, and state Rep. Michelle Schneider, a Cincinnati Republican, now proceed to the opposite chamber for consideration.
Senate version
The Senate-passed bill would change the makeup of the boards overseeing the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the Police and Fire Pension fund, the State Teachers Retirement System, the School Employees Retirement System and the Highway Patrol Retirement System.
The Senate-passed version would place the state treasurer on all five of the boards replacing the attorney general, who sits on four of the five. The attorney general would be given the power to investigate the retirement systems, under the Senate-passed bill.
The Senate bill also makes other changes to board composition, has removal provisions for board members convicted of malfeasance and licenses all key investment officers with the state.
& quot;It really is a comprehensive package, & quot; said Wachtmann, the Senate bill's sponsor.
Senators tabled Democratic amendments to restore the attorney general on the pension fund boards, to ban the attorney general from receiving campaign contributions from investment brokers and to give the state inspector general the authority to investigate the public pension funds.
Senate Minority Leader Gregory L. DiDonato, a Dennison Democrat, said he doesn't think the Senate bill goes far enough.
House version
The House-passed bill also makes changes to the retirement system boards -- namely that the state auditor and the attorney general would be removed from the pension boards while the state treasurer would be added.
The House also specifies that 70 percent of the investment trades by the retirement systems be carried out by securities dealers who've operated in Ohio at least three years, or are subject to Ohio taxes and employ at least five Ohio residents.
It also specifies that 50 percent of the pension funds managed outside the retirement systems be handled by investment managers either based in Ohio or have at least three Ohio locations and employ at least 15 Ohioans.
State officials termed the investment provisions "Buy Ohio."
The House bill includes a provision allowing the state treasurer to appoint the executive directors of the pension systems with the advice and consent of the pension boards after an eleventh-hour personal plea from Republican State Treasurer Joseph Deters.
State Rep. Kathleen Chandler, a Kent Democrat, was among the 13 House members to vote against the bill.
"I was concerned with the 'Buy Ohio' provisions," Chandler said. "It kind of interferes with what elective [pension] boards are supposed to do ... to get the best rate of interest."
Differences
White said he was unsure whether the so-called "Buy Ohio" provisions would be accepted Republican senators. Senate GOP leaders felt strongly that investment policy should be separated from reform policy, White said.
White said Republican senators are still discussing the House-passed provision that would allow the state treasurer the authority to appoint the executive directors of the public pension systems.
Both the House and Senate bills have different provisions requiring public pension board members and employees whose jobs deal with investment matters to file financial disclosure statements with the state.
Both bills also have different provisions requiring candidates running for the pension boards to file campaign contribution and expense reports with state officials.