The Louisiana Retired State Employees Association filed a lawsuit against the state of Louisiana, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Louisiana State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy, claiming a new cash balance plan for state employees is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, contends that Act 483 creating the new cash balance plan is unconstitutional due to the state House of Representatives voting for its passage with less than a two-thirds majority.
The suit alleges that at least 70 representatives needed to vote for the bill for passage, and that the 68 votes it received on May 30 to move the bill to the Louisiana Senate was not sufficient due to Louisiana Constitution Article X, Section 29 (F), which requires a two-thirds majority “to enact benefit provisions for members of any public retirement system which have an actuarial cost,” according to a news release.
“We don't think the bill was passed in a constitutional fashion,” said Frank L. Jobert Jr., executive director of the Louisiana Retired State Employees Association, in a telephone interview. “That is the predominant issue we're attacking.”
The cash balance plan was signed into law by Mr. Jindal for selected employees hired on or after July 1 in the $13.7 billion Louisiana Teachers' Retirement System, the $9.3 billion Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, and the $1.4 billion Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System, all of Baton Rouge
The law excludes members of the Hazardous Duty Services Plan in the Louisiana state employees pension fund and excludes all but post-secondary teachers and school employees in their respective retirement systems.
Mr. Jindal's office did not respond to inquiries by press time.