The Georgia Senate Committee on Retirement is slated to review a bill that will impact the fiduciary duties related to investing state retirement plan assets.
HB481 was introduced Feb. 16 by Republican state Rep. John Carson to the Georgia House of Representatives, which passed it Feb. 26.
HB481 seeks to amend the Public Retirement Systems Investment Authority Law to, among other things, "provide for a fiduciary duty to invest retirement assets solely in the financial interests of participants and their beneficiaries."
Such duties, the bill states, "shall not subordinate the interests of the participants and their beneficiaries or sacrifice investment returns or accept increased investment risks in the promotion of any nonpecuniary interests." Such "nonpecuniary interests" are defined as, among other things, the "furtherance of any social, political, or ideological interests."
Carson said in a statement that "this bill simply codifies fiduciary duty rules as adopted in October 2022 by both of Georgia's main retirement plans, our Teachers Retirement System and our Employees' Retirement System."
Carson added he did not know when the Senate committee will consider the bill.
A spokesperson for the Georgia Senate said the bill is currently in the Senate Committee on Retirement, but has yet to be heard.
Georgia Teachers Retirement System, Atlanta, had about $91.9 billion in assets as of June 30, 2022, the most recent data available. Georgia Employees' Retirement System, Atlanta had $19.2 billion as of Jan. 31, 2024, according to the agenda of its Feb. 15 meeting.
