House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Recent enactments by the General Assembly have established important education and training requirements for members and designees of the SERS’ and PSERS’ boards of trustees. Needless to say, the members and designees of the SERS’ and PSERS’ boards of trustees have a great deal of responsibility as fiduciaries of these two large statewide pension systems.   
 

Likewise, Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (PMRS) board members, county and local pension system board members and other officials and individuals who stand in a fiduciary relationship to public funds play a vital role in managing these funds for their beneficiaries.  
 

Given the impact that these fiduciaries have on the financial wellbeing of so many Pennsylvanians, I believe that they should receive training in fiduciary law.  An understanding of fiduciary law is vitally important given that board members and trustees of pension funds and state fiduciary funds are called on to make decisions regarding investments, governance, funding and benefits.   
 

This legislation – which passed the House unanimously as HB2010 of the prior session – would require any trustee, board member or other appointed or elected official who stands in a fiduciary relationship to a state, county or local pension system, or to a fund of the Commonwealth, to obtain two hours of initial training and one hour of annual training in fiduciary law.  Additionally, this bill would provide for payment of legal fees in certain circumstances for fiduciaries who incur expenses in defending themselves in legal actions related to their fiduciary duties.
  

Please consider cosponsoring this timely and important legislation.