Bill Allen — Bill Allen is first noted during roll call as Vice Chair Allen, then speaks in support of the bill by addressing repayment and overpayment recovery issues and outlining four main provisions: retroactive benefits, lump-sum payments, stopping benefits in homicide-related cases, and restricting political spending.
Mark Boyko — Mark Boyko is noted as present for roll call and then welcomed by the committee as the new minority ranking member. During the introduction, the speaker briefly corrects the pronunciation of his name, and he is referenced again in the same welcome context.
Mark Boyko — Representative Mark Boyko responds to an earlier question about overpayments, explaining from his experience that overpayments do occur and are typically addressed through repayment. He then adds a brief personal aside about being a former member of the Illinois bowling team before yielding to Representative Steinhoff.
Mark Boyko — Representative Boyko asks whether the governing plan documents contain the same prohibition on political advocacy.
Bob Bromley — Called during the roll call.
Bob Bromley — Asked for an example of how overpayments could occur in well-controlled annuity-type pension plans.
Bob Bromley — Representative Bromley questioned how terminated members’ lump-sum buyouts would be calculated, asking whether a buyout is currently offered and whether the discount should be tied to the system’s funded ratio. He argued that, for fairness, if the system is funded at 71%, members should receive 71% of the actuarial present value of their lump sum.
Doug Clemens — Present for the roll call.
Doug Clemens — Representative Doug Clemens raises concerns about the bill’s treatment of retirement and survivor benefits, questioning the 10-year correction gap, the fairness of suspending benefits upon a charge rather than a conviction, and the due process and constitutional implications of that approach. He asks whether any retirees have faced repayment demands beyond 10 years and what impact that had, acknowledges he does not have the data, and suggests the loggers witness may be able to provide more information. He then returns to the issue from a local government perspective, describing how active and vocal loggers were in city council settings and noting that their presence could materially influence votes, underscoring the importance of communications and advocacy around pension-related matters.
Willard Haley — Present for the roll call.
Martin Jacobs — Called during the roll call.
Martin Jacobs — The speaker said she had intended to ask Representative Steinmeyer a question but forgot.
Mike Jones — Mike Jones is noted as present, welcomed as a new committee member, and then jokingly teased by the speaker, who says he should not join the bowling team because the speaker has seen him bowl.
Ann Kelley — Present for the roll call.
Mike McGirl — Called during the roll call.
Bill Owen — Called during the roll call.
Rodger Reedy — Called during the roll call.
Rodger Reedy — The chair addressed Representative Reedy as the member asking questions about funding levels.
Kathy Steinhoff — Called during the roll call.
Kathy Steinhoff — Representative Kathy Steinhoff says she likes the bill because it gives pension systems flexibility and keeps them out of political advocacy, but she also notes that pension systems provide valuable member education through newsletters and emails. She expresses concern that the bill’s language could chill or discourage that educational role, especially regarding ballot measures, and asks whether the language could be clarified to preserve systems’ ability to educate members about the impacts of ballot measures.
Kathy Steinhoff — The witness acknowledges Representative Kathy Steinhoff’s concern about the potential for advocacy issues in newsletters and similar communications, noting that the concern is understood and referencing the broader issue of what kinds of advocacy may be problematic in such materials.
Connie Steinmetz — Connie Steinmetz was present for the roll call and was confirmed as having been added to the committee.
Ms. Speeler — A witness identified as Ms. Speeler was asked to make sure the lights were on.
Abby Spieler — Abby Spieler identified herself as Executive Director of the Missouri State Employees Retirement System and began explaining the bill's provisions.
Ms. Spieler — The chair referred back to Ms. Spieler while raising a prior overpayment issue.
Greta Bassett Seymour — Greta Bassett Seymour introduced herself as the Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel for the Missouri Department of Transportation and Patrol Employees Retirement System, clarified the acronym as EMPERS, and then began describing the system’s size, noting it has about 19,000 members, roughly half of whom are active.
HB1092 — The witness says the buyout provision in HB 1092 would make a temporary 2018 buyout permanent.