Have you read your State Enabling Legislation? Presented by: Linda Yelverton, LA Mary Griffin, TN

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1 Have you read your State Enabling Legislation? Presented by: Linda Yelverton, LA Mary Griffin, TN 63 rd Annual NCSSSA Conference Philadelphia, PA July 29,

2 History of Section 218 Louisiana enabling legislation 1935 Original Social Security Act approved August 14, 1935 provided NO coverage for State and local government employees Social Security Act was amended with Section 218 which allowed states to voluntarily elect Social Security coverage for public employees NOT already covered under a retirement plan. (Non Retirement System Group) 2

3 Louisiana enabling legislation 1952 Act 204 of the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature was Louisiana s enabling legislation. I think SSA provided the States with a template and each state edited it to fit their state Section 218 coverage! 1954 Legislation made coverage available to employees who were members of a retirement system, at the election of the employer and employees through a majority vote referendum procedure. 3

4 Louisiana enabling legislation 1956 Legislation provided for divided vote referendum procedures, at the election of the employer and employee. This option was made available to nine states that originally requested it. Twenty-three states presently have this authority. (Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington & Wisconsin. 4

5 Louisiana enabling legislation Louisiana s statutes were amended in 1952, 1953, 1955, 1958 and No revisions had been made since 1961! 5

6 2004 Louisiana was added as a named state under federal law, to allow divided referendums for public employees under P.L enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president on March 2,

7 Louisiana Act 280 of Louisiana had to go back to the legislature for state enabling legislation if we were to hold divided vote referenda! Act 280 of 2004 Regular Session cleaned up Louisiana laws and enabled the State to hold Divided Vote Referenda. Changed Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to Commissioner of Social Security, deleted the abolished Public Employees Board, added definitions for modification, Agreement and Plan, deleted termination language, deleted contribution fund and all references to collection and liability, etc... 7

8 Divided Vote Medicare Only referenda Louisiana conducted divided vote Medicare Only referendum for all state employees. I voted yes, and I will have my 40 Medicare credits as of 2005! When I turn age 65 I will be a retiree with Medicare. 8

9 Tennessee OASI enabling legislation 1951 Tennessee passed OASI enabling legislation. The legislation established the OASI office and mandated that political subdivisions pay the state agency based on the number of its employees. The office was given a $15,000 yearly appropriation. The Act enabled counties to come under Federal Social Security for counties that chose to come under the Act. 9

10 Tennessee OASI enabling legislation Tennessee made few significant changes to its enabling legislation over the years. Some of the changes that were made included: 1961 Granted retroactive social security coverage back to 1956 to conform to federal law Provided that sick payments made on account of actual sickness or accident disability would be excluded from wages and payment of social security. 10

11 Tennessee OASI enabling legislation 1981 Changed the Health, Education and Welfare office to Health and Human Services Federal law prohibited political subdivisions from withdrawing from social security April 20, 1983 but Tennessee did not amend its enabling legislation until

12 History of Social Security The SSA website has an extensive history of social security available at the following link: 12

13 Tennessee OASI enabling legislation There were many changes to the federal law including the IRS taking over collection of state and local government employee FICA taxes. Prior to January 1987, the State and local entities turned the money over to the State Administrator who then turned the collected taxes over to SSA by depositing the funds in the nearest Federal Reserve Bank. Tennessee s enabling legislation was not amended to reflect this major change until

14 Tennessee OASI enabling legislation Process for rewriting the statute included listening to the legislative tapes going back to 1951 to determine why certain provisions were in the statute. I reviewed the statutes of several other states and ended up modeling some of my language on Louisiana since they are also in Treasury and their statute language was similar. 14

15 Tennessee 2013 enabling legislation Added definitions such as Agreement, Employer, Modification for clarity Changed language referring to the state making payments to the secretary of the treasury to the employer paying the IRS Removed language referring to the State OASI contribution fund and substituted language to reflect the IRS collection of FICA taxes Removed language regarding the collection of administrative costs from the political subdivisions 15

16 Tennessee 2013 enabling legislation Removed language about the exclusion of Sick payments from wages Added language delegating the governor s signature authority and supervision of referenda to the state treasurer and allowing the treasurer to designate an individual to administer OASI and supervise referenda. 16

17 Provision to allow for electronic filing and signatures The SSA office in Baltimore has opined that a State OASI office should have an Attorney General opinion or legislation in place to keep certain records in electronic format only. I researched the Federal and State laws on electronic filing to ensure compliance and drafted the following language: The state social security administrator may implement procedures for the filing and retention of social security documents by electronic means and may authorize electronic signatures in the signing of such documents. 17

18 Provision to allow for electronic filing and signatures If a document is filed by electronic means pursuant to this section, the electronic record and the electronic signature of the person who executes the same shall be binding on all persons. The use of an electronic signature shall have the same validity and effect as the use of a signature affixed by hand. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: 18

19 Provision to allow for electronic filing and signatures Electronic means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities; Electronic record means information which is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means; Electronic signature means an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record. 19

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21 Questions Are there any questions! Linda Yelverton (225) Mary Griffin (615)