The regular session that started January 9, 2017, is wrapped up except for a ceremonial adjournment. All 20 bills of the ATRS legislative package are now laws.
ATRS is extremely grateful for the help and assistance in the passage of the ATRS legislative package. ATRS would again like to express appreciation to all members of the General Assembly. The following list of legislators who sponsored or presented legislation on behalf of ATRS went above and beyond what could be expected to assist ATRS. Retirement legislation is always complex and difficult to sponsor. These legislators made a special effort to help ATRS:
Senator Ronald Caldwell
Senator Eddie Cheatham
Senator John Cooper
Senator Bart Hester
Senator Jeremy Hutchinson
Senator Bill Sample
Senator Bruce Maloch
Representative Bruce Coleman
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Representative John Maddox
Representative Johnny Rye
Representative Douglas House
Representative Les Warren
This update will preview information coming in two (2) executive director updates that will be provided in the next ten (10) days or so. The first update will highlight the new T-DROP interest rates for the upcoming fiscal year that starts on July 1, 2017. The interest rate payable for the upcoming fiscal year is five percent (5%) for regular T-DROP accounts. Based upon a strong investment return, the board set regular T-DROP interest at five percent (5%). For members participating in post ten (10) year T-DROP, the interest rate will be six percent (6%) for the upcoming fiscal year. The second upcoming executive director update emphasizes the executive director's focus on speaking at schools and other ATRS employers throughout the state. A typical program would be the executive director would begin speaking after school is over, providing a summary of ATRS programs and benefits, with a question and answer format until all questions and areas of interest to the audience are covered. It is not uncommon after the first meeting that a smaller group stays for more of a roundtable discussion about more individualized topics that might affect members. The executive director update will encourage more to participate in these special forums.
Remember the ATRS website allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Now approximately 10,100 members have direct account access to individualized account information. Here is the link to the instructions to sign up: https://www.artrs.gov/welcome.
You can also sign up to obtain these executive director updates through your private email address. Updates are made throughout the year such as at retirement season and other times when information needs to be shared. Now, over 14,700 people have signed up to receive this executive director update by direct email delivery. You can find the link to sign up for email delivery to these updates here: https://www.artrs.gov/login. It is always a great pleasure for ATRS staff to learn of more ways to provide information to ATRS members, employers, beneficiaries, government officials, and the public. The ATRS Board is committed to providing a system that is member friendly and transparent.
You can also get helpful ATRS information on the ATRS Facebook page under the name of Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. Over 3,300 Facebook users get updates via the ATRS Facebook page. Go to the Facebook page and "like" ATRS to get daily updates. I try to go to the Facebook page every day to post information and answer member questions about ATRS. In addition, if you use Twitter, you can join over 800 others by following events at ATRS and issues of interest on the ATRS Twitter page. Remember that ATRS is here to serve you! If you have questions, email me or call.
Respectfully,
George Hopkins
(501) 682-1820 Office
(501) 318-5998 Cell
georgeh@artrs.gov
Click on the following document for more information:
2. Bill Summary