Motion LCPR21-M1
______ moves the approval of changes to the actuarial assumptions used in the annual actuarial valuations of the following pension plans, effective beginning with the actuarial valuations as of July 1, 2021:
 - the Correctional Employees Retirement Plan, administered by the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS);
 - the State Patrol Retirement Plan, administered by MSRS;
 - the Judges Retirement Plan, administered by MSRS;
 - the Legislators Retirement Plan, administered by MSRS;
 - the Local Government Correctional Service Retirement Plan, administered by the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA); and
 - the Public Employees Police and Fire Plan, administered by PERA.
The approved changes are those identified in the attached letters from Erin Leonard, Executive Director of MSRS (four letters dated December 21, 2020), and Doug Anderson, Executive Director of PERA (one letter dated January 21, 2021), which request approval by Commission and state that the assumption changes were recommended by Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company (GRS), the plans’ actuary, and approved by the respective governing board.  
Note from Commission staff:
Under Minnesota Statutes, Section 356.215, Subdivision 18, changes to actuarial assumptions must be approved by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement if they are to take effect for the next annual actuarial valuation for the affected plan.  If the Commission takes no action on the request, the assumptions take effect a year after the date the proposed assumption changes were received by the Commission.  
The need for changes in the actuarial assumptions are a result of the experience studies conducted by GRS for each of the plans for the period July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2019, copies of which were delivered to the Commission and have been made publicly available on the LCPR website (www.lcpr.leg.mn/experience.htm).  The experience studies compared actual experience with the assumptions in effect and identified changes that needed to be made to align the assumptions with actual experience.
Depending on the plan, actuarial assumptions to be changed include:
Price inflation rates
Merit and seniority rates
Early retirement rates
Mortality tables
Payroll growth rates
Normal retirement rates
Disability rates
Mortality improvement scale
Salary increase rates
Withdrawal rates