The new County Employees Retirement System (CERS) Board of Trustees had an opportunity to introduce themselves on Thursday. A CERS transition ad hoc committee met to discuss the upcoming restructuring of the Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS) into the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) and the separation of the KRS Board of Trustees and CERS Board of Trustees.
Governor Andy Beshear appointed three new members to the CERS board earlier this week. You can read more on that here. On Thursday, KRS swore in former Christian County Attorney Mike Foster as the final trustee. He represents the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) on the current KRS board and will transition to the new CERS board when it takes effect on April 1.
All nine members of the CERS Board of Trustees are:
- Betty Pendergrass – CERS elected
- Joe Brothers – gubernatorial appointee with retirement experience
- Mike Foster – gubernatorial appointee with retirement experience
- J.T. Fulkerson – gubernatorial appointee with retirement experience
- Jerry Powell – CERS elected
- David Rich – CERS elected
- Bill O’Mara – gubernatorial appointee with investment experience
- Brian Dineen – gubernatorial appointee with investment experience
- Merl Hackbart – gubernatorial appointee with investment experience
The legislature passed House Bill 484 in the 2020 session to establish independent governance for CERS. House Bill 9, currently awaiting a vote in the Senate, is this year’s follow-up measure. The KLC initiative creates separate statutory structures for CERS and the state’s pension systems. You can read more on House Bill 9 here.
The CERS ad hoc committee plans to meet every Thursday morning until the April 1 transition to discuss key issues such as board structure and organization, plan management, investment management, and administrative policies.
