Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement

The Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) is a commission of fourteen legislators, split evenly between the House and Senate, who meet shortly before and during the legislative sessions to consider pension and retirement topics and proposed legislation that impacts the retirement of public employees in the State of Minnesota. The LCPR’s primary focus is on the pension and defined contribution plans for public employees and the retirement plans administered by volunteer firefighter relief associations.

The standing state government committees in the House and Senate typically do not take up pension and retirement bills until after they have been considered and approved by the LCPR. After introduction, bills referred to these committees are sent to the LCPR. If the chair of the LCPR decides to consider a bill, the LCPR will take testimony and return the bill to the committees with a recommendation, often as part of a larger pension and retirement bill.

The Work of the Commission

The LCPR’s responsibilities include the following:

• Take testimony and make recommendations on proposed legislation;
• Study and take testimony on proposed pension benefit changes and related topics and changes in federal law applicable to pensions and retirement;
• Exercise oversight of the state’s public defined benefit and defined contribution plans, including the approximately 500 firefighter relief association plans;
• Review the annual actuarial valuations and periodic experience studies of the statewide and major local public pension plans; and
• Assess the sufficiency of current public pension plan funding and recommend appropriate adjustments to contributions, funding, or benefits.

Commission Staff

The LCPR’s three-person staff, with offices in the Centennial Office Building, assists the chair with meeting agendas and materials, performs research and legal and policy analysis on pension and retirement issues, and drafts bills for legislators. The LCPR’s website (lcpr.mn.gov) and database maintained by staff are repositories of information and documents related to public pension plans and select retirement topics.