HB655 Summary

• Amends Section 36-26-14 of the Code of Alabama 1975 to authorize the State of Alabama Personnel Board to adopt tax-deferred annuity and deferred compensation plans for state employees.

• Removes the requirement that plans be recommended by the Alabama State Employees Association, allowing the Personnel Board independent authority to establish and maintain such plans.

• Authorizes the Personnel Board to arrange for efficient investment, trustee, administrative, and professional services, with plans operating at no cost to the state except for incidental administrative expenses and payroll processing.

• Expands allowable plan provisions to include participant loans, unforeseeable emergency distributions, Roth deferrals, rollovers, transfers to purchase service credit, and distributions for retired public safety officer health insurance.

• Establishes that all plan assets are held exclusively for the benefit of plan participants and their beneficiaries, and declares each plan to be a trust created by statute.