Key Committees & Agencies

Congressional Committees

The congressional committees with direct jurisdiction over pension tax measures that impact the retirement systems of state and local governments are the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.  The House Committee on Education & the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) have jurisdiction over corporate pension requirements as well as age discrimination requirements that impact both the public and private sectors.

The House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs have jurisdiction over investment laws. 

Federal Agencies

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (which is within the Treasury Department) are responsible for implementing and enforcing the tax laws passed by Congress – including the tax qualification requirements that must be met by pension plans of state and local government entities. 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the primary overseer and regulator of the U.S. securities markets, including securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisors, and mutual funds. The Chairman of the SEC, together with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), serves as a member of the President's Working Group on the Financial Markets.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing Federal laws aimed at preventing age discrimination.

Other

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act expanded the Municipal Security Rulemaking Board’s mission to include the protection of state and local governments and other municipal entities, including public pension plans, as well as expanded the MSRB's jurisdiction to include the regulation of municipal advisors. 

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for state and local governments in the U.S., including their retirement systems, are established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), an independent organization that is a component of the Financial Accounting Foundation.