2019 Public Policy and Position Statement Slate

Percent Funded position statement, nominated 9/27/2019 by Roy Helsing and Mike McDermott. Liaison, Roy Helsing.

Public Policy and Position Statement Process

Selecting Position Statements and Public Policies

Association of Professional Reserve Analysts adheres to a process for adopting public policies and position statements. Our public policies and position statements address topics affecting Reserve Study providers and Reserve Study recipients as well as providing legislative guidance. Members suggest and develop public policies and positions statements.

Approach

Association of Professional Reserve Analysts Board, committee, or member may initiate the public policy and position statement process. Policies and positions focus on our mission and values which improve Reserve Study quality and benefit Reserve Study clients. Flexibility and adaptability which acknowledges situational differences and alternative methods is encouraged. Policies and positions are intended to be compliant and aligned with statutes and regulations. However, statutes and regulations vary from US state to state and Canadian province to province and are subject to change. Those changes could impact APRA’s goal of compliance and alignment. Standards of Practice which evolve from adopted policies and positions are introduced to the Standards of Practice via the standards committee.

Roles

• Nominator: Member or members, committee, or Board who nominates, champions, develops, and authors the position statement or public policy.
• Board Liaison: Board member assigned to a nominated topic who is only responsible to monitor progress for the Board and deliver feedback from the Board.
• Staff: Receives and forwards topic nominations to the Board. Maintains the slate of nominated topics on the APRA website. Solicits and gathers membership feedback. Publishes adopted position statements and public policies on the website. Disseminates adopted policy and position news on social media.
• Board: Reviews and adopts position statements and public policies. Notifies the membership of adopted position statements and public policies.

Process

Topic Nomination

A member, committee, or Board nominates the public policy or position statement topic which initiates the process and moves that topic to the slate. That member, committee or Board submits to staff a topic title with brief explanation and rational for the topic. Staff forwards the nomination to the Board who accepts the nomination, assigns a Board member liaison, and places the topic on the slate.

Topic Development

The nominating member, committee or Board then becomes the sponsor responsible for gathering membership consensus, collecting data, performing analysis, reviewing applicable statutes and regulations, and drafting the document. The liaison reports progress to the Board and delivers Board feedback to the sponsor. The sponsor submits the draft document to the Board via the liaison.

Content

A position that solves a problem and is backed by arguments and citations supporting that position. Problem identification and how the position solves that problem and benefits the audience. Considerations for and descriptions of applicability, roles, responsibilities, scope, pros/cons, contrasts, exceptions, alternatives, timing, etc.

Open Comment

The Board receives and reviews the draft document and either accepts it for open comment or returns it to the sponsor with instructions for further development. When the Board accepts the draft, the Board directs staff to disseminate the draft to the membership for an open comment period not exceeding 45 days. Staff compiles membership feedback and provides that feedback to the Board. Upon open comment completion, the Board either returns the draft to the sponsor with instructions for further development, or the draft is moved to the Board for action.

Adoption

The Board takes the draft under consideration and either rejects or adopts the draft. Upon adoption, the Board directs staff to publish the adopted document on the website and inform the membership as to the adopted public policy or position statement. Staff will also announce the adopted position or policy on social media and within the APRA newsletter.