Notes to the Financial Statements
June 30, 2008
Note 24 New Accounting Pronouncements
In fiscal year 2008, the State implemented the following Statements issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board: Statement No. 45, "Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions"; and Statement No. 50, "Pension Disclosures."
Statement No. 45 provides new guidance regarding the treatment of postemployment benefits other than pensions (OPEB). For example, healthcare and life insurance benefits. The Statement establishes standards for the measurement, recognition, and display of OPEB expense/expenditures and related liabilities (assets), note disclosures, and, if applicable, required supplementary information (RSI) in the financial reports of state and local governmental employers.
Statement No. 50 requires that the funded status of defined benefit pension plans as of the most recent actuarial valuation date be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. It also requires that actuarial methods and significant assumptions used in the most recent actuarial valuation be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements instead of in notes to RSI.