Ice Miller lawyers Audra Ferguson, Nicole Giambarrese, and Lisa Harrison will be speaking at two separate concurrent sessions at the 2026 National Association Public Pension Attorneys Legal Education Conference. You must be an active NAPPA member to attend.

Click here to view the full agenda.

Ice Miller Presentations:

Session B: Federal Garnishments and IRS Levies (Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.)

This session will focus on public pension systems’ anti-alienation clauses and how some are finding ways around those laws, and the problems it creates tax- and other- wise for retirement systems. Learn how retirement systems are handling the appropriation of contributions from active member accounts using federal garnishment orders among others.

Moderator/Presenter:

• Laurie McKinnon, General Counsel, Kansas Public Employees Retirement System

Presenters:

• Audra Ferguson, Partner, Ice Miller
• Kevin Wakley, Director, Legal & Compliance - Pension, Teacher Retirement System of Texas

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Session A: Tax 201 (Thursday, June 18, 2026, 1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.)

This is an advanced discussion of tax issues for qualified governmental plans. The session will provide an overview of impermissible cash or deferred arrangements, the limit under Code Section 401(a)(17), special rollover considerations under Code Section 401(a)(31) and 402, the intricacies of the limits under Code Sections 415(b) and (c), and considerations related to qualified excess benefit arrangements under Code Section 415(m).

Moderator/Presenter:

• Megan Peitzmeier, Senior Staff Attorney, Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association

Presenters:

• Nicole Giambarrese, Partner, Ice Miller
• Lisa Harrison, Senior Counsel, Ice Miller

CLE Credits:

NAPPA will apply for CLE accreditation for the Legal Education Conference. There is no guarantee every state will accredit the program for the total amount of hours requested. Accreditation requirements vary from state-to-state.