Colorado taxpayers would be off the hook for helping to cut the $32 billion unfunded liability in the state’s public-pension system, according to the first major change approved to the Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) reform bill.
The much-contested bill, which has been called urgent and vital to the state’s economy by both Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature, received its first approval Tuesday from the Senate Finance Committee. Unaffiliated Sen. Cheri Jahn joined with Republicans to move Senate Bill 200 onto the Senate Appropriations Committee over the objection of Sen. Lois Court, D-Denver.
The wide-ranging bill increases the retirement age for workers, decreases cost-of-living increases and allows more workers to choose a 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan instead of the defined-benefit plant that traditionally has aided PERA beneficiaries. As originally introduced by Republican Sens. Jack Tate of Centennial and Kevin Priola of Henderson, the bill also sought to bolster the pension fund by increasing worker contributions by 3 percent and contributions from employers — the state government, school districts and some municipal governments — by 2 percent.
However, Tate on Thursday pulled from the bill the requirement that employers increase their contributions to the PERA fund after a number of witnesses at Tuesday’s 4-1/2-hour hearing said this isn't feasible for some of the school districts and cities paying into the system. Tom Boasberg, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, said, for example, that having to up its contributions to employees’ retirement accounts would cost DPS $55 million — the equivalent of employing 700 teachers.
