Under a bill introduced Monday, workers in the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association would surrender 1 percent of their pay from future raises over the next three years to shore up the state’s largest pension plan.
Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley, said his bill – one of three reform bills expected this session – has the backing of the governor and the treasurer. It incorporates recommendations from a commission the treasurer convened on PERA reforms as well as reforms PERA has recommended.
“Over three years, that will be a $75 million influx into PERA,” Owen said.
The measure was assigned to the Senate Committee on State, Veterans and Military Affairs.
The extra money would allow PERA to shore up an $11 billion shortfall much more quickly and equitably than reforms in a PERA-backed bill that is expected to be introduced this week, Owen said.
The bill raises the retirement age of new hires to 60 and requires the PERA board to propose benefit reductions for them if the pension plan falls below 90 percent of the funds it needs to meet future obligations.
The bill creates a framework for determining when the plan is actuarially unsound. If that occurs for three years, board members would be replaced.
The Owen bill would replace PERA’s existing 16-member board of trustees with an 11-member board consisting of four working PERA members, a PERA retiree, four gubernatorial appointees with financial expertise, the state treasurer and the state auditor.
The bill also would require PERA to hire an internal auditor and for the state attorney general to advise the board instead of PERA’s in-house counsel.
PERA is planning to file its own reform bill in the near future.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
