A proposal to merge Denver Public Schools’ retirement system with the state system received initial approval in the Senate on Tuesday with the help of some high-profile Republicans.
A merger has been discussed for several years, but talks have fallen through or proposals have died.
Senate Bill 282 would make DPS’s 14,500-member system a separate division in the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, which has 400,000 members.
The merger also would allow teachers to move between systems without losing pension benefits.
DPS is the only school district in Colorado with its own pension plan.
Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said one reason he backed DPS is the district “is doing the Lord’s work, tackling the sacred cows that stand in the way of school reform.”
But Penry amended the bill to require both the district’s and state’s retirement systems to return to the legislature next year with proposals on how to keep solvent.
“The unfunded liabilities of PERA and DPS are exploding, in substantial part because of what is happening with the stock market,” he said.
Penry and Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, supported the measure, while Republican Sens. Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch and Greg Brophy of Wray led the fight against it.
Harvey and Brophy argued taxpayers statewide would be stuck paying for a pension that was intended to be paid for by Denver taxpayers.
But the sponsor, Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, said DPS would be in charge of its own liabilities and is better funded than PERA.
Over years, the funding amounts by DPS and other districts would eventually match.
The measure moves to the House.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
