Rep. Jim Wilson, R-Salida. (CGA)
Rep. Lois Court, D-Denver, (CGA)
A Denver Public Schools pension bill that was killed in a GOP-controlled Senate committee amid allegations Republicans were worried about former DPS superintendent Michael Bennet’s U.S. Senate race was quietly re-introduced in the House this week.
House Bill 1392, which would allow DPS to make the same payment into the state pension fund as other school districts, received initial approval Friday evening, and is scheduled to be voted on Monday morning. Reps. Jim Wilson, a Salida Republican who is a former school superintendent, and Lois Court, a Denver Democrats, sponsored the measure.
They sponsored the original bill, House Bill 1251, which sailed through the House on a 55-9 vote, in the Senate committee with little debate or discussion.
“We’ll see what happens,” Court said.
Backers told The Denver Post that Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, told them national Republicans didn’t want to see a bill passed that potentially could help Bennet, a Democrat up for re-election next year. Hill responded his chief concern is the solvency is a “real ticking time bomb,” but he acknowledged people told him they had concerns about “some bad deals that were cut” when Bennet oversaw Denver schools.
Those deals became . He maintained then those deals actually benefited DPS, whose retirement obligations now are 86 percent fulfilled, compared to other school districts, which are at 64 percent. DPS is now paying around $23 million extra into the retirement fund; the bills would allow them to pay the same rate as other schools. A 2009 bill allowing DPS to join the state retirement system required the extra payment and an evaluation in five years. That evaluation showed DPS should actually be paying less into PERA than other school districts, but the bills require the same payments.
During the House hearing in March, Wilson urged passage of the bill and referenced state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, who has long warned lawmakers about PERA.
“The state treasurer supports this bill, and everyone knows where he stands on PERA unfunded liability issues,” Wilson said. “So that should clarify this.”
If the House passes the measure on Monday, it goes to the Senate in a time crunch. The legislature must adjourn by midnight Wednesday.
