A Solution to Colorado’s $32 Billion Unfunded Pension Liability Passes House Finance
Senate Bill 200 cleared more hurdles at the legislature this week when it passed out of the House Finance Committee on a vote of 10-3 Monday and yesterday passed out of House Appropriations.
Addressing the state’s $32 billion unfunded pension liability is a top priority for the Chamber this legislative session, and although we are concerned that some of the amendments and ideas discussed could potentially undermine the strong legislation that was introduced in the Senate, we are encouraged to see that the bill has passed both House Finance and House Appropriations and has been referred to the House floor.
The committee heard hours of testimony on Monday from numerous interested parties including Chamber President and CEO Kelly Brough.
“What I think is encouraging is the sense of urgency we have around needing to address PERA in this session. This is the state’s largest liability and fastest growing liability,” Brough said.
The governor has requested a $225 million annual contribution from the state budget to the pension fund. While we are supportive of this contribution, we feel strongly that the principle of shared sacrifice (as outlined in our letter to the legislature) is not fully realized if we only focus on resolving this liability through state funding. We believe it should occur with the financial support of employers, current and future employees and retirees. No one group should bear the burden of fixing the unfunded liability. Combining the $225 million annual contribution with increased contributions from all parties can ensure stability in the system much more quickly.
Additionally, it was encouraging to see that the legislature remains supportive of creating an oversight committee that is more responsive when issues, particularly financial challenges, arise for PERA. The legislature is the only entity that can change benefits and funding for PERA and we believe the legislature must improve its oversight and responsiveness when economic conditions require significant changes be made.
The bill has yet to be scheduled for hearing on the House floor but we will continue to closely monitor the progress of this bill.
New Policy Positions
The Chamber has weighed in on six bills:
The Chamber supports:
- Emergency Employment Support Services Pilot Program DOLA (HB18-1310)
- Public Education Accountability System (HB18-1355)
- Modify Laws Drilling Units Pooling Orders (SB18-230)
The Chamber opposes:
