SB 531 Requires employees to pay certain costs of their PERS

SB 531 VOTE:YES – Died In Committee

Status (overview) of bill:https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB531

This bill seeks to limit increases in public employer costs in PERS by requiring employees to pay administrative costs of their pension/benefits, capping final salary, and reducing the factor used in calculating member benefit

Personal Choice and Responsibility
Rolls out the individual accounts and directs contributions back into PERS.

Fiscal Responsibility
Designed to decrease future cost increases to PERS by eliminating the loophole to bump up retirement pay with high compensation in final 3 years of work – changes it to 5 years in 2025. It caps the annual salary used to calculate pension benefits from $200,000 to $100,000 after Jan. 1, 2020. It lowers the pension factor used to calculate benefits for service performed on and after January 1, 2020 to 1.2 percent of final average salary for every year worked. Directs Public Employees Retirement Board to recalculate employer contribution rates to reflect savings attributable to Act.

Limited Government
The individual accounts were set up like 401k accounts to help change public perception, but it didn’t address the problem by not changing how retirement benefits are calculated. This bill addresses the benefit calculation with limits, and brings control of contributions and fund crediting back to PERS. Provides for expedited review of Act by Supreme Court upon petition by adversely affected party.