Bill to Close CO PERA Rejected by House Committee

February 9, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A bill proposing the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) be closed and a defined contribution plan be implemented instead was rejected by the state house's Business Affairs and Labor Committee.

The Rocky Mountain News reports that the committee voted 11-2 to indefinitely postpone the bill proposed by Representative Joe Stengel.   The bill had proposed that all new employees be placed in a defined contribution plan, and also defined conditions under which pension benefits would be reduced for currently active employees.

PERA has more than 378,000 active, inactive, and retired members, and is underfunded by more than $11 billion, according to the news report.

The Stengel bill was one of three reform bills that have been introduced in 2006.   Senator Bill Owen introduced the first on January 31 (See  PERA Reform Bill Introduced in CO Legislature).   PERA’s own reform bill was introduced in the Legislature on Wednesday of this week, the news report said.

A summary of all three reform measures can be seen  here .

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