State lawmakers will receive the legislative audit report Wednesday morning. It says that two public retirement plans are not actuarially sound, meaning the plans will take longer than the 30 years required by law to have enough money to cover the cost of anticipated future retirements.
During the 2017 regular legislative session, bills to increase the funding of the Game Wardens and Peace Officers retirement system, by increasing employer and employee contributions, were proposed, but none passed.
Over the last year, the Highway Patrol Officer’s retirement system fell below the required 30-year amortization period. That’s because pension managers are decreasing the amount they expect to earn from retirement fund investments.
Although the legislative audit report says these two systems are not actuarially sound, the audit does not include recommendations for improvement to the state public pension board. However the audit does mention previous recommendations for the Public Employees’ Retirement Board to continue working with the Legislature to fund the state’s retirement obligations.
State pension managers anticipate introducing legislation that aims to bring more money into currently unfunded pension obligations during the 2019 session.
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