Utah will GRANDFATHER DB bennies for current employees/retirees and begin a new two-tiered pension program for new hires......

From John Curry, March 17, 2010

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14660830

State pension plan gets overhaul

By Robert Gehrke
Salt Lake Tribune, March 11, 2010

Public employees benefits in the state may never be the same -- at least for future hirees.

Grappling with a $6.5 billion hole in long-term obligations, lawmakers approved the most dramatic overhaul of the state retirement system in decades, mostly over the objections of government workers and their unions.

The changes would not affect current employees. But those hired after July 1, 2011, would no longer be eligible for the defined-benefit pension. Instead, they could choose between a slimmer 401(k)-style contributory benefit, or a hybrid system that offers a limited guaranteed benefit and a small 401(k).

The upshot is that the state would only pay 10 percent of future employees' wages toward retirement, compared with the 16 percent it pays now.

It was one of the few hard-fought public struggles this session, as thousands of public employees mobilizing against the change and its proponents warned of dire consequences if they were not adopted.

"I'm delighted," said Sen. Daniel Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, who spearheaded the retirement reform for the past year.

But critics said the Legislature moved too far too fast, arguing the market goes through cycles, and much of the problem would work itself out, given time.

They lost the argument.

The Legislature also passed a measure that seeks to eliminate future "double-dipping," in which retired employees who return to the work force would be able to draw a pension and a salary simultaneously.

A legislative audit found the practice would cost $897 million over the next decade.

Under the new provision, a retiree could return to public employment after a year, have the pension suspended and gain additional credit for the future.

Or the retiree could receive the pension and get no additional credit or payments into a 401(k).