That's OK....Laura says 'there's no urgency just yet'
From John Curry, April 17, 2010
That's easy for Laura to say...she doesn't have a spouse to insure through STRS (at retiree rates) like 20,000 STRS retirees, does she? John
"State Teachers Retirement System spokeswoman Laura Ecklar said the delay isn't likely to harm the system. It isn't planning for any of its changes to take effect until July 2011, which would mark the first phase of an increase in employee contributions, so there's no urgency just yet, Ecklar said."
Election delaying pension reform
Bill on funding of state workers’ retirements expected after Nov. 2
Saturday, April 17, 2010
By James Nash
By James Nash
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Election-year politics are holding up a solution to the funding woes faced by Ohio's public pension systems, the state's second-largest retirement plan said yesterday.
A bill that would stabilize funding for retirement systems for hundreds of thousands of retired teachers, police officers, school custodians, budget analysts and other government employees probably won't be introduced until after the November elections, according to the State Teachers Retirement System.
State pension leaders had hoped to have the bill on the floor early this year.
"This is a correction to the pension systems that is going to have some implications for current retirees, future pensioners, current taxpayers and future taxpayers," said state Rep. Todd Book, D-Portsmouth, who plans to sponsor the bill. "When it gets introduced, my goal is to get it right."
The economic downturn that began in 2008 battered the bottom lines of the state's five public pension systems. Even before that, some of the pension systems were struggling to keep up with costs related to the retirement of baby boomers, increased life expectancies and health care. Three of the pension systems - the State Teachers Retirement System, the Highway Patrol Retirement System and the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund - are out of compliance with the state law requiring them to have enough assets to cover their obligations for 30 years.
The legislation is supposed to ensure the long-term solvency of the retirement plans through a variety of measures, some unpopular. Existing teachers and school districts would be required to pay more toward teacher pensions. Cities and counties would pay more toward police and firefighter retirements, as would the employees. Retirement ages would be raised for nearly all public employees.
The proposed changes have been approved by pension-system boards but have drawn opposition from some Republican lawmakers and the Ohio Municipal League. They object to squeezing cities and school districts for higher contributions.
In a regular update to members, the State Teachers Retirement System said the pension fixes likely will be delayed for months.
"Because of the politics surrounding the November elections, it is becoming more and more unlikely a bill will be introduced before November," the message said.
Book, who must leave the House because of term limits, said he's unaware of any specific political holdups. But he acknowledged that the pension fixes could be held hostage as the governor and other statewide officeholders are up for re-election.
State Teachers Retirement System spokeswoman Laura Ecklar said the delay isn't likely to harm the system. It isn't planning for any of its changes to take effect until July 2011, which would mark the first phase of an increase in employee contributions, so there's no urgency just yet, Ecklar said.
The Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, on the other hand, had planned for the first phase of the increase in employee contributions to kick in this year.
Aristotle L. Hutras, director of the Ohio Retirement Study Council, which advises the state and public officials, said the pension systems remain in solid fiscal health, boosted by the recent upturn in the stock market.
"Eventually, this is going to happen," he said. "This is the prudent and necessary thing to do. Is there an emergency? No."
posted by Kathie Bracy at 9:32 AM
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