Colorado lawmakers oppose changing PERA funding as the system faces a crisis

Colorado lawmakers lamented the state's tight fiscal situation and rejected a bill Friday that would have increased annual payments to the public employee pension fund amid inflation.

“I think it's a good concept. I don’t see how we can afford that this year,” Rep. Rick Taggart told his colleagues on the Pension Review Commission. The Grand Junction Republican is part of the group that prepares the state budget each year.

The commission meeting came after a recent analysis suggested that PERA, the retirement program for hundreds of thousands of current and former government workers, could be billions of dollars short by 2048, when the fund is expected to be fully funded.

PERA officials told lawmakers they had discussed two options internally, including the state making a $2 billion lump sum payment (a recommendation from the outside group that conducted the analysis). Alternatively, the state could increase its $225 million annual payment to PERA based on inflation.

The first request — a $2 billion payment from the Legislature to PERA — was a long shot given the state's uncertain financial situation next year. This was confirmed by PERA representatives on Friday.

But Andrew Roth, executive director and CEO of the fund, told lawmakers that linking the state's annual payment to inflation “seems feasible.” The annual increases would be gradual, he said, and would ensure the state's annual contribution to the fund does not lose strength during times of high inflation.

But when a bill was presented to them on Friday — a week after state economists predicted the Legislature would face a tight budget — lawmakers balked.

Increasing the annual payment based on inflation would cost the state $6 million, $12.7 million and $18 million annually over the next three years, respectively, and lawmakers worried about increasing those costs carry.

“I will say this: Based on the budget information — the $900 million hole that we see (in the state budget) — it will be very difficult to pass this bill,” admitted Sen. Chris Kolker, a centenarian Democrat who supported the inflation change.

Lawmakers later voted 9-0 to reject the proposal.

Sen. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat and chairman of the commission, said a large lump sum payment would be a tall order, and he said changing inflation was part of the broader PERA negotiations several years ago.