Lawmakers help schools, govts. cover rising PERS costs

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Oregon lawmakers passed a bill establishing two funds to help schools and other public employers cover their rising public pension costs.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the bill in part incentivizes the costs to make extra, one-time contributions to pay down unfunded liabilities faster.

The bill is the product of a task force that Gov. Kate Brown created last year. The task force was dealt the responsibility of looking for ways to reduce the state’s $25 billion in unfunded pension liabilities by $5 billion.

The bill would redirect a portion of state revenues to establish two new funds. The first would receive most of the money, which would be deposited with PERS in a pooled “side account” for school districts.

The second stream of money would create a fund to incentivize all public employers to tap their own reserves and make extra one-time contributions to the pension fund.

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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com