Pension funds likely not a big issue for legislators

Shoring up pension funds for state and local government employees and teachers won’t be a high-priority task for legislators this session as it was two years ago.

The 2013 Legislature faced huge potential shortfalls, as the economic recession devalued pension fund investments by about 25 percent. The legislature approved steps recommended by Gov. Steve Bullock, which largely righted the pension funds financially.

Tens of millions of dollars of coal tax revenue and other funds were put into the pension plans, and limits were placed on employees getting promotions before retirement to boost their pensions. The 2013 bills also required employers and employees to increase their contributions to the plans.

Legal challenges, however, temporarily blocked attempts by the 2013 Legislature to lower guaranteed annual cost-of-living increases for retirees under the Public Employees Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System.

Pension fund investments also fared much better. The Montana Board of Investments reported that returns on the two systems’ investments exceeded 17 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30. The pension funds anticipate a 7.75 percent annual rate of return.

The Montana Public Employees Retirement System has 28,229 active members and 19,695 people drawing retirement benefits. The Teachers Retirement System has 18,300 active members throughout Montana and 14,349 people drawing retirement benefits.

Republican attempts to completely overhaul the state’s pension plans were turned down by the 2013 Legislature. That included terminating the current “defined benefit” public pension system for new employees and switching to a “defined contribution” system.

The defined benefit system guarantees retirees a fixed monthly lifetime pension based on how long they worked and their average top salaries, regardless of how the state’s pension investments have fared. They also receive an inflationary increase annually.

A defined contribution system works more like a 401(k) plan common to the private sector. Employees and employers would contribute to the fund, and when employees retire, they would leave with whatever money is in their fund. They would not be guaranteed a fixed monthly pension for life.

During his re-election campaign last fall, House Majority Leader Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, said he saw no reason to change the enrollment-based funding formula for public schools, but he wanted to change how Montana’s pension plans work for teachers and state employees.

In the last session, he introduced a bill that would have replaced defined benefit plans with defined contribution plans, but it was tabled in the House Appropriations Committee.

“All new hires should be on a 401K plan, and the state needs to meet its promise to those on the pension,” he said at the time. “Montana needs to stop making pension promises that need to have large amounts of money to keep solvent.”