One benefit most educators in Colorado look forward to is their PERA (Public Employee Retirement Association) benefit. Our educators, whether they are early career, late career, or retired, do their share to make sure PERA is as sustainable as possible.
When I was an early career educator, retirement was only a dream but I had faith in the fact that I and my district contributed to a plan that would allow me to retire with dignity.
Sure enough, by the time I retired, I had a nice, guaranteed income that hopefully I can count on for the rest of my life.
There have been a few changes along the way: employee contributions have increased, retiree benefits do not increase as much as they did and employers must contribute a great deal more. Through it all, PERA has a plan to be fully funded and from an actuarial standpoint, I hope it is sustainable.
With educators leaving the profession earlier and not as many people going into it, I worry about PERA’s future. I trust the legislation that has been put in place to protect investments to keep PERA solvent. Senate Bill (SB) 18-200 increased the contributions and slowed down the payment increases but it also committed the State to contribute $225 million per year to shore up PERA. In the Spring of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the entire State budget had to be cut by several billion dollars and one of the first things to go was the $225 million PERA contribution. Fast forward to the next year and an upswing in the economy and the $225 million was put back in.
This session, Rep. Shannon Bird (HD35) is sponsoring a bill to reverse any damage that might have been done to the PERA investments in 2020. Not only does this bill recommend backfilling the $225 million lost that year, but also contributing the $60 million that was lost in interest for the year it was not invested.
It is always nice to have a legislator who has your back. If this bill passes, it will reap benefits for years to come and ensures those of us collecting our retirement checks from PERA will not have to worry about future retirement income. Please thank Rep. Bird for her advocacy. She can be reached at Shannon.bird.house@state.co.us.
Lori Goldsein is a retired special education teacher and president of CEA-Retired.