Alaska Senate majority members unveiled a new policy proposal to revamp the state’s public retirement system, in an effort to address growing challenges in recruiting and keeping public-sector workers.
Alaska state Sen. Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, smiles following his election as Senate president on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. Tuesday marked the first day of the new legislative session. , in an effort to address growing challenges in recruiting and keeping public-sector workers.would create a new pension plan that would promise state workers predictable payments upon retirement.
Giessel said other policies to address worker shortages, including hiring bonuses of up to $25,000 for new state troopers, are expensive and ineffective.“Without a defined benefit plan and a Social Security plan for teachers, we are not competitive among other states,” said Giessel.
“This is not your grandma’s defined benefits plan. It’s a whole new system,” Giessel said at a news conference on Tuesday. To ensure the plan remains solvent, the new tier would not include health insurance for workers upon retirement, leaving them dependent on savings and Medicare once they stop working. Employee contribution amounts could be adjusted by the board that manages the retirement plan if the stock market sees a downturn. And it would allow the board to withhold inflation adjustments to retiree payments if the plan is less than 90% funded.
Kopp said that constructing a plan that does not include retirement health care is “a smart way” to deal with the potential fiscal uncertainty. But that comes at a price for retirees. Wielechowski and Kiehl both predicted the bill could end up saving money for the state by managing retirement funds more efficiently.
. The House State Affairs committee — one of four committees assigned to review the bill — has yet to schedule a hearing.“The House majority is less inclined to want to cover everyone with a defined benefit than the Senate, by a lot,” said Josephson on Wednesday. That makes his bill more likely to gain traction than the Senate’s. But it’s not guaranteed, as conservative members of the chamber have pushed back against the value of the proposal.
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