OCPA’s Bond: Pension Reform Proposals A Win For Taxpayers, State Employees

Dave Bond, CEO of OCPA Impact, Inc., issued the following statement regarding House Bill 2630 and Senate Bill 2120 that would place some new government employees on a defined-contribution pension plan:

“Like many state and local governments, Oklahoma is facing out-of-control debt from public-employee pension systems. That debt totals more than $11 billion and is growing every day. Our state government has accumulated this debt primarily by promising benefits to state and local government employees that are becoming increasingly difficult to deliver. Most private-sector employers discovered years ago that a defined-benefit arrangement is a losing proposition for employees and shareholders. For government, taxpayers are the shareholders.

“Oklahoma’s pension debt is like a chemical spill that must be contained before it can be cleaned up. The way to contain the problem is to stop putting state government employees into a broken retirement system. By converting new hires into a sustainable, defined-contribution system in which an individual has the flexibility to grow the account on their own, state government can still attract quality employees. We can also stop accumulating new pension debt and begin paying down the debt we already have.

“House Bill 2630 and Senate Bill 2120 both would apply this common-sense approach to new, non-hazard duty state government employees eligible to participate in the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). No current state government employees would lose benefits as a result of the change. Rather, the change would make it more likely that past promises made to existing employees can be kept, allowing Oklahoma to avoid Detroit’s fate. As a result, the men and women who perform the daily functions of state government would be in a better position.

“These proposals would yield positive results for current and future Oklahoma government employees and current and future taxpayers.”