Texas state employee, retiree groups laud pension fix

State employee and retiree groups praised the Texas House’s plan for shoring up a debt-ridden pension fund at a public hearing Monday.

House Bill 9, filed by Pensions Committee Chairman Dan Flynn, R-Canton, would make the state’s second largest retirement fund actuarially sound — meaning contributions and investment returns cover expenses and payouts — by increasing contributions from both the state and active employees to 9.5 percent later this year.

The measure also stipulates a 2.5-percent, across-the-board pay raise to offset the cost of the increase.

An official from the Texas State Employees Union, which previously criticized the bill because it did not include a net gain in pay, praised it Monday for not cutting retirement benefits — something he predicted competing proposals would do.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/state-employee-retiree-groups-applaud-pension-fix/nkc9t/

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.