Tell Lawmakers to Vote No on HB 2293
HB 2293, which is currently working its way through the legislative process will not be good for the health of our retirement system. The aim of the bill is to exempt an employer from paying their matching share of an employee’s teacher retirement when their salary is paid with funds from an externally funded program. The problem here is that federal regulations permit an employer to use federal dollars to satisfy the Teacher’s Retirement System of Oklahoma (OTRS) requirements unless dollars from “like” programs are also used to meet retirement system requirements.
The problem for our retirement system in all this is that it must not pass in its current form. That would mean that it would be necessary for OTRS to make up any shortfall in contributions as it is now. This would mean a hit of approximately $28 million. No doubt, future COLAs for retired teachers could be in jeopardy.
More actuarial study is in order before any legislation becomes official. Accordingly, I urge you to contact the office of your Representative and Senator asking them to oppose this bill.
Here are additional resources from OTRS:
- Fact Sheet on Opposing HB 2293
- Committee Members for S Retirement and Insurance (S)
- Questions submitted by Bill Ware, Executive Secretary, Teacher’s Retirement System to the OK Attorney General
This article was repurposed from POE’s government relations blog Capitol Corner. To read about other government relations activities, please visit CapitolCorner.org.