In a 99-14 vote on the House floor, representatives voted to move forward on a bill proposed to help fill the state’s $20 billion pension debt.
To keep this simple, agencies would increasingly pay up to about 18 and a half percent of employee salaries. Employees see the cap of how much they must pay in at 9 percent. Under an amendment on the bill that passed Tuesday, when 85 percent of the debt is paid, the contribution rates can then be lessened. Officials say that could take up to 20 years.
The state is throwing in $160 million to pay off the debt this year, as well as introducing term limits on the board that oversees the pension fund, due to what the state feels is poor investing on their part.
