On the final day of session, the House voted to pass legislation that would provide a new retirement incentive to attract law enforcement officers and firefighters to have careers in Alaska. Fire and police departments in Alaska have become training grounds for other states as the lack of adequate retirement is considered a key factor in the exodus of public safety professionals. House Bill 55 would create a hybrid retirement system that incorporates a defined benefit pension while maintaining defined contribution health benefits. Both of these elements already exist in different tiers of the state’s Public Employee Retirement System.
District 17 Rep. Andy Josephson of Anchorage, “This bill is an absolutely historic bill. There has been no body in 15 years in Juneau to offer or propose, on the floor, a defined benefit. The reason we’re here today is that there is a hollowing out of our first responders. I call it the ‘train drain’. We train them. The other states take them. We train them. The other states take them. It’s happening all the time to city and state government. There are only two states in the Union without defined benefits for first responders. The bill is not a risky bill. I’ll tell you why. First of all, it impacts 5% of all public employees. Why do we need it, because we’re training these workers and they leave. We need to keep these workers here. The cost of training them typically exceeds $100,000.”
The proposal is designed to ensure that the new tier would remain solvent. A series of built-in ‘levers’ provide the Alaska Retirement Management Board with the flexibility they need to adjust the plan accordingly if it becomes less than 90% funded.
House Bill 55 will be transmitted to the Senate where it will receive committee referrals and continue through the legislative process next year.
Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360TV.
