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Two very Different Views on Modest PERA Reform

Two very Different Views on Modest PERA Reform

Remember the teacher walkouts this spring? According to the Colorado Education Association (CEA), one purpose of the rallies was to put pressure on the legislature to not require teachers to pay more into their Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) accounts and not to raise the retirement age for new teachers. The CEA was disappointed in the final results of the bipartisan-supported Senate Bill 200. Governor Hickenlooper signed the bill into law last week. Contributions from teachers and school districts into PERA accounts will increase. The age of retirement for new teachers has increased to 64, still three years earlier than those on social security. Joshua Sharf, a fiscal policy analyst at the Independence Institute, has a different take on the legislation. He would have liked a structural change but politically that’s difficult, especially in an election year. Read about Mr. Sharf’s analysis and the lessons learned from a modest PERA bill on Complete Colorado’s “Page Two”.