2
Committee Studies Oregon Public
Employees' Retirement Plan
The need for a retirement system for
thé public employees in Oregon is now
widely recognized. Since the 1929 ses
sion of the legislature more than 20
separate retirement bills have been in
troduced for various special groups of
public employees. The teachers of the
state have become interested in and
are preparing a retirement plan for
themselves. A t various sessions of the
legislature the fire-fighters of the state
have sponsored retirement legislation
for fire-fighters. The League of Ore
gon Cities has long recognized the
need for a retirement system for mun
icipal employees. The 1943 session of
the legislature enacted legislation pro
viding a retirement system for judges.
In 1940 and 1941 a committee ap
pointed by Governor Sprague studied
the problem of retiring public employ
ees and by an overwhelming majority
recommended that all state and local
governmental employees in Oregon be
covered by a single retirement system.
It appears, 'therefore, that there is a
need for a statewide retirement plan
covering all city, county, and state
employees.
A t the invitation of the League of
Oregon Cities, representatives of var
ious public employee groups met and
considered the problem and, with the
assistance of the Bureau of Municipal
Research and Service of the University
of Oregon, evolved in outline a retire
ment plan for the state and local gov
ernmental employees of Oregon.
The outline of the plan was pre
sented to the executive committees of
various public employee groups and at
a meeting held in Portland, October
9th, representatives of these various
groups indicated approval of the plan.
The ’ groups represented were: League
of Oregon Cities, American Associa
tion of University Professors of the
University of Oregon and of the Ore
gon State College, Portland Police As
sociation, Portland Firefighter Associa
tion, Oregon State Firefighters Associ
ation, Oregon Association of City Po
lice Officers, Oregon Finance Officer
Association, Oregon Association of
County Engineers, and the Oregon
State Employees Association.
Fred C. Inkster, President of the
League of Oregon Cities, presided at
the meeting at which endorsement of
the proposed plan was expressed by
those present. A committee was ap
pointed to rewrite the outline to con
form to suggestions made by the var
ious groups, to proceed with the writing
of the proposed law and the analysis
of its provisions and costs by recog
nized actuaries so that some estimate
of the cost may accompany the pro
posed plan when it is presented to the
legislature for consideration.
As soon as possible, copies of the
revised outline of the proposed plan
will be distributed to members of the
various groups for further considera
tion and study and as an invitation for
further suggestions.
Portland, Oregon
All Portland, Oregon, police em
ployees received a $2 raise, effective
July 1. This brings to $34 the total
granted to compensate for higher cost
of living. Police matrons were given a
$10 raise, of which $8 was added to
their base pay and $2 to the cost-of-
living adjustment. A long - standing
grievance was remedied when the city
council pension committee approved
recommendations to include the police
matrons and harbor engineers in the
police pension plan.