Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The 503 voice. (Salem, OR) ????-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2003)
2003 Legislative Bill Descriptions PERS HB 2003 This bill removes the 6% Employee Contribution from the PERS system and requires those funds to be invested in separate accounts, called Transition Accounts. Employers are not required by the bill to continue to pick-up the six percent employee contribution after 1995, but must bargain it where employees are represented. The bill also changes the assumed rate guarantee or 8% guarantee from an annual guarantee to a lifetime average calculation. Finally, this bill also takes away about 5 years of COLAs from workers who retired between 1999 and 2005 as a means of recovering the money Judge Lipscomb declared was wrongly allocated to employee accounts in 1999, and diverts some of the future earnings of the PERS Fund away from employee to employer accounts, also to comply with Judge Lipscomb s decision. The Lipscomb decision itself, as well as hb 2003 which relied partly on that decision, are now under challenge in court. PASSED. RIGHT VOTE: NO HB 2004 With this bill, the Legislature sought to update PERS mortality tables, which were seriously outdated. As long as employees were retiring primarily under the Full Formula calculation, there was no negative impact, but with the change to Money Match for most retirees, the mortality tables became a factor in the benefits formula. The Legislature took a different approach than the PERS Board did in addressing this issue, and has most likely failed to meet legal requirements. HB 2004-A uses an approach rejected by the PERS Board despite best attempts by PERS Board members to utilize an approach providing the greatest relief to employers. Their decision came after extensive legal analysis. The PERS Coalition supported implementation of new mortality tables with a multi-segment approach, which would have reduced employer rates by about another 8 tenths of a point, and have resulted in savings of about $100 million in the 2003-2005 biennium — without the uncertainty of a law suit. PASSED. RIGHT VOTE: NO HB 2020-A The Legislature decided to phase out PERS by creating a new pension plan for all new employees. While our coalition advocated for a straight defined benefit plan to ensure that retirees don t have to worry about outliving their pensions or the risks of an up-and-down stock market, House Republicans pushed a pure defined contribution system similar to a 401 (k) plan that put all of the risk on employees. The governor sent the message that he would veto a straight defined contribution plan and the Senate rejected the House proposal. In the final days of the session, the House and the Senate agreed on a compromise plan that was less risky to employees. Because only the House of Representatives voted on the pure defined contribution pension plan, only that vote is counted. PASSED. RIGHT VOTE: NO Taxes and Revenue HB 2186-A - Disconnect from Federal Tax Code This bill temporarily suspended the state tax policy of automatically adopting federal tax law changes (usually tax giveaways) in Oregon s tax system. PASSED. RIGHT VOTE: YES HB 3183 - Corporate Tax Giveaway The original bill approved preferential tax rates and special credits for corporate exporters and businesses that invest in research and development. It was scaled down and implementation delayed in a later version. Originally passed the House 38-18. Later version, not counted. PASSED. RIGHT VOTE: NO HB 2152-B Bipartisan Revenue Package HB 2152 was developed in a bipartisan work group as a compromise revenue package to fund Oregon s most vital programs in the face of a $3.3 billion biennial budget shortfall. The package raises $1.25 billion by canceling or means testing certain tax breaks; is progressive and minimizes impact to low- and middle-income earners; and increases the corporate minimum tax. Votes counted are the Senate vote on its amended version of HB 2152 and the House’s concurrence vote on the Senate amendments. RIGHT VOTE: YES SB 5-A Senate Rainy-day Fund This bill would have used kicker money to fund a reserve account. This bill would have created a rainy day fund to help pay for public services in future economic downturns. RAINY DAY FUND FAILED. After passing the Senate, the bill died when it became the vehicle for baseball stadium financing. That bill passed the Senate 20-8. RIGHT VOTE: YES
