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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2019
Pension reform passes state House
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE and
AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
In a dramatic afternoon, the
state House voted 31-29 on a
bill Thursday to cut retirement
benefi ts for the state’s public
employees.
It was reform most seemed
to fi nd distasteful, regardless
of party.
Democrats who supported
the bill risk losing campaign
dollars from public employee
unions. Republicans say the
bill kicks the can down the
road by not addressing the
long-term issues with the
Public Employees Retirement
System, known as PERS.
In a rare circumstance, the
votes weren’t secured by the
time the bill hit the House
fl oor.
As House Speaker Tina
Kotek continued to call on
lawmakers, it became clear
the vote was in jeopardy.
With a 29-30 tally, Rep.
Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland,
weighed his decision for what
felt like minutes. He then
voted against it.
Kotek, never one to give
up easily, stood at ease rather
than bang her gavel to solid-
ify the vote.
Then she went to work.
About a half hour later,
she returned to the head of
the chamber, having whipped
votes from Greenlick and
Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake
Oswego. Salinas’ eyes welled
with tears as she walked off
the fl oor.
“I did not feel like this was
the right thing to do,” Salinas
said later. “I also didn’t think
doing nothing was the right
thing to do.”
She felt the policy could
have been improved by look-
ing at a surplus in the state’s
workers’
compensation
fund, selling certain assets or
increasing the amount of time
the state takes to pay down the
debt.
Benefi ts decline
Under the bill, employ-
ees could see benefi ts gener-
ated by the savings plan drop
by 7 percent to 12.5 percent,
depending on when they were
hired and how much time they
have left until retirement.
That change would apply
to employees making $30,000
or more — about 97 percent
of employees hired before
Aug. 29, 2003, and about 90
percent of employees hired
after that.
And that change would
cease once the system is
nearly fully funded. It’s cur-
rently about 73 percent
funded, according to Oregon
PERS.
About 176,000 state
employees are members of
PERS.
The bill would also cap
the amount of money that the
state uses to calculate each
employee’s benefi ts. Benefi ts
are partially based on a fi gure
known as fi nal average sal-
ary, which, in simple terms,
approximates an employee’s
annual salary at retirement.
That fi gure would be limited
at $195,000. In each genera-
tion of hires — there are three
— that change could reduce
benefi ts for a fraction of 1 per-
cent of workers.
Weeks ago, Senate Repub-
licans had staged a walk-
out, saying pension reform is
needed before more money is
dedicated to education. A deal
was struck and they returned,
though all voted against an
education package. It passed
on Sen. Betsy Johnson’s vote,
but the Scappoose Democrat
said she would only support it
alongside pension reform.
“I think the emotions in
me wanted to basically say
to workers, ‘We’re not going
to let the Senate and their
dysfunction take ahold of
the House,’” Salinas said. “I
wanted to give the big, ‘Mr.
Smith Goes To Washington’
kind of speech: ‘That’s not
ried about the effect it has
on teachers. But I also think
we needed to do something.
I would have been happy
to have it done without my
help.”
Rep. Tiffi ny Mitchell,
D-Astoria, who was elected
last year with strong union
support, voted for the bill.
The state’s retirement plan
has two parts: a basic pension
and a savings account akin to
a 401(k).
Lawmakers voted to
reduce the amount of money
‘WHILE THERE IS NO PERFECT
SOLUTION, WE NEEDED TO
ADDRESS THE RISING RATE
COSTS THAT THREATEN
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE JOBS
AND CRITICAL SERVICES.’
Tina Kotek | Oregon house speaker
what I came here for.’ But ulti-
mately, I think the logical, pol-
icy side of me took over, and
said, ‘OK , while this doesn’t
feel right, I do think it is right.’
And knowing that I had 29
other members of my party
who were willing to make that
logical choice, I think, was
what did it for me too.”
Greenlick said he told
Kotek he would vote for the
bill, but only if needed. They
met in private during the
break, after which Green-
lick returned and changed his
vote.
“I hated doing it,” Green-
lick said after. “It was the
hardest vote I’ve taken in
my whole career. I was wor-
going to the savings account.
Under the plan, employ-
ees would contribute the same
amount of money to their
retirement, but will end up
with less money when they
retire.
Part of the money they cur-
rently contribute to the sav-
ings plan would instead be
going toward a pension that
they do not contribute to right
now.
The bill is designed to pro-
vide some short-term relief to
school districts and local gov-
ernments throughout the state.
Cities, school districts and
other public entities are pay-
ing more each year toward
retirement benefi ts for public
employees.
Those
increases
are
expected to leap sharply in
the next few years, but the
bill passed Thursday would
reduce increases by stretch-
ing out the amount of time the
state has to pay down the debt
— from 20 years to 22 years.
Republican opposition
Republicans, who have
long railed against the costs
of the state’s retirement sys-
tem, on Thursday changed
their tune.
Rep. Gary Leif, R-Rose-
burg, spoke on the fl oor
against the bill, taking some
talking points long used by
Democrats. He said he liked
some parts of the bill, but he
just couldn’t get all the way
to supporting it because it
will “damage” pensions that
have already been promised.
“Public employees work
very hard for our state,” Leif
said. “They’re our employ-
ees. They’re our brothers and
sisters.”
House Republicans over-
all were reluctant to explain
their votes. When the bill
passed the Senate, it got the
nod from three Republi-
cans. Rep. Cedric Hayden,
R-Roseburg, said his caucus
was not told how to vote, and
all were opposed to the pen-
sion reform individually.
He specifi cally said it
“doesn’t address the long-
term liability debt.”
Hayden said about a quar-
ter of public employees are
eligible for retirement. He
thinks this bill could push
more into retirement, there-
fore bringing new hires in
without addressing the root
causes of the unfunded liabil-
ity. He’d rather see a 401(k)
plan.
“While there is no per-
fect solution, we needed to
address the rising rate costs
that threaten public employee
jobs and critical services,”
Kotek said in a written state-
ment. “Reducing these rates
will result in real savings that
will give public employees
long-term protection for their
retirement security and main-
tain services that Oregonians
rely on.”
House Republican Leader
Carl Wilson, of Grants Pass,
said Thursday’s session was a
“lesson in rawbone politics.”
He compared the bill
to refi nancing a mortgage,
which he said was not a per-
manent solution to the retire-
ment system’s woes.
The courting of votes
started well before the after-
noon fl oor session. The bill
was a tough sell from the
beginning. Rep. Jeff Barker,
D-Aloha, voted against it,
but just barely. He was in
negotiations with Kotek and
Gov. Kate Brown before
the session. In exchange for
his vote, he wanted one bill
dead and two passed. He
didn’t want to detail the bills,
but said there was “really
intense pressure” to vote for
the PERS bill, but Kotek and
Brown in the end didn’t give
him what he wanted .
Speculation
abounded
immediately after Green-
lick’s vote, with Capitol
insiders saying since he is
not running for another term,
he’s safe from the unions.
“They wouldn’t come
after me,” he said of the
unions. “They’ve been with
me, I’ve been with them for
18 years. They would forgive
one vote.”
Court of Appeals hears arguments over Tillamook transmission line
Salem pertained to techni-
cal aspects of the county’s
deliberations.
Specifi cally, the legal
questions
focused
on
whether the county could
permit a transmission line
in estuary zones because it’s
a development similar to an
electrical distribution line.
Tillamook County deter-
mined it’s unclear whether
a transmission line is allow-
able in such zones, which
allowed the local govern-
ment to analyze and approve
the project as a similar use.
Greg Hathaway, attor-
ney for the project’s oppo-
nents, argued that Tillamook
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Opponents of a power
transmission line across
farm and forest land in Til-
lamook County hope to con-
vince the Oregon Court of
Appeals the project was
improperly approved.
Last year, Tillamook
County granted a condi-
tional use permit for the con-
struction of the 9-mile trans-
mission line, which critics
claim will unnecessarily dis-
rupt agriculture and forestry
in its path.
Tilla-Bay Farms, a local
dairy, and the Oregon Coast
Alliance, a conservation
group, unsuccessfully chal-
lenged that decision before
the state Land Use Board
of Appeals, which in March
rejected their objections to
the proposal.
The project’s oppo-
nents
believe
LUBA
wrongly upheld the coun-
ty’s decision, arguing that
its approval didn’t comply
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same as those used for dis-
tribution lines and won’t
require support structures
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clearly determined that the
ordinance was unclear and
then it explained why,” said
Tommy Brooks, attorney for
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The conduit lines pro-
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with the proper standards
and procedures under Ore-
gon land use law.
While the complaints
about the transmission line’s
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County’s land use ordinance
makes clear that transmis-
sion lines aren’t allowed
in estuary zones, so such
a similar use approval is
unavailable.
“These fi ndings are inad-
equate,” he said. “They
don’t explain under the cir-
cumstances why the ordi-
nance is unclear.”
The Tillamook Peo-
ple’s Utility District, which
intends to build the trans-
mission line, disagrees with
this assessment and believes
the county’s board of com-
missioners used the appro-
priate analysis.
“I think the board very
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Go online to GreenWoodresources.com and click
on Recreational Access, or Scan the QR code using
your smartphone at one of our access gate signs. Call
503.755.6655 for recorded information for Oregon
timberlands and 509.780.0865 for recorded information
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