Tag Archives: PERS

Oregon lawmakers move PERS bill, paring employee hits and adding sports betting to cut pension costs

Democratic leaders’ plan to reduce public employers’ pension costs moved out of committee Tuesday after some significant amendments, including a plan to use sports betting revenues from the Oregon Lottery to address the pension funds’ $27 billion deficit. Source: Oregon lawmakers move PERS bill, paring employee hits and adding sports betting to cut pension costs

Oregon Legislative Leaders Want to Use Revenue from Sports Betting to Reduce PERS Obligation

Lawmakers want the Oregon Lottery to initiate betting on sports, including via mobile devices, and allocate the revenue to the state’s pension liability. Source: Oregon Legislative Leaders Want to Use Revenue from Sports Betting to Reduce PERS Obligation

Changes To PERS Advance To Oregon Senate

Tight-lipped Oregon legislative leaders on Tuesday set the stage for tense votes in the House and Senate over a controversial pension bill that is opposed by many public employees. Source: Changes To PERS Advance To Oregon Senate

How Oregon State Pension Mismanagement Led To $26 Billion Underfunding

$75 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) appears to be another case of gross malpractice generally practiced. This morning I participated in an hour-long discussion on Oregon Public Radio focusing on what broke the Oregon state pension and what might fix it. At first glance, the $75 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) appears to be […]
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What Broke PERS, And What Might Fix It

The name is only four letters long, but the issues with it can take volumes to explain.  PERS, Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement System, has billions of dollars on hand to pay to retired public workers. The trouble is that there’s a gap between what it will need to pay workers in the future, and the […]
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Bankruptcy won’t solve PERS problems

Q: All we hear about as the Legislature continues to dither is the growing doom and gloom of our PERS system. If we are in such debt, can’t Oregon simply cut its losses eventually and declare bankruptcy? A: People often ask this question, usually thinking of the 2013 example when Detroit filed for Chapter 9 […]
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Oregon Republicans Signal What Might Bring Them Back To Senate

Oregon Senate Republicans who have left the state Capitol — and possibly the state — to prevent a vote on a multibillion-dollar business tax have released some demands to Democrats, including one requirement that they kill a bill strengthening the state’s gun laws. That appears, however, to be a nonstarter. Source: Oregon Republicans Signal What […]
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Oregon Senate Republicans hide out, delaying vote on education funding

Republicans in the Oregon Senate on Tuesday morning denied Democrats the quorum necessary to hold vote on the Democrats’ top priority this session, a multibillion-dollar business tax to fund education. Source: Oregon Senate Republicans hide out, delaying vote on education funding

Backers of pension ballot initiative plan to contest state’s draft language

Backers of a proposed ballot measure looking to prohibit new public pension debt in Oregon say the draft language for the measure created by the Department of Justice is overly complicated and misleading, and they plan to contest it to the Supreme Court if necessary. Source: Backers of pension ballot initiative plan to contest state’s […]
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Billions of Dollars Are on the Table in Salem This Week. What Do the Key Players Want?

The jockeying around a new tax plan and a key lawmaker and Gov. Kate Brown’s desire to cut pension costs are making for high stakes negotiations. Source: Billions of Dollars Are on the Table in Salem This Week. What Do the Key Players Want?