As Alaska struggles to hire and retain employees amid the “Great Resignation,” state legislators are more earnestly considering new pension programs for state employees.
Proposals to reverse that decision have been introduced with regularity since then, but none have come close to becoming law. This year, unprecedented hiring problems and a shrinking pension liability are changing the equation.
“I think a lot of legislators are starting to realize that when they hear from these chiefs and heads of these departments that this is a real problem,” said Paul Miranda, president of the Alaska Professional Fire Fighters Association. “There has never been a riskless system. There never will be, and right now, we’re the only state without a defined benefit, and that’s biting us hard,” Kiehl said.
Improved investment returns, a $3 billion transfer from savings, and continued annual payments in the state budget shrank the shortfall by two-thirds, to $4 billion, in 2021. it spends on shrinking the gap, and it’s provided additional arguments for those who want to revive pensions.
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