Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
04/15/2021 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB55 | |
| HB63 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 63 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 55 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 55-PEACE OFFICER/FIREFIGHTER RETIRE BENEFITS
3:06:14 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the first order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 55, "An Act relating to participation of
certain peace officers and firefighters in the defined benefit
and defined contribution plans of the Public Employees'
Retirement System of Alaska; relating to eligibility of peace
officers and firefighters for medical, disability, and death
benefits; relating to liability of the Public Employees'
Retirement System of Alaska; and providing for an effective
date."
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS invited comments from committee members.
3:06:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY believed that a new retirement system was
desperately needed in many areas of state government, including
teachers and public employees. She expressed her support for
moving the proposed legislation from committee and opined that
implementing defined benefits would help with recruitment and
retention.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR noted that when the commissioner designee
for the Department of Public Safety (DPS) was in the House
Special Committee on Tribal Affairs (HTRB) to discuss
comprehensive public safety issues, he specifically mentioned
that fixing the retirement system was an absolute necessity for
recruitment and retention. The commissioner designee conveyed
that there were only 52 Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs);
however, the goal was to have 120. Additionally, 36 State
Trooper positions were filled, but 33 were lost to retirement
and attrition.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN expressed his appreciation for the
current language in the proposed legislation. He said he was
interested to see how it progressed through the legislative
process. He shared his belief that the tools, by which the
[retirement] package would be adjusted for inflation, should
receive higher scrutiny as a season of higher inflation was
approaching.
3:09:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN expressed concern about the defined
benefit plan creating a future obligation. He suggested that
other areas of dissatisfaction were more significant to
retention, including improvements in leadership and culture. He
opined that the proposed legislation was attempting to fix the
wrong concern. He said he would have preferred that other
departmental issues were focused on first.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS welcomed an opportunity to address the
issues that Representative Kaufman had mentioned. He opined
that the proposed legislation was extremely well crafted. He
said as a younger person, he was drawn to retirement systems
that made public servants and retirees "whole" in a reasonable
way and provided a certain amount of security and dignity while
remaining cautious about the potential of liabilities that the
state would assume. He asserted that on an intergenerational
basis, previous retirement systems had been grossly inequitable
to younger generations that were disproportionately paying older
generations' retirements. He expressed his appreciation for the
risk aversion that was included in this legislation and surmised
that the bill would be intergenerationally equitable while
remaining fair to retirees.
3:12:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN moved to report HB 55 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. Without objection, HB 55 was moved from the House State
Affairs Standing Committee.