2012 Senate Bill 1040 ↩

Senate Roll Call 605: Passed

To no longer provide post-retirement health benefits to new school employees, and instead give them a 401(k) contribution equal to 2 percent of their salary. Also, current retirees who are over age 65 on Jan. 1, 2013 would have to contribute 20 percent to the cost of these health benefits, up from 10 percent now. The bill would also authorize “prefunding” these retiree health benefits (despite these being optional and not an enforceable obligation on the state). In addition, current school employees would have to contribute more toward their pensions, or else receive benefits calculated under a less generous formula. The orignal Senate-passed provision to “close” the school pension system to new hires was not adopted.