Committee to explore retirement plan options

| April 26, 2010 11:10 AM

A legislative committee will meet next week to continue exploring options to improve the state's two biggest public retirement systems.

The State Administration and Veterans' Affairs Interim Committee (SAVA) will meet Thursday and Friday, April 22-23, in Room 137 of the State Capitol. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. each day. The public is welcome to attend and will have a chance to comment on the committee's work.

The committee will spend most of Thursday focusing on a study and redesign of public retirement systems that was authorized by passage of House Bill 659 in 2009. SAVA members will review general plan-design options, developed by consultants, for adjusting the Teachers' Retirement System and possibly the Public Employees' Retirement System.

Also on the agenda is a review of potential legislative proposals to amend any of the state's public retirement systems. SAVA is required by law to review in advance any proposals that would affect public retirement systems.

The committee will review proposals from stakeholders from outside state government on Thursday afternoon. It will review proposals from state agencies at its June meeting.

A complete agenda and materials for the meeting are available on the legislative Web site at leg.mt.gov/sava.

The meeting will be broadcast online at leg.mt.gov and over the state public access television network TVMT. To find the TVMT channel nearest you, visit leg.mt.gov/tvmt.

For more information about the committee and its work, contact Rachel Weiss, committee staff, at 406-444-5367 or rweiss@mt.gov.

The SAVA committee is chaired by Sen. Joe Tropila, D-Great Falls . Other members are Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman; Rep. Tim Furey, D-Milltown; Rep. Gordon Hendrick, R-Superior; Rep. Pat Ingraham, R-Thompson Falls ; Sen. Larry Jent, D-Bozeman; Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena; and Rep. Robert Mehlhoff, D-Great Falls.