No SAIF Raid in Dems' Proposal to Fix Pension Deficit

Monday, May 13, 2019 | 0

Democratic leaders in Oregon’s Senate and House of Representatives on Friday unveiled their proposal for tackling what is now a $27 billion pension deficit without tapping into reserves held by the state-chartered workers’ compensation carrier.

Gov. Kate Brown

Oregon Public Broadcasting detailed the proposal in a report published Friday.

The deficit in the Public Employees Retirement System is hardly a workers’ compensation issue. But Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, made it one in April when she proposed tapping into $486 million SAIF Corp. holds in reserves to help pay down the PERS debt.

While the governor’s office has defended the proposal on the grounds that Oregon has some of the lowest premiums in the country and SAIF Corp. is a public corporation, state law also allows diverting the carrier’s reserves — a change the Legislature made in 1982 after a court ruled a previous fund raid was illegal.

Employers strongly oppose the governor’s proposal to use SAIF’s reserves to balance the pension deficit.

The new proposal comes as Democrats are trying to lure Republicans back to the Capitol. Republicans have been playing hooky for the last week to prevent a quorum and stall a vote on a tax hike intended to increase education financing.

Republicans say Democrats, who have a majority in both chambers, have refused to negotiate on the tax proposal. Democrats can pass the tax increase without Republican support, but they need a sufficient number of lawmakers to be present for a legal vote.

Republicans said they only leverage they have is to deny Democrats a quorum.

Representatives from the GOP have been reluctant to specify what exactly it is that would bring them back to the Capitol, according to media reports.