On Thursday, Jan. 11, the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) held a listening session at the Fergus Falls City Hall. Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls) invited other members of the Commission to visit the district he represents to hear from constituents on the topics of pension and retirement benefits for Minnesota’s public employees.
“Thank you to my colleagues on the Pension Commission for making the trip up to Fergus Falls and accepting the invitation to hear from our Greater Minnesota community,” said Sen. Rasmusson. “I find the issue of pension benefits to be so important because it ensures our state can attract and retain hardworking public servants. I appreciate the many testifiers who showed up and provided their feedback and suggestions. With the 2024 session set to begin, your ideas will help guide our discussions this year.”
During the hearing, testifiers spoke to key pension-related topics impacting public employees. This included Doug Anderson, executive director for the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), who gave a presentation on the Statewide Volunteer Fire plan incentive program.
This program was created through a provision in last year’s pensions bill, which was championed by Sen. Rasmusson. Under this legislation, $5 million is allocated from the general fund to a new statewide volunteer firefighter incentive account. This funding is then used to incentivize volunteer firefighter relief associations to join the PERA Statewide Volunteer Firefighter Plan.
“I appreciate the Commission’s support of this program in the last pension bill. In our area, we have a local relief association that’s a part of the first cohort that will join and receive the incentive,” shared Sen. Rasmusson. “This association has about 30 members, and the incentive will be about $40,000 going into their volunteer relief association. I’m hopeful that it will be a helpful tool to continue to attract and retain volunteer firefighters, especially in rural communities.”
Several testifiers–including Otter Tail County Sheriff Barry Fitzgibbons and Fergus Falls Chief of Public Safety Kile Bergren–also spoke on duty disability changes related to the police and fire fund.
Bergren offered his gratitude to the members of the Pension Commission for their work on this issue and shared, “I just want to first thank the committee for their work in the last legislative session, especially as it pertains to duty disabilities regarding the police and fire fund. It was certainly, I think, a big push that needed to be done to preserve our pension program. I think there was a lot of compromise there to ensure that we were giving people that are receiving disabilities that truly need those disabilities.”
Additionally, the Commission heard from a number of local teachers who provided testimony related to the Teachers Retirement Association and teacher pensions. At the center of this discussion were local educators’ concerns regarding pension differences between Tier 1 and Tier 2 educators.
Sen. Rasmusson offered his thanks to the teachers who testified and shared, “I think I speak for many of my colleagues when I say that the change made to create Tier 1 and Tier 2 back in 1989 was unfair. I think it’s important to acknowledge that by a single date, we have a dramatic difference in what pension benefits are. Going forward, this is an issue we must be really thoughtful and careful about because we’ve seen other states that have made big mistakes. I encourage you to continue talking to other legislators across the state and the governor about the importance of funding teacher pensions adequately.”
For more information and to view the meeting documents, please visit the LCPR web page at: www.lcpr.mn.gov. The archive video from the hearing is also available at: www.house.mn.gov/hjvid/93/897078.