Kansas’ public pensions need to be protected | Commentary
Public pensions are a promise. They are a promise to the hard-working public employees across Kansas who dedicate their lives to serving our communities. This includes correctional officers, teachers, firefighters, police officers, municipal workers and all other public employees. Each day they wake up, go to work, and make our state a better place to live — no matter the circumstances. While public employees give their all every day, we need to fight to make sure their pensions are protected. This legislative session, we need to stay vigilant to ensure that the state continues with the progress we’ve made with the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System since the reforms in 2013: that the system is fully funded, and that we examine ways to improve the system for public employees.
I’ve represented correctional officers and other state employees since 2018 as the president of the Kansas Organization of State Employees. It’s my job to ensure that our state’s public employees are respected in their workplace, protected from harm, and not overworked due to stringent overtime rules. Specifically, Kansas’ correctional officers have been worked to the brink over the last couple of years. They’ve been required to work many hours of overtime every week, putting themselves and their colleagues at greater risk.
In 2013, state lawmakers created Tier III of KPERS, a cash-balance retirement system. Unlike Tier 1 and Tier 2 of KPERS, Tier III is not a defined-benefit pension plan. Although the reforms enacted in 2013 put the plan on a better path to full funding, data suggests that there is now a growing disparity in the retirement replacement ratio between Tier III and the other tiers. State lawmakers need to continue to study this disparity during the 2022 session as offered retirement benefits directly affect the recruitment and retention of public employees who, in most cases, could make more money in the private sector.
One of the most critical issues at stake as we head into the 2022 legislative session is the continuation of fully funding KPERS this year. In prior years, administrations and state legislatures underfunded the plan by skipping, deferring, or partially paying into the system. This cannot be the case going forward. We must fully fund the plan every year or we could find ourselves in the same situation as New Jersey, which faces significant unfunded liabilities and a strained budget.
Especially now, based on the state of Kansas’ multi-billion dollar budget surplus.
In addition, public pensions provide a significant economic impact in our state, especially in our rural communities. The National Institute on Retirement Security found that in 2018, spending of pension benefits in Kansas supported 18,344 jobs that paid $900.1 million in wages and salaries, produced $3.1 billion in economic output, and $413.4 million in tax revenue. These are real dollars having an impact on our communities around the state.
State lawmakers need to fully fund KPERS, examine bettering the benefit provided to Tier 3 employees, and protect public employee pensions. Pensions are a great tool to recruit and retain the best employees and have an outsized positive impact on our state and local economies.
Sarah LaFrenz is president of the Kansas Organization of State Employees
