Interim Committee Considers Changes to Retirement System

Joel and Pat spent Wednesday and Thursday morning in Salt Lake City working to preserve the retirement benifits. Wednesday morning they spent an hour with Davis County Senator Dan Liljenquist discussing the current deficit in the retirement fund. Thursday morning they attended an open hearing with other UEA leaders and other interested groups and individuals. The focus of all employee groups impacted is to encourage legislators to move slowly and to not overreact to the recent losses to the system because of the weak economy which seems to be turning around slowly.

Following the presentations by actuaries and auditors, the committee listened to comments for about an hour. Kory Holdaway, the new UEA Government Relations Director, addressed the committee. Along with representatives from other groups, he encouraged caution and discouraged overreaction. "There have been some bumps; there have been some challenges... [but] we need to give it some more time," said Holdaway. He cautioned the committee not to act until we know how much more the economic recovery will grow the fund.

It is important to note that before the economy declined in 2008, Utah's retirement system was among the most sound in the country and it continues to be secure and is regaining ground. DEA and UEA will continue to follow the developments on retirement and other funding issues over the coming months. Watch the space for updates.

You can visit the committee's web site and view the documents at this link:

http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2009&Com=INTRIE