SB 861 | PERS Special Session OEA Position: oppose Senate Bill 861 supersedes the 2014 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that was previously approved in Senate Bill 822 (See to left). Senate Bill 822 capped the COLA payable on August 1, 2013 at 1.5 percent for all benefit recipients. Senate Bill 861 does not affect the August 1, 2013 COLA, but modifies the yearly COLAs for all PERS benefit recipients moving forward. Effective August 1, 2014 a COLA will be limited to 1.25 percent on the first $60,000 of a yearly benefit payment and 0.15 percent on amounts above $60,000. Additionally, SB 861 provides a supplemental, one-time payment of 0.25 percent of their yearly benefit to all benefit recipients, not to exceed $150. Those who have a PERS benefit of less than $20,000 per year will receive a second supplemental, onetime payment of 0.25 percent of their yearly benefit. These supplemental payments will be in effect for six years (first payable after July 1, 2014 and ending after July 1, 2019). Similar to SB 822, OEA and our PERS Coalition partners believe SB 861 is unconstitutional and violates a promise made to public employees and retirees. House Action: Passed Senate Action: Passed Governor Action: Signed 10/8/13 SB 5507 | Capital Construction OEA Position: support In the 2013-2015 biennium, community colleges will receive more than $125 million in bonding authority, the equivalent of funding for 16 community college projects and two-year extensions for projects at Clackamas Community College and Umpqua.
SB 5507 will also require a 4 year window before a college can request additional funding for capital construction projects, unless a college withdraws an already funded project. House Action: Passed 46-12 Senate Action: Passed 25-3 Governor Action: Signed 8/14/13 SB 5518 | Oregon Department of Education Budget OEA Position: support Included in this budget bill for the Oregon Department of Education is the traditional grant-in-aid and operations funding as well as funding for the Oregon Education Investment Board’s “strategic investments” (see HB 3232). Also includes a $10,000 appropriation for reimbursing school districts for subs when their teachers participate in activities of the Fair Dismissal Appeals Board. House Action: Passed 53-6 Senate Action: Passed 24-5 Governor’s Action: Signed 7/22/13 SB 5519 | State School Fund Budget OEA Position: support A coalition of public education stakeholders, including OEA, worked to show the legislature what different funding thresholds would provide in terms of stability, reinvestment, or more cuts. As a strategic effort, this work resulted in a “stability budget” for most districts of $6.75 billion total state resources. The legislature passed an appropriation of $6.55 billion in SB 5519. An additional $200 million in “purchasing power” is assumed because of the passage of SB 822 (PERS changes), making the total allocation spend as though it were a $6.75 billion budget. It should be noted, however, that $109 million of carve-outs was taken off the top in HB 2506 and will not be available for distribution to school
districts and ESDs. House Action: Passed 53-5 Senate Action: Passed 22-8 Governor’s Action: Signed 7/22/13 SB 5532 | Education Bonds – Debt Service Funding OEA Position: support This budget bill would have allocated monies from the Administrative Services Economic Development Fund of the lottery beginning July 1, 2013 and would have established a process for quarterly allocations of money and transfers of interest earnings from Oregon Education Fund to Lottery Bond Fund for payments by Department of Education on education lottery bonds. The bill as written died in committee and was repurposed to serve as the lottery proceeds distribution bill, which includes $327.4 million in lottery proceeds to help fund the State School Fund. House Action: Passed 55-3 Senate Action: Passed 24-4 Governor’s Action: Signed 8/14/13 SB 5537 | Public Employee Retirement System Budget OEA Position: support SB 5537 will appropriate $9.4 billion to PERS, of which $9.3 billion is for benefit payments to retirees. The operational portion of the budget is $82.9 million Other Funds, a 2.6 percent increase from the 2011-2013 biennium. SB 5537 also includes two budget notes that direct PERS to report to the Legislature on the implementation of legislative action and the final 2013-2015 employer contribution rates. A second budget note directs PERS to report on whether retirees within the PERS Health Insurance Program should be combined with other groups 15