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From all of the testimony in the House pensions committee yesterday, the biggest concern appeared to be a 3 year nightmare scenario for pensioners and politicians. We do know that as employees retire or choose to leave tier 1, the costs will go up and cause more people to leave and further increase costs until no one is left. The same thing will happen in tier 2, until everyone has been forced out of the defined benefit system.

The worst part is, this won’t happen all at once. Teachers and public employees will have to watch costs rise and make tough decisions every 3 years. Each time a painful reminder of what their lawmaker has done to their future.

There are still many unknowns. The federal government is already investigating the second pension tier created for new hires who don’t receive Social Security. This bill will fall under the same scrutiny.

Witnesses also testified that someone who works half of their career under the old system and half their career under the new system will receive a final benefit that is less than halfway between the 2. That decrease would seem to create a clear violation of the state’s constitution.