Oregon Supreme Court PERS ruling opens gaping hole in state budget... eventually

Thursday's announcement that the Oregon Supreme Court had overturned a series of Public Employees Retirement System changes approved in 2013 cast a pall on a Capitol that had otherwise been focused on an intensifying legislative session. ✧ That's because, in time for the state's 2017-19 budget, the Oregon Legislature will need to find hundreds of millions of dollars that lawmakers had thought they'd saved when cutting cost-of-living raises for current state retirees.

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Dan Lucas: Oregon Democrats have a PERS dilemma

The thrust of the Democratic rocket in Oregon reached its zenith recently, and we witnessed its stall in the legislative session that just ended. ✧ Democrats controlled everything in state government, but they were paralyzed by the huge PERS dilemma. Like the stages on the old Saturn rockets, the older tiers of PERS that helped get Democrats where they are have started to become a drag. ✧ So how long before Oregon Democrats jettison the older tiers of PERS retirees?

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GT Letters: Online stir over state employee unions & PERS

On February 9, 2010, the Corvallis Gazette-Times published a letter by Robin Stepanek entitled "No union for private sector; public employees owe them a thank you." The letter elicited considerable online discussion. Then on February 17th, a letter by Ted Daum of Corvallis was published in response to Ms. Stepanek's letter under the title "Unions have given much to all working people." Again, the online comments produced quite a stir. Mr. Gorley gave a brief history of PERS but little detail. Can anyone fill us in on the progression of PERS? Read More......