TPEA will continue its focus on enhancing state employee pay, preserving affordable health benefits for state employees and retirees and continuing to strengthen the retirement fund. In June of 2019 TPEA board members and delegates met to approve the following legislative agenda for the organization.
TPEA believes all employees have earned significant across-the-board pay raises, in part, because they have not received any additional take-home adjustment in over six years. Although state employees did see a 2.5% adjustment in the 2016-2017 biennium, the entire amount was deducted from state employee checks and sent to ERS to cover the increased contribution to the pension fund. We are going to advocate for pay raises of 3% in each year of the 2020-2021 biennium, with a $100 a month minimum increase, for classified general government state employees, with a General Revenue cost of $400 million.
TPEA supports sufficient appropriations to all state agencies to allow adequate merit-pay increases of at least one percent of payroll for high-performing employees.
Maintain current state health care benefits with the state paying 100 percent of employee and retiree premiums and 50 percent of dependent coverage premiums.
Maintain current benefit model of a defined benefit plan.
Continue to support contributions to the state pension fund of 9.5% from the employee and 10% from the state with the goal of making the ERS Trust Fund actuarially sound.
Continue to oppose any effort to change to a defined contribution plan which would leave the state with an $11 billion unfunded liability.