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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Three bills that would dramatically alter the state retirement system are up for debate in the Utah Senate on Thursday.
Bountiful Republican Sen. Dan Liljenquist's reforms would largely reinvent the state pension fund for new employees hired after a certain date.
The recent economic meltdown left many pension funds shortchanged. The crisis stripped Utah of $6.5 billion, and returns in 2009 did little to recover losses.
The biggest change comes in Senate Bill 63, which would essentially replace the defined-benefit pension plan for public employees hired after July 1, 2011, with a scaled-down option.
It would provide a choice between a hybrid retirement plan with reduced benefits or a 401(k) plan that allows them to contribute 8 percent of their salaries.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
