Cover photo: Oregon Gov. Earl W. Snell signs legislation creating the Public Employees Retirement System on March 26, 1945. First edition, 1996. Second edition, 2010. Third edition, 2021. PERS History Contents Introduction: pre-PERS ......................................................................................................... 5 Emergence of pension plans in the U.S. ................................................................................................. 5 First U.S. pension plans ............................................................................................................................... 5 Social Security ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Oregon’s early retirement plans ............................................................................................................... 6 Momentum for a statewide retirement plan .......................................................................................... 7 Hidden pensions ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Other factors .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Nearing the finish line ................................................................................................................................... 8 The 1940s: PERS’ early years ............................................................................................... 9 PERS becomes official ................................................................................................................................. 9 The 1950s: settling-in years ................................................................................................ 10 Early concerns and problems ................................................................................................................... 10 Social Security integration ......................................................................................................................... 10 Benefit changes ............................................................................................................................................. 11 The 1960s: years of change ................................................................................................ 12 Need for increase in funding ..................................................................................................................... 12 Campaign to improve PERS ....................................................................................................................... 13 Stock investment .......................................................................................................................................... 14 The 1970s: years of growth ................................................................................................. 16 Big payments, high earnings ..................................................................................................................... 16 New bills mean bigger pensions .............................................................................................................. 16 Concerns over stock investments ............................................................................................................ 17 The Oregon Employees Retirement Investment Association .......................................................... 18 The Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) ................................................................ 18 Taxes ............................................................................................................................................................... 18 The 1980s: years of scrutiny ............................................................................................... 19 Investments spark controversy ................................................................................................................ 19 The new Retirement Information Management System ................................................................... 20 The 1990s: into the next century ........................................................................................ 21 Public scrutiny ............................................................................................................................................... 21 Federal regulations ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Ballot measures ........................................................................................................................................... 22 State taxation of PERS benefits .............................................................................................................. 22 Technology ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Retirement spike .......................................................................................................................................... 23 Other events ................................................................................................................................................. 23 A look into PERS’ future ............................................................................................................................ 24 - 3 - PERS History The 2000s (2000–2010): years of change ....................................................................... 25 Ups and downs ............................................................................................................................................ 25 Major events ................................................................................................................................................. 25 Employer rates ............................................................................................................................................. 26 The call for PERS reform ........................................................................................................................... 26 The PERS Reform and Stabilization Act of 2003 ............................................................................... 27 Public employee challenges to reform legislation ............................................................................. 28 Employer litigation ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Retirement spikes ........................................................................................................................................ 28 PERS staff expands to cover retirement spikes and PERS reform ................................................ 28 Technology ................................................................................................................................................... 29 Education sessions ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Oregon Savings Growth Plan (OSGP) .................................................................................................... 30 Great Recession of 2008 .......................................................................................................................... 30 The 2010s (2010–2020): years of rebuilding .................................................................... 31 Leadership changes .................................................................................................................................... 31 Focusing on improvements ....................................................................................................................... 31 Employer Advisory Group ........................................................................................................................ 32 Plan changes ................................................................................................................................................ 33 Benchmarking .............................................................................................................................................. 34 PERS UAL Task Force ................................................................................................................................ 34 Senate Bill 1566 (2018) and employer relief programs ..................................................................... 35 Senate Bill 1049 ............................................................................................................................................ 35 The 2020s (2020–2030): years of modernization ........................................................... 36 Senate Bill 1049 (2019) implementation ................................................................................................ 36 Strunk and Eugene cases ......................................................................................................................... 37 COVID-19 pandemic 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