Senate minority highlights $7 billion pension liability as HB 78 committee substitute drops

Senator Kaufman said the finance committee released a committee substitute for what is referred to as the pension bill, HB 78, incorporating amendments designed to prevent a defined‑benefit pension system from trending toward insolvency. "The latest, committee substitute for the... pension bill HB 78 dropped," Kaufman said, adding that the amendments are intended to avoid the solvency problems that have affected other defined‑benefit plans.

Kaufman cited a present liability figure tied to the legacy defined‑benefit system of about $7,000,000,000 and said the substitute incorporates fixes discussed at an earlier hearing. He said stakeholders will testify in hearings next week on the revised substitute.

At the same press conference, another senator described calculating how a defined‑contribution approach tied to the Supplemental Benefit System — "SBS" — would have affected her as a teacher and argued that a defined‑contribution plan preserves assets that could be passed to heirs. Kaufman clarified that SBS is a supplemental defined‑contribution system with employee contributions and state matching.

Senators framed the substitute as an effort to be fiscally responsible and to protect the state from taking on unsustainable pension liabilities; they said the committee expects additional input before moving the measure forward.