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Bill to Change Oklahoma Teacher Pension Calculation Stalls in Committee

A bill to change Oklahoma teachers’ pension benefits appears dead on arrival.

The Senate Retirement and Insurance Committee declined to even vote Monday on Senate Bill 979, which would change the average salary calculation to cover seven years starting July 1, 2020. The calculation currently looks at three years for teachers hired before July 1, 1992 and five years for those hired more recently.

Sen. Mark Allen said lawmakers have pumped millions of dollars into the fund over the last decade to improve its standing.

"We were 48 percent funded when I got elected in 2010. We’re over 70 percent funded now, and with the recent pay raise that went into effect, I think it’s going to have a huge, negative impact on our retirement system," Allen said.

Lawmakers approved teacher raises averaging $6,100 last year. Opponents noted the average salary calculation change would reduce a retirement pay bump teachers expected because of those raises.

"It appears as though this is retaliation to giving our teachers a pay increase," said Sen. Ron Sharp.

Teachers Retirement System Executive Director Tom Spencer said not only does the fund plan for regular pay increases, retirements dropped around 10 percent after last year’s raises.

"If they don’t retire for another three or four years, we actually pick up a gain because we’re not paying any pension, higher or lower. So, it more than offsets any kind of a salary increase that we’re looking at," Spencer said.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.