Vialet Sees a Bonus for GERS in Proposed FY 2022 Executive Budget

There may be some hope for the Government Employees’ Retirement System in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, Sen. Kurt Vialet said Monday during a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee at which dozens of budget bills were advanced to the Committee on Rules and the Judiciary.

“The budget that came down from Government House was like $945 million and this budget is $919 million,” said Vialet, the chairman of the Finance Committee, a difference of $26 million. “We came in under which gives us some flexibility, and we have had the discussion about being able to put some money towards the Government Employee Retirement System. So, we do have that sub-committee meeting on the 20th, and we will have that particular bill there and have the discussion as to how we want to proceed.”

The GERS has been paying out more in benefits than it has been collecting in member contributions for years, and is expected to deplete its funds within the next couple of years, at which time retirees will see their monthly benefits reduced by more than 50 percent. In 2019, the program’s unfunded liability was more than $4 billion; its assets and projected income are less than 16 percent of the total liability for present and future pensions.

After discussion, Vialet said the Finance Committee will schedule a meeting “that will address bills that are solely for the GERS. We are not saying that we are going to be able to immediately solve the problem in one swoop, but we will begin to decrease the monies that they have to draw down on a regular basis.”

Sen. Novelle Francis Jr., who is not a member of the committee but attended the hearing, said the budget is open-ended.

“The budget is really a process of projections, and there is still a number of unknowns we continue to experience,” Francis said. “Just today, Limetree laid off some 35 employees. Our revenues continue to be under siege. While we continue to project, we have to continue to be good stewards of the government coffers.”

Because the budget is based on projected (or expected) revenue collections, there have been effects on the budget unique to the last pandemic-riddled years.