Alaska pension proposal would impose big costs but have little impact on recruitment

Citing challenges in recruiting and retaining police, firefighters, and teachers, Alaska lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 88 legislation to reinstate pensions for the state’s public workers.

Testifying before the House State Affairs Subcommittee on Retirement and Benefits Legislation, Reason Foundation’s Pension Integrity Project gave its analysis of the bill’s costs on state budgets and the potential impact on recruitment and retention of public workers that policymakers could expect to see if Alaska SB 88 passed. 

Reason Foundation’s findings indicate that the bill’s 30-year cost could exceed $9 billion, but there is little evidence to conclude that it would counteract national and state-level trends in increased employee turnover.

The Pension Integrity Project’s slides for this testimony are available below, and the video of the May 7 meeting is available here.

Analysis of Alaska Senate Bill 88