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Iowa lawmakers consider study on public employee benefits
But legislators are ruling out any immediate changes to IPERS
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DES MOINES — While Iowa lawmakers have made it clear that they don’t intend to make any immediate changes to Iowa’s public pension system, they are considering studying public-sector benefits to determine whether to offer different benefit plans for future employees — a recommendation from Gov. Kim Reynolds’ government efficiency task force.
During its biennial meeting Tuesday morning, members of the Iowa Public Retirement Systems Joint Legislative Committee emphasized that no changes to the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, or IPERS, the state’s public employee retirement program, will be on the table during the 2026 legislative session.
This consideration by legislators stems from recommendations released by the Iowa Department of Government Efficiency Task Force over the summer. The recommendations aroused public concern around potential changes to IPERS.
The final report released in October recommended that lawmakers study the current state of IPERS to determine the feasibility of offering current or future employees the option to opt into a strictly voluntary defined-contribution plan, which, like a 401(k), depends in part on market performance. IPERS is a defined benefit plan, which guarantees a certain level of income in a worker’s retirement.
Republican state Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink of Fort Dodge, a committee co-chair, said while there is no interest among GOP lawmakers to make changes to IPERS, he believes it is important for them to review the system to see if there are ways it could be improved for public employees.
“I don't even have the appetite to do any changing,” Kraayenbrink told reporters after the committee meeting. “How can we … have an appetite of changing when you don't know what the numbers are or what it even entails? You're never going to find out, unless you have those studies. And having a study doesn't mean that we're going to go gung ho and change things drastically.”
The committee's other co-chair, state Republican Rep. Charley Thomson of Charles City, said it's important for lawmakers to study IPERS to find any potential improvements, but noted that teeing up changes based on results would take years.
"We're here to make sure that the ship runs straight and accurately," Thomson said.
Reynolds and other key Iowa GOP legislative leaders have doubled down on their intentions not to make any changes to IPERS.
In November, IPERS CEO Gregory Samorajski cautioned lawmakers about the potential consequences of a voluntary contribution option during an interview with the Gazette.
During Tuesday’s meeting, he stressed the importance of IPERS, alongside Matt Carver, who represents the School Administrators of Iowa on the Iowa Benefits Advisory Committee.
Carver thanked lawmakers who responded to potential changes to IPERS while the DOGE task force was considering recommendations, which he said caused a “stir” among public employees who rely on the benefit system.
“I'm not here to shoot arrows at the DOGE committee, I think they were just doing their best to come up with different ideas of ... where could we save some money,” Carver said. “But that is very concerning, as you can imagine.”
The Iowa DOGE Task Force report recommended that the committee conduct the study to compare public-sector wages, pensions, health care, paid time off and other benefits against those offered by private employers. But the committee did not take any action on a study at its meeting Tuesday.
IPERS serves roughly 424,000 members, 186,221 of who are active, and distributes about $2.8 billion in benefits annually. About half the members work in education.
IPERS unfunded liability payments ‘ahead of schedule’
During the committee meeting, Samorajski told lawmakers that IPERS, which is 92 percent funded, is in a solid position.
Iowa ranks in the country’s top 10 states for trust fund solvency, or its projected ability to pay out future benefits, according to Samorajski. He said this is due in part to pension reform lawmakers passed in 2012, which gave IPERS the ability to set the annual contribution rates after the program experiences a shortfall. The liability was expected to be paid off by 2045 under the new schedule.
Now, Samorajski said they are set to pay down the system’s unfunded liability — the difference between the amount owed to members and the amount currently in the fund — a decade sooner than anticipated.
“We have earned generally more than 7 percent since pension reform, and therefore we're ahead of schedule paying on the unfunded liability,” Samorajski said.
Gazette Deputy Des Moines Bureau Chief Tom Barton contributed to this report.
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