Thanks to the activism of CSEA members, the enacted state budget includes the first positive large-scale pension reforms in over 20 years. While we didn’t get everything we wanted, these changes are a great first step to making public employment attractive again and helping to address significant staffing shortages at every level of government.
The enacted budget:
- Reduces from 10 years to 5 years the amount of time an employee in tiers 5 and 6 must work before becoming vested in their pension. This brings vesting in line with other pension tiers and the private sector. Fixing this inequality was the #1 priority for the CSEA members who responded to our pension reform survey in December; and
- For the next two years, a tier 6 employee’s pension contributions will be calculated using base salary only, excluding all overtime worked. This will ensure that workers aren’t penalized with higher pension contributions because of the mandatory overtime needed to provide essential services during the pandemic.
This victory was only possible because of the outstanding activism of CSEA members who sent over 25,000 emails and made over 1,200 phone calls to their legislators and the governor about the importance of pension reform. Thank you to each member who took action.
Our campaign to “Fix Tier 6” does not end today, but we have successfully opened the door to a conversation that hasn't even been possible in recent years.
