An effort involving the New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement System was defeated. In Arizona and Florida proposed legislation failed to pass, but a study on defined contribution systems will be conducted. A study was also authorized in Wisconsin regarding the possibility of an optional retirement system for certain university employees. A similar effort in Illinois died in committee. Finally, study commission on defined contribution plans were killed in Indiana and North Carolina.
Some details follow.
Proponents made a big push in early 1998 for an optional defined contribution plan for employees covered by the Arizona State Retirement System. The proposal evolved into a study. The study failed to be authorized through the regular legislative process, but a study will be conducted, nonetheless, by an interim committee. Specifically, statewide elected officials, legislators, most of the Governor's staff, and the legislative staff can now choose a defined contribution plan instead of the PERA plan. The PERA Board of Trustees opposed the initial version of the bill.