Oregon Public Pension Debt Initiative (2020)
| Oregon Public Pension Debt Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Pension | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Oregon Public Pension Debt Initiative was not on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
Measure design
The measure would have required the state treasurer to calculate the unfunded actuarial liabilities of public employee retirement programs and systems as of December 31, 2022. Beginning January 1, 2023, neither the state nor any of its political subdivisions would have accrued unfunded actuarial liabilities exceeding the amount calculated by the treasurer at the end of 2022. The measure would have also prohibited the state and its political subdivisions from borrowing money or pledging assets or revenues to comply with funding pensions. The measure would not have affected any retirement benefits an employee has accrued as of December 31, 2022.[1][2][3]
Actuarial liability was defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as "The amount calculated based on actuarial assumptions that represents the present value of the pension benefits accrued in a pension plan."[4]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The certified ballot title for this measure would have been as follows:[3]
| “ | Amends Constitution: Public pensions may not "accrue" (undefined) unfunded actuarial liability; Treasurer calculates; prohibits borrowing to comply[5] | ” |
Ballot summary
The certified ballot summary for this measure would have been as follows:[3]
| “ | Pension programs have unfunded actuarial liability if the benefits they expect to owe exceed the expected value of available funds. Liability can increase for many reasons, including low investment returns or increased pensioner longevity. Constitution currently permits state to issue bonds for pension liabilities. The proposed constitutional provision requires the Treasurer to calculate every public pension’s unfunded actuarial liability as of December 31, 2022. Measure provides that, beginning January 1, 2023, governments may not “accrue” (undefined) additional unfunded actuarial liability. Governments may not borrow, or pledge assets or revenues, to comply. Other effects unclear; measure does not explain when a government “accrues” unfunded actuarial liability or the consequences if factors beyond government control result in an increase. Measure does not affect benefits accrued through 2022.[5] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article IX, Oregon Constitution
The measure would have added a new section, Section 16, to Article IX of the state constitution. The following underlined text would be added:[1]
SECTION 16.
(1) The State Treasurer shall calculate the unfunded actuarial liability of any public employee retirement program or system as of December 31, 2022.
(2) Beginning January 2023, the state and its political subdivisions, including home rule jurisdictions, may not:
- (a) Accrue unfunded actuarial liability in excess of the amounts calculated under subsection (1) of this section.
- (b) May not borrow money or pledge assets or revenues to comply with subsection (2) of this section.
(3) The prohibition in subsection (2)(b) of this section does not apply to indebtedness incurred on or before the effective date of this 2020 measure.
(4) Nothing in this section affects the retirement benefits an employee has accrued as of December 31, 2022.[5]
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Oregon, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Signatures for Oregon initiatives must be submitted four months prior to the next regular general election. State law also requires paid signature gatherers to submit any signatures they gather every month.
Moreover, Oregon is one of several states that require a certain number of signatures to accompany an initiative petition application. The signatures of at least 1,000 electors are required to trigger a review by state officials, a period of public commentary, and the drafting of a ballot title. Prior to gathering these initial 1,000 signatures, petitioners must submit the text of the measure, a form disclosing their planned use of paid circulators, and a form designating up to three chief petitioners.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 149,360 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 2, 2020.
In Oregon, signatures are verified using a random sample method. If a first round of signatures is submitted at least 165 days before an election and contains raw, unverified signatures at least equal to the minimum requirement, but verification shows that not enough of the submitted signatures are valid, additional signatures can be submitted prior to the final deadline.
Details about this initiative
- Julie Parish, Mark Johnson, and Kim Sordyl filed this initiative on October 3, 2018.[2]
- On April 15, 2019, petitioners submitted 1,518 sponsorship signatures.[2]
- On October 10, 2019, the Oregon Supreme Court ordered Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to rewrite the ballot title and summary that the Oregon Department of Justice published in May. The court's unanimous opinion argued that the ballot title and summary do not meet the requirements laid out in Oregon Revised Statute for ballot titles and summaries.[6]
- The initiative was never cleared for circulation.[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://oregonvotes.org/irr/2020/013text.pdf Oregon Secretary of State, "Complete Text of Initiative #13," accessed November 17, 2018]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Oregon Secretary of State, "Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division Initiative, Referendum, and Referral Search for 2020," accessed November 16, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Oregon Secretary of State, "Letter of the Attorney General," accessed December 9, 2019
- ↑ OECD Glossary, "Actuarial Liability," accessed November 18, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ State of Oregon Law Library, "Parrish v. Rosenblum," accessed October 15, 2019
 |
State of Oregon Salem (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
