Nine public employees filed suit on Friday to overturn portions of a new law that trims future retirement benefits for employees to rein in escalating costs of Oregon’s Public Employees Retirement System, The Oregonian reported. The lawsuit seeks to eliminate provisions enacted through Senate Bill 1049 that require employees to contribute to their pensions, as well as new limits on salaries used to calculate retirement benefits. The employees contend that the resulting loss of retirement benefits is unconstitutional, a breach of contract and an “illegal taking” without compensation. Combined, those provisions are expected to reduce pension costs for public employers by about $150 million in the next two-year budget cycle. That’s about 10 percent percent of the savings expected from the bill, a majority of which came from delaying repayment of the system’s $27 billion deficit.
