State should honor pension agreement before making changes

Funding education isn’t the only headache Legislators are taking extra-strength Tylenol for these days. Funding of the state employee’s retirement pension system is also eliciting consumption of a few tablets.

Senate Bill 5851 would create another retirement plan the state could offer its workers, but one not based on defined benefits as the other three plans, two of which are active, are but on defined contributions.

Like the current plans, employees and employers would be required to make contributions, the difference being that the new plan – Public Employees Savings Plan (PESP) – would be...