“The rising cost of the PERS retirement program means that all Oregonians, young and old alike, will pay a heavy price in terms of the quality of our individual lives and the ability of our government to provide essential services for all of our citizens. There must be a bipartisan effort to find solutions to the PERS problem that are fair for taxpayers and public employees alike.”

Governor Ted Kulongoski (2003-2011)

“We need solutions that are fair and responsible – and we can’t wait.”

Cec Koontz,
Monmouth Mayor, Board Member of Western Oregon University

“Asking employees to pay part of their PERS pension costs, as most public employees in other states and private sector workers do, is just common sense.”

Betty Komp
Chair of Board of Trustees Western Oregon University; Oregon State Representative, 2004-2017

“We need to follow through with sensible solutions for the good of our schools, taxpayers, and even current public employees who will otherwise face budget cuts and layoffs without reforms.”

Rob Harris
Hillsboro Library Foundation

“As a veteran school board chairman, I’ve personally witnessed the strain on school budgets due to escalating PERS costs. We need to find a way to honor previous commitments to our hard-working employees yet find a way to make sound financial changes moving forward.”

Kelly Bissinger
Vice-Chair, InterMountain ESD School Board

“It is tragic that during a strong economy Oregon finds itself cutting essential services in order to pay for past mistakes with PERS. We must take reasonable steps to rein in runaway costs while continuing to assure our public employees a secure retirement. PERS Solutions maps the way forward.”

Greg MacPherson,Former State Representative, farmer and retired pension lawyer