TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback appointed an attorney, a cattleman and three people in the financial services industry Monday to a new commission that will study whether Kansas should move toward a 401(k)-style pension plan for new teachers and government workers.

The commission was created under a law enacted this year to address the long-term financial problems facing the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. The study panel can look at a variety of options, but the Republican governor has said repeatedly that he favors starting a 401(k)-style plan or a "hybrid" for new public employees.

KPERS projects a $7.7 billion shortfall between revenues and the benefits promised to teachers and government workers through 2033. The new law also increases the state's annual contributions to KPERS and requires most public employees to choose between paying a higher portion of their salaries toward their pensions or seeing their future retirement benefits cut.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.