Port: Fireworks at pension board meeting lead to an abrupt adjournment
Minot, N.D. — Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a bill to transition North Dakota’s defined benefit pension system for public workers to a defined contribution model of the sort most of us in the private sector are familiar with.
This action was taken to address a nearly $2 billion shortfall in the existing pension. Rather than a bailout that would kick the can of insolvency further down the road, our lawmakers, heeding a call from Gov. Doug Burgum, took the long view. They opted for structural reforms that remove the burden of unfunded pension mandates from the backs of taxpayers.
But Scott Miller, the executive director of the Public Employees Retirement System, hates the reform. And, based on his public comments, as well as his actions today, it might be fair to question whether he’s committed to applying the reforms handed to him by our elected officials.
The pension reform bill lawmakers passed “is about to be the most expensive mistake in the history of the state of North Dakota,” Miller told the Bismarck Tribune.
