Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a groundbreaking pension bill Friday amidst some legislative uncertainty.
The $78 million bill will increase pension and disability benefits for public sector employees, including police officers, firefighters, and teachers.
For public safety personnel represented by Public Employees Retirement Association police and fire there is a three-year cost-of-living adjustment delay once they retire. A year would be taken off in the bill. They would also get a one-time 3% cost-of-living increase in 2026 and 1% annually thereafter. These changes come with a $17.7 million cost in each fiscal year.
At a cost of $2.3 million per year, every state patrol retiree would get a 1.25% annual cost of living increase — up from 1%.
This comes after a legislative session marked by significant challenges and unresolved issue that Walz says should be buttoned up soon.
"Some of this is tension between the Senate and the House, not between Democrats and Republicans," notes Walz. "And that's healthy. That's a good spot. So I would just say I remain incredibly, hopeful on this. I think it's reminding folks that, we will still have a couple, $2 billion surplus at the end of this."
A special session is expected to be called by the governor next week, and he added that he is extremely confident that lawmakers can get a budget passed before the June deadline that would prompt a government shutdown.
"I think we're on the cusp of being able to button this thing up and as we've said, once the work is done, we'll call that little bit of overtime session and they'll get these things done," says Walz.