The 2025 legislative session is well underway with more than 400 bills introduced so far.
To hear the latest from the State Capitol, we caught up with PERA Director of Public & Government Affairs Michael Steppat, who meets regularly with lawmakers throughout the legislative process.
Let’s start with a quick recap of the PERA-related bills we’ve seen so far and where they stand.
So far this session, legislators have introduced six bills that affect PERA or our members. One of those bills—which reintroduced last year’s bill to create a temporary tax credit for retirees—has already been defeated in committee.
The five bills that remain under consideration touch on a variety of topics. For example, SB25-136 would remove the state income tax deduction limit on pension income, and HB25-1150 would require a PERA member who’s convicted of a sex crime to forfeit part of their benefits.
Two of the bills—SB25-028 and SB25-147—propose changes to state law that in many cases codify work PERA and the PERA Board are already doing. That includes things such as financial studies and reporting, video streaming Board meetings and posting meeting materials online. As a mission-driven organization, transparency is important to the work we do, and we appreciate working with the Legislature to ensure all stakeholders have the information they need.
READ MORE: 2025 Proposed PERA-Related Legislation Status
Writing the State’s budget is always an important part of the legislative session; how’s that process going this year?
Lawmakers began the session with a challenging budget situation—a shortfall of nearly $700 million. There have also been some questions about whether anything in Washington, DC will affect the hundreds of millions of dollars Colorado receives from the federal government. Throughout the budget writing process, lawmakers are keeping a close eye on any potential impacts to the state budget.
The Legislature will release its budget proposal, known as the “long bill,” in March and finalize it in April. While the state budget doesn’t determine PERA’s budget or the payment of benefits, we’ll keep an eye out for anything that might affect PERA or PERA employers down the line.
Do any of the changes in the federal government, such as staffing reductions and spending freezes, affect PERA?
PERA does not receive federal funding and so far, none of the changes in the federal government have any direct impact on PERA. All of our funding comes from employee and employer contributions, investment returns, and an annual $225 million direct distribution from the state. PERA benefits are paid from the PERA trust funds and are not subject to federal funding or programs.
The Colorado General Assembly created PERA and remains in charge of things like benefit provisions and legislative oversight. While the federal government has limited jurisdiction over public retirement plans like PERA, it does oversee other benefits PERA members and retirees may receive, such as Medicare and Social Security.
Speaking of Social Security, what’s the latest on the Social Security Fairness Act and the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)?
Since the Social Security Fairness Act became law in early January, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been working to figure out how it will implement all the necessary changes and recalculate retiree benefits. That could take some time under the best of circumstances, since it’s a complicated issue with millions of affected beneficiaries.
The SSA said it’s been under a hiring freeze since November so it’s working with limited staff, and that’s likely to cause a delay in implementing the law. If we see further reductions in the SSA workforce, it’s possible the delay could stretch even further. Only time will tell, and we’re keeping an eye out for any updates or developments from SSA.
READ MORE: Social Security Fairness Act Rollout Could Take A Year or More
What’s the best way to stay up to date throughout the session?
We post regular updates here on PERA On The Issues, so subscribing to the biweekly newsletter is a great way to receive the latest news in your inbox. The legislative session will run through early May, and we’ll be sure to let everyone know about any new bills that come up between now and then.
