Editor’s note (6-10-25): This article was updated to show that all four bills have been signed into law.
That’s a wrap on the 2025 legislative session—the Colorado General Assembly concluded on Wednesday, May 7.
Lawmakers introduced more than 650 bills over the course of the 120-day session, seven of which related directly to PERA. Of those, four bills passed both chambers and are now on the governor’s desk. Below are summaries of those four bills and their impact on PERA.
Visit our legislation tracking page for more information on these bills and the bills that didn’t pass.
Which bills passed?
Senate Bill 28: Public Employees’ Retirement Association Risk Reduction Measures
This bill establishes in state law certain reporting practices the PERA Board of Trustees already performs on a regular basis, including actuarial experience studies and independent reviews through actuarial audits. The bill aims to align the timeline of those activities with the Pension Review Subcommittee’s independent review, which it conducts on a regular basis.
House Bill 1105: PERA True-Up of Denver Public Schools Division Employer Contribution
Legislation that merged the Denver Public Schools Retirement System (DPSRS) into PERA in 2010 included a requirement that PERA perform a “true-up” calculation every five years to determine if the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Division’s employer contribution rate should be adjusted to ensure the DPS and School Divisions reach equal funding ratios within 30 years.
This bill reduces the DPS Division employer contribution rate by 3.0%, diverts a portion of the DPS Division’s Health Care Trust Fund contributions towards the DPS Division’s Pension Trust Fund, temporarily removes the DPS Division from the Automatic Adjustment Provision calculation (though it remains subject to any changes from the AAP) and temporarily prevents the DPS Division from receiving allocations of the annual direct distribution from the State in order to negate the impact of the reduced contributions having a negative effect on the AAP calculation.
Senate Bill 147: Modify Board Management PERA
This bill modifies a number of provisions under current law related to the PERA Board, including changes to how PERA is designated for purposes of open meetings laws, establishing term limits for Trustees, and requiring that certain financial information, including various administrative costs and other expenses, be posted on PERA’s website and updated on an annual basis.
READ MORE: PERA Board Supports Bill That Codifies Board Practices, Enhances Transparency
Senate Bill 310: Proposition 130 Implementation
The final PERA-related bill introduced this session involved Proposition 130, the voter-approved measure that directs the state to spend $350 million to recruit, train, and retain local law enforcement officers. The provisions that apply to PERA relate to funding for the bill, which will involve giving PERA a lump-sum payment of $500 million on July 1, 2025 and reducing future years’ direct distributions to PERA based on our investment earnings on the $500 million.
Despite reductions in future direct distributions, the bill is expected to be a net positive for PERA’s funding and also allows PERA to allocate the $500 million in a way that reduces the likelihood of triggering the AAP based on PERA’s funding progress in the future.
What’s next?
Gov. Jared Polis signed all four PERA-related bills into law.
In addition to the above bills, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 199, which suspends interim legislative activities for the year. That means the Pension Review Commission and Pension Review Subcommittee, which usually meet in the period between sessions and begin work on drafting legislation, will not meet this summer. PERA staff will still appear before the Legislative Audit Committee in August to discuss our financial status and receive the results of the State’s annual audit.
Last session, the Legislature approved a bill that directs the Office of the State Auditor to commission an updated study comparing the value of PERA’s hybrid defined benefit plan to other plan designs. We expect to receive the results of that study sometime this summer, and we’ll be sure to share that information when we have it.
