The Virginia Senate Finance committee killed two bills on Wednesday intended to reform Virginia’s depleted retirement fund, including a measure that would have required state employees to start paying into the pension fund for the first time since 1983.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he wants all state employees to start paying 5 percent of their salaries into the fund starting in July, to be offset by a 3 percent pay increase for employees hired before July 1, 2010.
Watkins’ proposal, meanwhile, would have gradually increased the share for employees not already paying 5 percent over a number of years, also to be offset by a salary increase.
The bill also included a provision that would have created an optional defined contribution retirement plan for state employees, akin to a 401(k) plan used by private employers.
A separate bill from Watkins dealing only with an optional retirement plan was also killed by the committee.
The House Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, approved legislation from Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, that would create an optional defined contribution program for state employees.
