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Senate Bill 1049: Changes to member contributions as of July 1, 2020

This webpage is for Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) members with employment after July 1, 2020 (you were hired after August 28, 2003).

If you are not working for a PERS-participating employer after July 1, 2020, or you have already retired, this is not relevant to you.

Watch PERS’ animated videos that explain the two parts to your retirement and what changed with your Individual Account Program (IAP) under Senate Bill (SB) 1049, starting July 1, 2020.

As a currently employed PERS member, regardless of when you were hired, you have two parts to your future PERS retirement:

  1. Your lifetime, monthly pension benefit.
  2. Your Individual Account Program (IAP).

Starting July 1, 2020, because of SB 1049, if your gross pay in a month exceeds the monthly salary threshold, a portion of your 6% IAP contributions is now redirected to the Employee Pension Stability Account (EPSA). Your EPSA is used to pay for part of your future pension benefit. These changes to your IAP contributions will not affect the amount you will receive as your monthly pension benefit when you retire. This does mean less money is going into your IAP.

 

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Note: This video cites the monthly salary threshold in effect in 2020. The threshold is subject to change annually under SB 1049. Find the current threshold in the “Member (IAP) Redirect” section of our Senate Bill 1049 (2019) – Member information webpage.

How much do I contribute to my IAP and my EPSA?

Regardless of whether your 6% member contributions are paid by you or your employer, the redirect works as follows:

  • 0.75% of your salary is now going into your EPSA.

  • 5.25% of your salary continues to go into your IAP account.

The IAP Redirect is in effect when the PERS system is less than 90% funded*.

*The latest actuarial valuation shows that PERS’ funded status including side accounts was 77% as of December 31, 2023.

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Read step-by-step instructions on how to elect to make voluntary contributions in Online Member Services. You also can submit a paper form to start voluntary contributions.

You can make additional after-tax contributions (to be deducted by your employer) of 0.75% of salary into your IAP, to continue to have a full 6% contribution to your IAP account.

Read additional FAQs about voluntary contributions.

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Your employer continues to submit 6% contributions to PERS (whether paid by you or your employer). Because the “redirect” occurs behind the scenes in the PERS system, if your employer displays your 6% contributions on your paystub, you likely will not notice any changes.

If you view your IAP balance on IAP.Voya.com, you will eventually notice less money going into your account due to the redirect. Keep in mind that due to routine reporting delays between your employer, PERS, and Voya, the IAP third-party administrator, changes may not be immediately reflected.

PERS plans to display EPSA account information on your Member Annual Statement, sent in May each year.

Sign up for GovDelivery email or text updates on Senate Bill 1049 to stay informed.

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In addition to the SB 1049 voluntary contribution opportunity, as a public employee, additional avenues are available to you to save for retirement:

  • All state agency employees (and local governments and school districts that have adopted the plan) can participate in the Oregon Savings Growth Plan, a 457(b) deferred compensation plan. You can save as little as $25 a month for retirement. OSGP offers both pre-tax and after-tax (Roth) options. Find full details at www.growyourtomorrow.com.

  • Your employer may have other 457 or 403(b) options that you can use to further save for retirement.

Under such programs, you may be able to contribute the exact amount of money you are comfortable saving (rather than only 0.75% of your salary), and choose how you want that money invested.

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Information about Senate Bill 1049 implementation is subject to change. This information may not apply to all situations.