April 09, 2008
Wednesday

(SitNews) - Tuesday Governor Sarah Palin signed into law bills that will provide revenue to local communities and address the $8 billion unfunded liability in the state's retirements.

Senate Bill 72 sets up a structure for distributing $60 million each year to local governments for the next three years. Under municipal revenue sharing, the state distributes funds to the municipalities of Alaska. Local entities have discretionary use of the funds, which can be used for a variety of purposes such as providing larger communities the ability to offer tax relief to its residents and providing smaller communities with funds to help support basic municipal services.

"Local government is the most responsive and responsible," Governor Palin said. "I support the state's wealth being shared with that most effective level of government."

Senate Bill 125 locks in the contribution rate for the Public Employees Retirement System at 22 percent to address the system's unfunded liability. The bill streamlines plan administration and eliminates liability and asset accounting for each PERS employer.

"This bill signifies a substantial commitment on behalf of the state to ensure our solution will help local communities and not redirect critical dollars from our classrooms. I would like to recognize the many folks from the Department of Administration and the Department of Law - Kevin Brooks, Pat Shier, Kathy Lea, Kevin Worley, and Virginia Ragle, in particular - who helped us make great strides to put our retirement systems for teachers and public employees on a stable foundation," Governor Palin said.

Source of News:

Office of the Governor
www.gov.state.ak.us

 

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