Pratt in favor of pensions bill offering lifeline to teachers and law enforcement

Today the Senate passed a bipartisan Pensions package that addresses various needs cited by teachers and law enforcement. The bill spends $80 million in FY26-27 and an additional $80 million in FY28-29. With this funding, the bill increases benefits for law enforcement officers and creates a working group to determine future additional changes. 

The big highlights of the bill include the following:   

  • Cost of living adjustments (COLA) to the State Patrol Plan 
  • One-time COLA increases of 3% for Public Employees Retirement Association- Police and Fire Plan 
  • Reducing the penalty for 60 and 61-year-old Tier II teachers who retire early 
  • Changes to Duty Disability, including an elimination of the requirement that police departments continue health coverage for those on duty disability until 65 years old 

“As the son of a public-school teacher, I’ve seen firsthand the problems with the solvency and in the trust fund putting their retirement contributions at risk.– teachers that have needed to retire early due to health reasons are being forced to incur an unfair penalty,” said Senator Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake). “When we had an $18 billion surplus, we had the opportunity to address this issue once and for all, yet the majority decided it was not a priority. Now, we’re facing a $6 billion deficit.”

Missing from this bill is early retirement changes from Probation Officers. In lieu of an immediate change, this bill establishes a working group to formulate a workable solution to address their concerns.  

Republicans offered multiple amendments to put the bill in a better state. All were defeated on party-line votes: 

“I’m disappointed these changes were not accepted, because I truly believe they would’ve made the bill stronger. It’s a sign of a greater issue occurring this session: deals are being made behind closed doors, and our ability to legislate on this and other issue has been limited,” finished Pratt.