Editor’s note: On Monday, Nov. 15, the Legislative Council voted to approve the bill, clearing the way for it to be introduced during the regular legislative session, which is set to begin on Jan. 12. PERA On The Issues will continue to monitor the bill and will provide updates regarding its status during the session.

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The Colorado General Assembly’s Pension Review Commission on Tuesday voted to recommend a bill for the 2022 legislative session that would make up the legislature’s missed $225 million direct distribution payment to PERA from July 2020.

Lawmakers enacted legislation to forego the annual $225 million payment to PERA during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the General Assembly cut billions of dollars from the state budget. The state resumed payments in July 2021 but did not make up 2020’s payment.

The Pension Review Commission’s draft calls for the state to make a payment totaling $303.57 million — $225 million plus estimated investment gains, had the money been invested — on July 1, 2022.

Lawmakers recommended using money from the state’s general fund to make the payment, though committee members also suggested using money from a new cash fund the legislature established during the 2021 legislative session. That fund, which currently has a balance of $380 million, is meant specifically for future payments to PERA.

The draft bill will head next to the Legislative Council before it could be introduced in the 2022 legislative session.

The $225 million direct distribution to PERA is part of a package of reforms enacted under Senate Bill 200 in 2018 and is meant to help PERA pay down its unfunded liability. Also included in Senate Bill 200 was the Automatic Adjustment Provision, which will trigger increases in employee and employer contributions to PERA and reductions to annual increases for benefit recipients in July 2022.