In a recent paper Rep. Randy Armstrong stated the true nature of his political stance. Take away rather than provide opportunity. In his statement he claimed that the Public Employees Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) is a “luxury” item, because so many of our state employees retire to their private compounds or yachts on the Mediterranean coast. His statement implies that our employees do not deserve to retire in comfort after years of work in public service and that these working families do not need to have such benefits therefore they should be changed to equate with, well I’m not sure, but the assumption is - the rest of us poor working stiffs.

Rep. Armstrong makes it sound as if PERSI is a burdensome gift to employees that they do not deserve rather than a benefit of working in service of Idahoans. PERSI is a benefit that was offered to retain employees in jobs that are tedious, difficult and do not pay as well as a similar private industry job would. In an effort to create fear of the program, he calls it an “egregious liability” with “unimaginable potential liability” without providing any statement of facts. As I understand, after working through the 233 page annual report from PERSI, it is one of the most successful state retirement programs in the nation. One success of our state government and its employees that we can be proud of, as opposed to the Idaho State Legislature which is an abysmal embarrassment. Any changes to PERSI that Rep. Armstrong seeks to make is once again finding solutions to a non-existent problem. Something for which the Idaho Legislature is renowned.

Rep. Armstrong’s statement does fall in line with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This Council ‘trains’ legislators in enacting legislation at the state level and in many cases provides model legislation for them to present. A Google search of ‘ALEC pension reform’ returns results of position information documents and model policy found on this search would replace defined benefit pensions with a version that relies heavily upon the stock market, a higher risk of lost funds. Makes one wonder if this is an original Armstrong idea or just capitulation to lobbyists?

Rather than working to create an environment where we help build up opportunity for Idaho working families, where we all have the chance to have a ‘luxurious’ retirement lifestyle, we will take away from working families a benefit from their years of loyal hard work, living in financial security.

If you are an employee of the State of Idaho, Bannock County, the City of Pocatello, the City of Chubbuck, City of Inkom, a School District employee or have any PERSI account, Rep. Armstrong’s statement should be a clear signal of the threat to your future. You should consider this message when you enter the voting booth in 2022.

Nate Roberts,

President of Pocatello Central Labor Council AFL-CIO