As the state legislative session is underway, one program’s funding that has frequently been under speculation is the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, or IPERS.

House State Government Committee Chair Representative Bobby Kaufmann (R) announced last week that there will be no changes to IPERS in the next two years. House District 20 Representative Ray Sorensen (R) also serves on the state government committee, and he comments on the announcement, “You know I think it was needed there’s a lot of confusion out there on IPERS. There’s a lot of people that think just because a bill is introduced that it’s a breath away from becoming law and that’s not it. You know when a bill is introduced that means a legislator has an idea and sometimes that idea might not mesh well with the rest of the body, there’s 150 legislators up there so there’s a lot of different ideas and that’s great, that’s what it’s all about. But when it comes down to it we just wanted to let everyone know in the House there will be no changes to IPERS.”

A bill was filed in the Iowa Senate in 2017 to change plans for new employees in the system, but did not advance. To hear more from Sorensen, listen to Monday’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County and you can hear him every other week as part of our Let’s Talk programs on Monday’s during the legislative session.