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Legislative Overview of the 108th Congress
Frederick H. Nesbitt
NCPERS Executive Director and Legislative Counsel
Members attending the conference received a comprehensive report from Legislative Counsel Fred Nesbitt today. His review included information on the following key issues:
- legislation approved in the first session of the 108th Congress,
- bills pending in the second session,
- ongoing regulatory issues, and
- state legislative issues.
Nesbitt next reviewed the top three issues on NCPERS’ 2005 legislative agenda:
- Oppose mandatory Social Security coverage.
- Support Social Security reform that protects current benefits and does not allow individual private accounts.
- Offer relief for public employees and retirees from spiraling health care costs.
Nesbitt also gave a detailed review of the Administration’s retirement proposals (Lifetime Savings Accounts, Retirement Savings Accounts and Employer Retirement Savings Accounts) and their effects on public employees. “These proposals would hurt public employee retirement systems and our long history of providing guaranteed benefits to retirees with unique needs and characteristics,” Nesbitt said.
Nothing in the Administration’s proposal will increase savings for retirement, Nesbitt suggested. In fact, he said, “the net effect of LSAs would be to siphon the limited amount of available money into these new ‘tax-free checking accounts’ that would otherwise go toward retirement savings.”
Nesbitt urged the members to tell their representatives and senators that the Administration’s retirement proposals would cause confusion, discourage savings and ultimately undermine financially sound government pension plans. “Our nation needs more retirement savings by individuals,” he said, “not less.”
Nesbitt has been NCPERS’ executive director and legislative counsel since 2000. Prior to that he was director of governmental affairs for the International Association of Fire Fighters for 12 years.
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