Proposed state retirement system changes debated in Louisiana House
by Jeff Adelson - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Baton Rouge -- A proposal to put newly hired state workers in a 401(k)-style retirement plan rather than provide them with a traditional pension easily passed a House committee Thursday, though not until after hours of debate on how the new system would impact both workers and the state. In addition to that proposal, members of the House Retirement Committee also gave their approval to another significant element of Gov. Bobby Jindal's package of changes to the state's retirement systems: a plan to have the teacher's pension system absorb the administrative duties of the system that covers other school employees. Both proposals have been seen as among the least controversial of the plans in Jindal's retirement agenda. Other aspects of the plan, which would increase the amount state employees pay into the retirement system and push the age a worker could retire with full benefits to 67, are expected to appear before the Senate Retirement Committee in the coming weeks.