A plan to require the Legislature to cover the state's publicly funded pension obligations each year has been approved by the Oklahoma House.
The House voted 69-24 on Thursday for the bill to require the Legislature to meet the actuarially required contribution, or ARC, amount each year. The requirement wouldn't apply if the total amount exceeded 15 percent of the overall state budget.
House author Rep. Randy McDaniel says because the Legislature historically didn't meet the ARC, the systems have grown to have an unfunded liability of nearly $12 billion.
The bill is one of several measures being pushed by Republican leaders to overhaul the state's public pension systems, including plans to end the traditional pension system for newly hired state workers.
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