ANALYSIS OF THE NEW MEXICO PERA PENSION SOLVENCY TASK FORCE’S PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Public Employees Retirement Association’s Pension Solvency Task Force released preliminary recommendations and related actuarial analyses for a set of policy approaches that improves PERA’s solvency by eliminating over $6 billion in unfunded liabilities over the next 25 years. The changes, proposed earlier this month, are significant and positive steps for PERA, but still leave some systemic challenges—namely actuarial methods and assumptions—unaddressed.

Several months back, financial experts urged policymakers to prepare for potential scenarios that could endanger the health of the state’s pension plan.1 The task force has
done so by exploring recommendations that include increased contribution inflows, adjusting COLA provisions, and implementing other policies to improve PERA’s financial health, as detailed in this brief.