In response to my public record request, all 90 Oregon legislators disclosed their PERS membership status. Thirty-one legislators are not PERS members. Fifty-nine of them are. Generally, public employees in Oregon automatically become PERS members six months after they are hired, but that automatic PERS membership rule does not apply to legislators. As elected officials, they become PERS members only if they choose to join. Of the three legislators who primarily represent the Central Oregon area, Sen. Chris Telfer and Rep. Gene Whisnant have not joined PERS. Rep. Judy Stiegler has become a legislative PERS member.

A legislator’s PERS status will influence his or her view of what is best for Oregon. This bias was reflected in the Bulletin article “Reset government: The push to get rid of the PERS pickup,” by Sheila G. Miller, published Aug. 22. The PERS pickup law permits public employers, such as the state of Oregon, the city of Bend and the Bend-La Pine School District, to use tax money to pay the PERS contributions that its employees are supposed to pay. When a public employer chooses to pay its employees’ PERS contributions, in addition to the PERS employer contribution it is required to make, the employer pays all PERS contributions and the employees pay nothing. If a public employer did not pick up employee PERS contributions, that employer would have more tax dollars to use to provide the services that it was created to provide.

All three Central Oregon legislators were interviewed for the Bulletin article. Their views on changing the PERS pickup law were consistent with their PERS membership status. Both Sen. Telfer and Rep. Whisnant expressed a willingness to change the pickup law. As non-PERS members, neither one of them would be impacted by a change to that law. Rep. Stiegler, on the other hand, saw the issue as being more complex and did not indicate that she was willing to support a change to the pickup law. She is a PERS member, and her employee PERS contribution is being picked up. If the pickup were changed, she would be personally affected by that change.

PERS membership has influenced the Legislature in passing many laws that were beneficial to PERS, including a law that made PERS payments Oregon’s highest financial priority. That law was passed in 1989, when 82 of the 90 legislators were PERS members. Since 1989, when Oregon public employers have budget shortfalls they cannot reduce PERS payments in order to maintain services.

It is the Legislature’s job to set priorities and make difficult decisions, but those actions should be objectively based on what is best for all Oregonians. When legislators join PERS, they cannot be objective when making PERS laws.

PERS membership status is a relevant factor in deciding whom you want to represent you in the Oregon Legislature. Without that information, however, you cannot take it into consideration in making your choice. This is the PERS status of all 90 members of the Legislature:

30 senators: 24 in PERS and six not in PERS.

The following 24 senators are PERS members:

• 17 Democrats: Alan Bates, Ginny Burdick, Peter Courtney, Richard Devlin, Jackie Dingfelder, Chris Edwards, Mark Hass, Betsy Johnson, Rick Metsger, Laurie Monnes Anderson, Rod Monroe, Bill Morrisette, Floyd Prozanski, Diane Rosenbaum, Martha Schrader, Chip Shields and Joanne Verger.

• Seven Republicans: Jason Atkinson, Ted Ferrioli, Larry George, Jeff Kruse, Bruce Starr, Doug Whitsett and Jackie Winters.

The following six senators are not PERS members:

• One Democrat: Suzanne Bonamici.

• Five Republicans: Brian Boquist, Fred Girod, Frank Morse, David Nelson and Chris Telfer.

60 representatives: 35 in PERS and 25 not in PERS.

The following 35 representatives are PERS members:

• 24 Democrats: Jules Bailey, Jeff Barker, Phil Barnhart, Brent Barton, E. Terry Beyer, Peter Buckley, Ben Cannon, Jean Cowan, Michael Dembrow, David Edwards, Chris Garrett, Dave Hunt, Nick Kahi, Betty Komp, Tina Kotek, Greg Matthews, Nancy Nathanson, Mary Nolan, Tobias Read, Mike Schaufler, Judy Stiegler, Carolyn Tomei, Suzanne VanOrman and Brad Witt.

• 11 Republicans: Cliff Bentz, Tim Freeman, Bill Garrarci, Vic Gilliam, George Gilman, Bill Kennemer, Wayne Krieger, Greg Smith, Jim Thompson, Jim Weidner and Matt Wingard.

The following 25 representatives are not PERS members:

• 12 Democrats: Deborah Boone, Brian Clem, Margaret Doherty, Lew Frederick, Sara Gelser, Mitch Greenlick, Chris Harker, Paul Holvey, Val Hoyle, Chuck Riley, Arnie Roblan and Jefferson Smith.

• 13 Republicans: Vickie Berger, Scott Bruun, Kevin Cameron, Sal Esquivel, Bruce Hanna, John Huffman, Bob Jenson, Ron Maurer, Andy Olson, Dennis Richardson, Sherrie Sprenger, Kim Thatcher and Gene Whisnant.