DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa House Democrats said Thursday they plan to propose a constitutional amendment during the upcoming legislative session to prevent future changes to the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System. Concerns about potential changes arose during discussions by a task force appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds aimed at saving taxpayer dollars. Representative Sean Bagniewski, House minority whip, and Senate Majority Leader Janice Weiner answered questions from reporters about their plans and expectations for the 2026 legislative session at the Iowa Capitol Press Association legislative preview forum Thursday. Republican leaders, House Speaker Pat Grassley, Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh and Reynolds, were invited but declined to attend.

The discussion of retirement plans was started by the Iowa DOGE task force, which suggested in August the state might move the public employees’ retirement system from a defined benefits program to a defined contribution program, where both the employee and employer would contribute to the retirement fund. This proposal was met with significant backlash from public employees and advocates who said the change could endanger IPERS’ solvency. In the task force’s final list of recommendations submitted to Reynolds, the proposal was changed to suggest Iowa conducts an ongoing study of of public employees’ benefits — which would include examining the viability of a defined contribution plan. If feasible, the task force suggested public employees be allowed to decide if they want to stay on IPERS in its current form or move to a defined contribution plan, while not making changes to IPERS for current public employees.

Several Republican lawmakers have stated there is currently no interest in making changes to IPERS. But Democrats said Thursday that does not mean Iowans should stop paying attention to the issue. Janice Weiner said she keeps hearing from Republican colleagues, ‘They don’t have the appetite for it this year. So my question is, does that mean they’ll have the appetite for it next year, or the year after that? IPERS is a well-run system. It is essential for recruiting and retaining employees for the state of Iowa, for our correctional system, for our law enforcement, our teachers, and we should not meddle with it, period.” Representative Bagniewski said House Democrats have similar concerns. He pointed to Republicans’ approach in 2017 to changing public sector collective bargaining law and the 2023 Education Savings Account program as examples of policy where Republicans said, “there’s just a proposal, we’re just talking about it, we’re not going to do it. And then all of a sudden, they’re doing it.”

Because Democrats are concerned about Republicans deciding to later move forward with a proposal to change IPERS, Bagniewski said the House minority party plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to “protect IPERS.” Bagniewski said the proposed constitutional amendment would bar the Legislature from making major changes to the current set-up of IPERS — particularly preventing future changes like the task force’s proposed opt-in or opt-out from the defined benefits program structure. He said this proposal is necessary in order to prevent the Legislature from taking actions that could threaten IPERS stability for both future and current employees. “The whole system is built on the people who are currently in, paying for the people who retire,” Bagniewski said. So once you take that out, and then you have a deficit, the whole system explodes. So we want to preserve it in its current form by the Constitution.”

Amendments to the state Constitution must be passed by the Iowa Legislature in two consecutive general assemblies, and then go before voters on the next general election ballot. If approved by a simple majority as a ballot measure, the amendment will be adopted.