Oregon lawmakers last week were proposing a bill that would use some profits from sports betting to cut costs of public employee pensions.
The bill passed the House Ways and Means Committee and headed for the House floor. It is also expected to see clear sailing in the Senate.
Significant revenues would be directed toward PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) from sports book, which is operated by the Oregon Lottery. Most of the revenue, however, comes from postponing paying the state’s $27 billion deficit by another eight to ten years.
It is unclear how much sports betting will pay into the lottery. Some of it will be used for an employee incentive fund that will provide 25 percent matching for payments employees make into their accounts.
Together these actions will reduce the amount that public employees pay into the system by $1.2 billion.
