LINCOLN- A bill to reduce contributions to a state teachers retirement plan advanced toward final passage on Thursday despite a stern warning from a former Nebraska lawmaker who once guided state retirement plan policies. The measure, Legislative Bill 645, is designed to help close the state’s projected $457 million budget deficit over two years by reducing the state’s contributions into teacher retirement plans by about $77 million, thus freeing up that money to help close the budget gap.

Former State Sen. Mark Kolterman, who headed the Legislature’s Retirement Systems Committee for seven years, said that using retirement plan funds to balance the budget doesn’t make financial sense, particularly when it’s uncertain if investments will garner enough revenue to maintain retirement funds. “You don’t make reductions in contributions when the economy is moving in the wrong direction,” Kolterman said, noting the recent stock “market tumble.”

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