BOISE -- A Republican-led House panel approved a measure aimed at blocking Idaho government retirees from getting a pension raise, reversing course from a day earlier when they dumped the same bill.
The State Affairs Committee voted 12-4 Thursday to stop the $10 billion state pension fund from giving retirees a 1 percent monthly increase in March. The resolution now goes to the House floor.
Republicans who resurrected the measure accused pension fund managers of not providing them with adequate information about the fund's health, following poor stock market performance in 2009.
Don Drum, the pension fund's director, told The Associated Press after the vote that it has regained 15 percent this year and remains financially sound.
Democrats decried this an "ambush" and bashed Republicans for ignoring advice from professional managers who oversee the fund for 33,000 retirees, including Idaho teachers.
