There’s a lot of misinformation being spread around the state right now, trying to mislead Iowa’s retirees about who’s fighting for them and who’s looking to undermine the entire system, so the Iowa Democratic Party is going to set the record straight. Joined by AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan, State Legislators and IPERS recipients, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price will hit the road on Thursday, October 25th for press conferences in Cedar Rapids and Bettendorf.

In the final weeks of the campaign, Iowa Republicans are frantically attempting to cover up their widely professed intention to undermine the IPERS system. Unfortunately, the facts are not on their side.

Immediately after they took full control in 2017, Senator Brad Zaun introduced Senate File 45 – a bill that would privatize IPERS for all future members.

Then, with the support of Governor Reynolds, Legislative Republicans brought in The Reason Foundation, another Koch Brothers project, to “study” IPERS. The libertarian-Reason Foundation has released a “pension reform handbook” that pushes states away from “defined benefit” systems like IPERS and towards riskier “defined contribution” plans similar to 401(k)s.

Just in June of this year, Governor Reynolds said she was looking at a hybrid or different options to change the IPERS system. And just today at a news conference, Governor Reynolds again refused to make any solid commitment to the future members of the IPERS program. 

Iowans deserve representatives who are fighting to protect their retirement, not using it as a political football.