While media attention focuses on the political back-and-forth over bailing out Wall Street, we're keeping an eye on IRS Notice 2007-69, an obscure change in tax law that redefines the "normal" retirement age and puts state and local public pension plans in legal peril.
You can get up to speed on the notice by clicking here for our prior blog posts.
The IRS hasn't returned our calls, but we did catch up to Jeannine Markoe Raymond, director of Federal Relations for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators in Washington, D.C. Raymond participated in a House Ways and Means Committee roundtable discussion about the IRS rule changes on Sept. 19 with federal officials and representatives of several concerned organizations, including CalPERS' attorney Peter Mixon.
CalPERS has declined to talk about the IRS notice.
During that meeting, Raymond said, the Treasury Department, which runs the IRS, committed to pushing back the date that the notice would go into effect so that they can sort out and possibly change the rules affecting state and local public employee pensions. The officials said that they would make a formal announcement clarifying their plans within two weeks of the Sept. 19 meeting. Friday marks two weeks since the meeting.
"It's definitely under review," Markoe said during a 35-minute telephone interview. "The fact that (Treasury Department officials) said it in front of Congress carries a lot of weight. They would not publicly speak about (reviewing the rule) unless they are going to do something."
We'll let you know when the news breaks.
The Author
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.