Senators Pass Legislation Forcing G.E.R.S. To Reinstate Loan Program For 1 Year

ST. THOMAS -- Lawmakers on Monday, led by Senator Kenneth Gittens and Kurt Vialet, approved a measure that would force the Government Employees' Retirement System to reinstate its loan program for approximately one year, that would see the system lending up to $20 million to government employees. G.E.R.S. in August of 2015 suspended the loan program and vowed not to reinstate it until a solution to its unfunded liability was found. The move, according to board members, was to urge members of the 31st Legislature to adopt a measure aimed at saving G.E.R.S., which is projected to become insolvent in less than ten years. And more recently, in March of this year, Board Administrator Austin Nibbs said that although the system had a 97 percent payment rate on loans made to government employees, G.E.R.S. board members were not in favor of reinstating the program because the plan’s sponsor, which is the Government of the Virgin Islands, had refused G.E.R.S.’s request to infuse some $600 m...