Rep. Dawn Pettengill, R-Mount Auburn, co-chair of the House-Senate Public Retirement Systems Committee, responded Monday by saying no changes to public retirement funds are being contemplated and accused Democrats in engaging in "fear mongering tactics" to scare retirees.

"I do not see any changes, not even a semi-colon, in the system," Pettengill said in an interview. "If there was something that needed to be addressed, we certainly would but there isn't any problems. Everything is stable and secure and I really think it's disgusting how Treasurer Fitzgerald and Sen. McCoy are trying to scare retirees when it's unnecessary. They're just trying to make a name for themselves."

A new actuarial study Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) issued last week showed the system with about 350,000 members including current, former and retired employees of state government, cities, counties, school districts and other government agencies has unfunded liabilities totaled $6.96 billion for all membership groups on June 30. IPERS' assets had a market value of $30.8 billion, which was an increase of about $2.5 billion from a year earlier.

Pettengill said the funded ratio for all members topped 80 percent with a goal of amortizing the unfunded liability over the next 27 years.