PERS confidentiality bill advances to Nevada Senate floor

The Senate Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday voted to recommend passage of a bill that would bar the release of Public Employee Retirement System records that identify the individual retiree and his or her benefits.

The retiree’s identification number, last public employer, years of service, retirement date and amount of the annual pension benefit would be released.

But the law would prevent tying that information to the person’s name.

PERS officials have repeatedly argued tying the retiree’s name to his benefits and other information exposes them to potential identity theft.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute has been publishing the entire list of retirees and their benefits since the Supreme Court ruled them public several years ago.

Sen. Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, was the only committee member to speak before the vote, saying he supports moving the bill out of committee but reserves his right to vote no on the floor if he changes his mind.

Goicoechea said he’s still concerned the information that’s available could be used in smaller jurisdictions to identify individuals because the pool of public retirees is so small.

“Even in Elko I can figure out at least half of them,” he said.