STATEHOUSE (Sept. 24, 2026) –State Rep. Heath VanNatter (R-Kokomo) applauded the announcement at today’sInterim Study Committee on Pension Management Oversight that Indiana’s Pre-1996 Teachers’ Retirement Fund is expected to be fully funded a decade earlier than projected.
The Pre-96 fund supports pension payments for Hoosier teachers hired before July 1, 1995. It was designed to be a “pay-as-you-go” model where benefits are paid out as they come due. The fund supports nearly 52,000 retired teachers and will support approximately 3,900 additional currently active teachers.
VanNatter, who chairs the standingHouse Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee, said additional payments on top of the annual appropriations will make the fund fully vested by 2028 instead of ’38, saving future taxpayers the need to cover over $1 billion annually in defined benefit costs…