Legislators had argued the change in benefits was needed because the plan made sense 20 years ago when health care costs were less expensive, but today expenses for health care are escalating dramatically. Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, who sponsored HB213, said keeping the existing system in place would ultimately create a liability of about $250 million for the state.

But Audry Wood, UPEA executive director, said the Legislature adopted the bill without doing an actuarial study to see what financial effect it would have.

She also predicts the state will experience a brain drain of experienced workers if the new law goes into effect.

"What this means is there will be a lot of employees who will retire sooner than they would have otherwise to maximize their benefits," she said. "That's sad. It's expensive to train new employees and the state is losing a lot of people who have been steady, long-term workers. You can't put a cost on that and the cost is going to be astronomical."

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