(Juneau) - The next House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the subject of the PERS/TRS Funding Shortfall, will be held next week in Fairbanks.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Representative Bruce Weyhrauch (R-Juneau) will chair the meeting which will take place at the Fairbanks Legislative Information Office (LIO) at 119 N Cushman, Suite 101 on September 8, 2005 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

This meeting will be teleconferenced statewide. All LIO's are invited to join the meeting. Public testimony is scheduled for the end of the hearing, with the time limitation set at three minutes.

Representative Weyhrauch wants to encourage members of the community to attend the meeting and participate in the hearing. "We are exploring constructive ways to deal with a $5.7 billion deficit in the state's retirement program. This should be of interest to the public."

Another Ways and Means hearing on this same subject is planned for September 22 at the Kenai LIO. Additional information on the Kenai schedule will be sent after the Fairbanks hearing.

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