I believe what he meant, which is backed by the whole body politic of Colorado, is that it's a "defined contribution plan" for employers whereby they are only required to pay a certain amount and if it's not enough to sustain the plan ... then that's just too bad and PERA members can just take less benefits or make up the difference themselves.  In other words, the executive and legislative branches of Colorado government see the "contract" with PERA as being a defined contribution.  The political plan is to absolutely refuse to increase employer contributions from where they are now, and leave PERA to sink or swim, forcing the entire solution on the PERA membership and current retirees.