I would echo those comments.
I also think there are reasonable concerns that have been expressed about the low limit of the reserve. However, I have a concern about what happens on the other end in the event that the fund generates huge surpluses in that reserve. If the reserve is very high, there is a temptation then--because this is now a stand-alone fund--for our legislators to want to dip into it and use it, particularly now that it's not on the government's books. That has me very concerned.
So on the one hand, while I absolutely agree with all of the witnesses that we have to get a reserve that's reasonable to get us through the recession, to get us over a situation in which there's great demand on the fund, I'm also concerned about having a reserve that's too high and too tempting, quite frankly, to legislators who want to dump programs and other things off the consolidated revenue fund into a fund that's shouldered only by employers and employees. That would have me just as concerned on the other end.