The PERA should be - shoouuld be - separate and reliable. Because the 401k is custodial, meaning it just holds assets for you, the exact assets you picked out and paid for. It's a bucket that holds your very own flowers. They are safeguards in place to ensure they can pay these back. Nothing is foolproof, but the odds are better you'll get something. The drawback is that your 401k investments can go down as well as up; there's no guarantee how much you will get.
I am supposing here that your other account is PERA's Defined Benefit plan. Defined Benefit means if you work a certain amount of years at such-and-such salary, the plan defines a specific benefit such as $x thousand/year you will get in return. It's guaranteed in theory, based on the work you put in, but relies in practice on the state collecting enough taxes to pay you (and managing its investments along the way). So a state could fail to pay, as PERA might.
Not an expert on PERA, just sharing definitions in case it sheds light.