Headlines about "Government plans - state and local - misc"
Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Guidance Overview] Golden State Court Allows Gay Marriages
Excerpt: "With the 172-page ruling, including a majority opinion penned by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, California becomes the second U.S. state behind Massachusetts to allow gay marriage, according to news reports . . . . The decision was a product of a deeply divided court that narrowly approved the final holding 4 to 3." (PLANSPONSOR.com)
Valuing Public Pension Plans: Comparing Financial Economics with Conventional Approaches (PDF)
Excerpt: "Financial economics (FE) is a branch of economics that studies the valuation of corporations and investments. Over the past decade, adherents to these theories have successfully advocated applying FE principles to corporate pension plans. Over the past year, they have begun advocating applying FE to public pension plans. This article examines the FE approach and compares it with conventional actuarial approaches for valuing public plans." (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)
[Guidance Overview] IRS Releases Private Letter Ruling on Disability Benefits for Firefighters and Public Safety Officers (PDF)
At page 2. Excerpt: "On February 29, 2008, the IRS released a private letter ruling (PLR 200809011) related to the treatment of disability benefits paid to firefighters and public safety officers. The request for the ruling came from a governmental plan after a state court held that a state statute . . . created a 'rebuttable presumption' that an employee's heart condition 'arises out of or in the course or his or her employment.'" (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)
[Guidance Overview] GFOA Publishes Recommended Practices on Benefit Administration for Public-Sector DB Plans (PDF)
Excerpt: "On February 22, 2008, the Executive Board of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) approved new recommended practices on essential design elements for public-sector defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, and hybrid plans. The documents can be downloaded from the GFOA website for the following types of retirement plans: . . . " (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)
Unions Bankrolled Analyst Vetting Pension Bill Proposing Higher Benefits for New York City Workers
Excerpt: "A bill offering thousands of additional city workers early retirement has been gaining support in the Legislature in recent weeks. New York City officials have protested, saying it would cost the city $200 million annually." (New York Times)
California Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban
Excerpt: "The California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on g.ay marriage, paving the way for California to become the second state where g.ay and les.bian residents can marry. The ruling reverses a voter-approved law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman." (National Public Radio)
[Guidance Overview] Public Agencies -- Uncle Sam Wants You (To Amend Your Retirement Plan Document)
Excerpt: "We recommend that governmental employers that wish to comply only with the tax qualification rules applicable to them simply adopt an individually designed plan document expressly intended for a governmental sponsor. Any governmental employer that maintains an individually designed retirement plan must review the status of its plan, update both its operation and plan document compliance, and have the plan submitted to the IRS for a determination letter by January 31, 2009." (Chang Ruthenberg & Long)
Why Don't Some States and Localities Pay Their Required Pension Contribution?
Excerpt: "The brief finds that: Over 40 percent of plans in our sample failed to make their annual required contribution (ARC) in 2006. The majority of these plans faced legal constraints on their contributions, but many are gradually adjusting their limits." (Center for State & Local Government Excellence)
[Opinion] New York State Attorney General's Wrong Target: Retired School Administrators Who Are Rehired
Excerpt: "As a taxpayer and the parent of two school-age children, I'm all in favor of denying state pensions to lawyers who pretended to be school employees and a superintendent who was convicted of stealing from his district. But I'm completely baffled by recent articles and editorials that attempt to compare such malfeasance with the hiring of retired school administrators - a practice that is specifically authorized by state law and one that actually reduces school taxes." (Newsday.com)
[Opinion] New Book Explains How 'Pension Monster' of Unfunded Benefit Liabilities Guts GM, Halts NYC Subways, Bleeds San Diego
Excerpt: "Pensions resemble a reverse neutron bomb: They gut cities and factories, yet leave armies of retirees standing, unscathed and ready for that Caribbean cruise. If you don't believe me, dip into Roger Lowenstein's troubling financial fable, 'While America Aged.' The three narrative histories presented here outline how pensions drove General Motors Corp. to the brink, brought New York subways to a halt, and turned sunny San Diego into Enron-by-the-Sea." (James Pressley on Bloomberg.com)
[Opinion] Think Sub-Prime Mortgages Are a Crisis? Look Into Pension Underfunding
Excerpt: "Bestselling author and former Wall Street Journal reporter Roger Lowenstein explains how the looming pension crisis could dwarf the current sub-prime mortgage mess. He examines the how the country arrived at its current pension predicament... and what can be done to protect retirement security." (Roger Lowenstein Interviewed by Diane Rehm on WAMU.org)
[Opinion] Pension Gravy Train In New York State Is a Runaway Disgrace
Excerpt: "Tom DiNapoli and Andrew Cuomo are doing a long-overdue service cracking down on part-time public sector lawyers padding their time slips. Unfortunately, the savings is minimal compared with the cost of allowing part-time elected officials to claim full-time retirement credits. Elected legislators from counties, cities, towns and villages are credited with full-time work although most attend only a few monthly meetings." (Marv Cermak on TimesUnion.com)
Too Many Promises, Not Enough Money for Public Employee Pensions
Excerpt: "Let me use my home state, New Jersey, as an example, but I could just as well cite figures for West Virginia, Illinois, and others that are just flat out of money because they mortgaged the future to vast public pension plans. These states are essentially insolvent and others are not far behind." (Borderfire Report)
[Opinion] San Francisco Has Plan for Stemming Retiree Health Benefit Costs, But It Could Be Better
Excerpt: "The good news about San Francisco's Proposition B is that it represents a rare effort by a local government to confront its daunting long-term liability for its retirees. Governments at all levels have been ignoring a fiscal time bomb: Their binding promises to provide workers with lifetime health care benefits, without putting away any money to prepare for the cost. The bad news about Proposition B is that it is more complicated and less effective than it could have been." (San Francisco Chronicle)
[Opinion] New York State 'Retiree Health Insurance Protection' Bill Would Send Property Taxes Soaring
Excerpt: "At first glance, the union-backed bill might seem harmless. In reality, it's a Trojan horse. It would create a task force to study 'retiree health insurance protection,' whose 12 members include at least five pro-labor votes. It also would impose a moratorium, through June 30, 2009, blocking efforts by local governments to implement cost savings for retiree benefits -- unless the same changes are negotiated for current employees. " (Buffalo News)
[Guidance Overview] Michigan High Court Says No to Provision of Benefits to Same-S e x Domestic Partners
Excerpt: "The Michigan state Supreme Court has decided that providing health insurance benefits to same-s e x domestic partners violates the marriage amendment of the state constitution." (PLANSPONSOR.com)
[Guidance Overview] Postemployment Benefit Accounting and Financial Reporting for Government Plan Sponsors
Excerpt: "In this project, the Board will consider the possibility of improvements to the existing standards of accounting and financial reporting for postemployment benefits -- including pension benefits and other postemployment benefits (OPEB) -- by state and local governmental employers and by the trustees, administrators, or sponsors of pension or OPEB plans. One objective of this project is to improve accountability, or the transparency of financial reporting, in regard to the financial effects of employers' commitments and actions related to pension benefits and OPEB." (Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
Double-Dipping in New York: School Official Retires One Day, Is Rehired the Next
Excerpt: "On Jan. 2, [assistant school superintendent Ronald] Grotsky returned to the same job in the same district at the same salary he was making the day before, $174,900 annually. Coupled with his pension, Grotsky was now earning $275,582, paid by state and local taxpayers. The only difference was essentially a clerical one -- the district now classified him under the title 'interim' assistant superintendent. He said the district did not interview any other candidates for the job before approving his interim status." (Newsday.com)
New York City Mayor Asks Albany to Oppose Union-Backed Retirement Bills Expanding Coverage
Excerpt: "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York is appealing to Gov. David A. Paterson and legislative leaders to hold firm against two bills that the city believes would cost as much as $300 million a year." (New York Times)
New York Sees Fraud in Some Lawyers' Pensions Granted by School Districts
Excerpt: "Hundreds of lawyers across the state have been illegally granted state pension benefits by school districts, towns and other governmental entities, according to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who has opened an investigation into the abuses." (New York Times)
Growing Deficits Threaten Public Pensions
Excerpt: "The funds that pay pension and health benefits to police officers, teachers and millions of other public employees across the country are facing a shortfall that could soon run into trillions of dollars. But the accounting techniques used by state and local governments to balance their pension books disguise the extent of the crisis . . . ." (Washington Post; free registration required)
[Guidance Overview] Special Edition of IRS 'Employee Plan News': Overview of Governmental Plans Roundable Held 4/22/2008 (PDF)
Excerpt: "The roundtable was the first step in establishing a dialogue between the IRS and the governmental plans community in an effort to ensure that governmental entities understand the tax qualification requirements applicable to their plans and are aware of the tools and resources available to assist them in ensuring ongoing compliance. IRS representatives acknowledged that there is very little history examining governmental plans. They want to better understand the issues and barriers these plans face in attempting to satisfy tax qualification requirements." (Internal Revenue Service)
Connecticut Passes State Insurance Program Expansion
Excerpt: "Legislation approved by the Connecticut Legislature on Tuesday, May 6, would open up the health insurance program covering state employees to Connecticut municipalities, nonprofit organizations and employers in the state with fewer than 50 employees." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
New York Attorney General Cuomo Sees Fraud in Some Lawyers' State Pensions
Excerpt: "Over the years, Mr. Cuomo said, the benefits have become a standard and expected perk for the lawyers, who often have political ties to the officials handing out the benefit. The system has proliferated, Mr. Cuomo suggested, because of New York's profusion of state, county and local governments." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Several States Plan Cutbacks and Early Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "In Rhode Island, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, signed a spending plan last week that includes a provision to make state employees who retire after Sept. 1 pay more for their health insurance, a change that state officials say could prompt about 2,500 state workers to leave before the deadline." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Vallejo, California, Votes to Declare Chapter 9 Bankruptcy
Excerpt: "The city and its public safety unions have been at the bargaining table for about two years. The city is asking for its police and firefighters to take salary, benefit and staff cuts, while the unions say any further cuts would endanger public safety as well as the safety of the police and firefighters. Vallejo spends 74 percent of its $80 million general fund budget on public safety salaries, significantly higher than the state average." (San Francisco Chronicle)
New York State Pension Abuse Issue Draws Legislation
Excerpt: "As Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli continue their crackdowns on alleged abuses of the state pension system, lawmakers are starting to take action with proposed legislation. The bills come in the wake of recent media reports of school lawyers and other educational administrators accruing benefits from the state pension system they may not have been entitled to." (nypolitics.com)
Why Does Funding Status Vary Among State and Local Plans? (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "Some factors expected to affect the funding status of state and local pension plans include funding discipline, governance, general plan characteristics, and the overall fiscal health of the government. Indeed, variables in each of these categories are found to have significant impacts on plans' funding ratios. Identifying the factors that affect the ratio of assets to liabilities is only the first step in understanding the funding process. The key issue is whether the sponsor has a funding plan and is sticking to it. A future brief will explore the factors that affect the sponsor's decision to make annual required pension contributions." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Implementation of 'ad hoc COLA' Aids in Shortfall Reduction for Fort Worth Pension Fund
Excerpt: "The long-troubled Fort Worth city employees' pension fund isn't so troubled anymore. A new report by the Gabriel Roeder Smith & Co. actuarial firm shows that the fund's long-term funding shortfall has decreased from $410.7 million to $237.5 million -- a pleasing 42.7 percent drop. As of Jan. 1, it is estimated that the shortfall will be eliminated in slightly less than 14 years. The fund no longer is projected to have a perpetual shortfall, as was the case in recent years." (Star-Telegram.com)
May 5 Was 'Retirement Plan Selection Day' for W.Va. School Employees
Excerpt: "Members of the state's Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement System have been receiving information booklets and personal retirement reports to estimate retirement benefits under the plan, as well as information on the State Teachers Retirement System. This information has been provided to members so they can make an informed choice on continuing with the Teachers' Defined Contribution (TDC) or requesting a transfer to the Teacher's Retirement Systsem." (The Herald-Dispatch)
L.A. City Unions Push Retirement Incentives Over Layoffs
Excerpt: "Six Los Angeles city employee unions have asked Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to offer early retirement to thousands of senior city workers, saying such a program could save $177 million annually and avert layoffs over the next year." (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Public Pensions - Should Liabilities Be Valued Same Way Financial Markets Value Government Debt (PDF)
8 pages. (The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation)
Pennsylvania State Employees' Pension Hikes Could Cost Taxpayers $10 Billion
Excerpt: "A multibillion-dollar bill to increase pension benefits for some 250,000 retired state workers and teachers advanced out of a Pennsylvania House committee on Tuesday. The State Government Committee voted unanimously to send to the floor a bill that would provide increases ranging from about 2.7 percent for the most recently retired to 25 percent for those who retired before July 1990. The estimated cost is $10.4 billion over 20 years, but an actuarial analysis should produce a more precise figure." (AP via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Bonds Making Comeback, As States and Cities Bet They Can Use the Proceeds to Help Fill Deficits in Retirement Funds
Excerpt: "With the economy slowing and states facing budget deficits that Standard & Poor's says will top $30 billion next year, officials are turning to the quick fix of borrowing even though the $50 billion of pension bonds sold produced mixed results for taxpayers. New Jersey sold $2.8 billion of the debt in 1997 and its pension gap has since ballooned to 10 times that amount. 'It's the dumbest idea I ever heard,' said New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, the Democrat and former chairman of investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co. `'It's speculating the way I would have speculated in my bond position at Goldman Sachs.'" (Bloomberg)
Few States Hold All the Assets They Should to Pay for Future Retirement and Health Care Benefits
Excerpt: "Very few states hold all the assets they should have on hand to prepare for future retirement benefits. All states invest in order to meet future obligations, but even allowing for future investment return, some state trust funds hold less than half what they should. And a substantial number are below the 80 percent figure that the public retirement community regards as adequate. The Pew Center on the States recently estimated that state pension systems (not including locally run systems) are about $360 billion short of the assets they should ideally hold for future retirees." (State Legislatures Magazine)
Twenty States Have Passed, or Are Considering, Divestment Laws, for Pension Funds
Excerpt: "Divestments will, however, hurt U.S. taxpayers if Iran-tainted stocks are sold at depressed prices. Fund managers at Calstrs predict that its substitute non-Iranian stocks will yield $200 million a year less in returns. This year, from the 20 states enacting legislation, $8 billion in total divestment can be expected with $70 million in transaction costs. Any losses will be borne by taxpayers, who are on the hook for public employee pensions." (Forbes.com)
New Hampshire Retirement Rescue Plan Fast-Tracked
Excerpt: "The Senate version of the House's reform bill will give annual 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to all New Hampshire Retirement System retirees on July 1. The increase would apply only to their first $30,000 in annual pension payments. Retired workers who make more than $30,000, about one third of all NHRS pensioners, would see a $750 increase next year." (Union Leader)
West Virginia Teacher and School Employee Groups Want Extension on Pension Change
Excerpt: "Judy Hale, president of the West Virginia Federation of Teachers, said the groups need additional time to counter confusion and misinformation about the transfer election. 'We wanted to impress upon the governor all the issues that are out there, which are why people are so hesitant and reluctant to go ahead,' she said. Her group and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association asked Manchin for a two-week extension on the May 12 deadline for Teachers Defined Contribution participants to decide whether to switch to the Teachers Retirement System." (The Charleston Gazette)
Los Angeles Pension-Payment Delay Plan Called Accounting Gimmick
Excerpt: "Delaying that payment would cost taxpayers more than $15 million in penalties, according to a document issued Friday by the city's top budget analyst. By 2013 -- which could be Villaraigosa's eighth and final year as mayor, should he win a second term -- the rearranged payment schedule would have cost the city $85 million, a sum larger than the payment being delayed this year." (Los Angeles Times)
[Guidance Overview] 403(b) Plans Frequently Asked Questions
Excerpt: "Are distributions from 403(b) allowed after termination of employment as early as age 55 without additional penalty? Taxable, but no early withdrawal penalty? Yes. IRC Section 72(t) allows a distribution after termination of employment after age 55 without being subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty. For this purpose, severance from employment may occur anytime during the calendar year in which the participant attains age 55." (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators)
COLA Calculation Making a Big Difference to Ft. Worth, Texas, Pension System
Excerpt: "The shortfall in the Fort Worth, Texas, municipal pension system dropped from $410 million in 2007 to $237.5 million at the beginning of 2008 – a decrease of 42%. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram a report issued by an actuarial firm showed that the shortfall decreased in large part because the City Council changed the way cost-of-living adjustments are calculated. The cost-of-living change was cited as the reason for more than half the reduction in the shortfall." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
[Opinion] Tide May Be Turning Against Practice of Divesting Pension Funds from Terrorist States
Excerpt: "These well-intended political initiatives are a festering sore for pension funds. They force public trustees to violate their duty of loyalty and put political interests ahead of the sole interest of their beneficiaries. At minimum, divestment laws impose administrative headaches and financial losses on pension plans -- losses that are not reimbursed by legislatures. At worst, they seriously impair investment returns and impose costs on future generations who will be forced to pick up the tab for investment underperformance." (Governing.com)
South Carolina Working Retirees Await Pension Ruling As Court to Decide Issue of Paying Into State Fund
Excerpt: "[There are] approximately 15,000 employees in the state retirement system who have retired and come back to work. Those working retirees still are waiting for a court to decide whether they must keep paying 6.5 percent of their salary into the retirement system." (TheState.com)
GASB Revamps 2008 Technical Plan
Excerpt: "The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has added three projects to its current agenda – including a review of existing postemployment benefits standards." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Defined Contribution Pension Plans in the Public Sector: A Best Practice Benchmark Analysis (PDF)
46 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this paper is to examine best practices for the design of public sector defined contribution pension plans that are intended to be the primary or core source of retirement benefits. The best practices are established from the perspective of providing adequate and secure retirement income as the appropriate primary objective of these plans." (TIAA-CREF Institute)
Governmental Plans Roundtable, April 22, 2008
See under 'Recent News. 'Excerpt: "The following sessions were presented at the Roundtable: Navigating the Staggered Remedial Amendment Period; Requirements Relating to Section 414(d) Governmental Plans; EPCU and Examinations Efforts; Federal State and Local Governments (FSLG) – An overview of the IRS Federal State and Local Government division, including a brief explanation of how FSLG interacts with the IRS Employee Plans. EPCRS & Governmental Plans." (Internal Revenue Service)
[Official Guidance] Text of First Periodic Update to IRS 2007-2008 Priority Guidance Plan (PDF)
49 pages. Excerpt: "The attached update sets forth the guidance on the original 2007-2008 Priority Guidance Plan that we have published. Although the update may indicate that a particular item on the plan has been completed, it is possible that one or more additional projects may be completed in the plan year relating to that item. The update also includes 61 items of additional guidance, some of which have already been published.' See section entitled EMPLOYEE BENEFITS and section entitled EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION, HEALTH CARE AND OTHER BENEFITS, AND EMPLOYMENT TAXES. (Internal Revenue Service)
Inmate Pension Quirk Unique to Hillsborough County, Florida
Excerpt: "Pension contributions were an unintended consequence of a Hillsborough County program, born in the 1970s, that hires inmates into undesirable county jobs, such as ditch digging and roadway cleaning. The program saved the county $533,000 in 2006, Public Works director Bob Gordon said. It could save even more if the county didn't have to treat the inmate workers as public employees potentially entitled to pensions." (St. Petersburg Times)
New Hampshire Health Subsidy Debate Pits Towns vs. Retirees
Excerpt: "A legislative effort to shore up the financially ailing New Hampshire Retirement System pits unions representing active and retired public workers against municipalities, who say they are representing the interests of taxpayers. Retired public workers fear they will no longer be able to afford medical care if state lawmakers pass a bill that will end an annual 8 percent increase in a local government-funded subsidy of their health insurance costs." (The Union Leader)
Kansas County's Teachers' Early Retirement Benefits May Change
Excerpt: "Currently, a school district employee becomes eligible for the five-year early retirement benefit after working in the district 15 years. They must also have 20 years or more of credit under the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System and be at least 57 but not yet at retirement age under the Social Security Act. For two years, a subcommittee of teachers, administrators and board members has studied the early retirement system. Its reform is a topic in the current teacher contract negotiations." (The Lawrence Journal-World)
Four Lawyers from One Law Firm Wrongly Included in N.Y. Pension System
Excerpt: "Four attorneys working for a prominent education law firm in Albany, N.Y., have been disqualified from the state pension system by New York's comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, because they were not employees but independent contractors. The four Girvin & Ferlazzo attorneys additionally were shown in records as having worked 1,157 days last year for an Albany area Board of Cooperative Educational Services, when in fact they actually worked 196 days, reports the Times Union." (American Bar Association)
New York's Attorney General Expands Investigation of State Pension Scandal
Excerpt: "New York's attorney general said Friday that his investigation into the improper awarding of state pension credits had recently uncovered two related schemes: the granting of credits to lawyers who did no work to earn them, and the initiation of the practice in some cases by officials at Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, to gain greater state aid." (NewsDay)
San Diego's Aguirre Appeals Ruling on Pension Lawsuit
Excerpt: "The San Diego City Attorney's Office Friday filed an appeal of last year's Superior Court ruling that threw out the city's lawsuit over two increases of pension benefits. 'We return to court because justice has not been done, and quitting would mean a billion-dollar burden on San Diego taxpayers,' City Attorney Michael Aguirre said in a statement." (Bay City Television, Inc.)
New Jersey State Senator Proposes Dropping Pensions for Obscure Boards
Excerpt: "A state senator is asking the attorney general to do something about people building taxpayer-funded retirement benefits by serving on obscure state consumer affairs boards that meet as infrequently as once per month." (AP via NewsDay)
Medical Subsidy Hikes May Threaten New Hampshire Pension System's Tax Exemption
Excerpt: "A veteran lawmaker and key player in the New Hampshire Retirement System debate says the Internal Revenue Service may end the tax-exempt status of the New Hampshire Retirement System if the current structure allowing annual medical subsidy increases continues." (New Hampshire Union Leader)
Florida Lawmakers Target Double- and Triple-Dipping
Excerpt: "A bill that would eliminate triple-dipping and place new restrictions on public employees who try to double-dip won approval Wednesday from the House Council on Governmental Efficiency and Accountability. Acting just a week after a Senate committee killed another effort to limit double- and triple-dipping, the House bill would close several loopholes that have allowed thousands of public employees to 'retire' and return to work at the same job, collecting both a salary and a pension." (St. Petersburg Times)
Maine Senate Votes to Restore Cut State Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "According to the Brunswick Times Record, the move will reduce the early retirement penalty for some teachers and state employees from 6% to 3%, allowing those with at least 25 years of experience to retire before the age of 62 and receive more of their pension. Legislators only restored the benefit to those employed when the original benefit was in place, and did not change the existing benefit for those hired after the 1993 cut." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Kentucky General Assembly's Pension Inaction Will Cost Millions
Excerpt: "The General Assembly's failure to pass a public pension reform bill this session will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars -- on top of the $26.6 billion shortfall that already exists in the retirement systems, officials say." (The Courier-Journal)
Rhode Island State Senator Proposing Rules to Govern Pension Plans of State's 39 Cities and Towns
Excerpt: "State Senator Stephen Alves (D-West Warwick), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, is proposing rules to govern pension plans of the state's 39 cities and towns. . . . Nevertheless, Alves a member of the Senate leadership, said his proposals to regulate the pension plans of municipalities would be similar to the reforms enacted in 2005 to the pension plans of state workers and teachers, who are also included in the state pension plan." (Beacon Communications)
The Miracle of Funding by State and Local Pension Plans (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "This brief examines three aspects of the funding of state and local pension plans -- the regulatory environment under which they operate, their costs and funding requirements, and their current funding status." (Center for State and Local Government Excellence)
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