Headlines about "Government plans - state and local - misc"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Opinion] Public-Sector Pensions: The Transition Costs Myth
"Public-sector employees -- who enjoy their generous retirement benefits -- and the pension industrial complex of plan managers, pension actuaries, and investment advisors don't like DC plans. They're pushing back with a novel argument: DB pensions' massive unfunded liabilities create 'transition costs' that make shifting to DC plans unfeasibly expensive. In other words, the more broke DB plans become, the more we have to stick with them.... Pension advocates rely on financial disclosure rules generated by the [GASB] regarding how quickly a DB plan must pay down -- or 'amortize' -- its unfunded liabilities." (The American Magazine)

Actuarial Reality of 2003 Enhanced Pension Formula Comes Knocking at One California County
"Pensions for career Sonoma County government workers have more than doubled in the past decade, led by sheriff's deputies and other public safety workers who by 2011 were retiring with an average of more than $94,000 a year.... Taxpayer costs for county pensions, including payments on bond debt, meanwhile, have risen 401 percent in the past 12 years, to $87.2 million a year." (pressdemocrat.com)

Kansas House and Senate Agree on Changes to State Employees Pension Plan
Rather than a 401(k)-type plan, a defined contribution account will be established for newly hired employees to which the state will credit 5.25% in guaranteed earnings on both employee and employer contributions, with additional credits possible if the existing KPERS plan has an investment return of more than 8%. (WSLS)

ERISA Fee Benchmarking Rules and Practices Can Be Useful Even to ERISA-Exempt Public Plans
"Although public plans are not subject to ERISA, many times the guidelines are used as a best practice. ERISA section 404(a) requires that fiduciaries elicit information necessary to assess not only the reasonableness of the fees to be paid for services, but also the qualifications of the service provider and the quality of the services that will be provided. Benchmarking allows plan sponsors to do a fee to services comparison of other plans in their benchmarking group. Among other things, this will help determine if the plan is receiving the right amount of fiduciary support from the current service providers." (National Association of Governmental Defined Contribution Administrators)

Florida Agency Says Legislators Should Consider Increase in Required Employee Contributions to Pension Fund
"The staff of the [State Board of Administration], which manages investments for the $121.6 billion [Florida Retirement System (FRS)] fund, advised the House and Senate leadership of potential problems this week. In a required annual review of the FRS actuarial valuation, the financial analysts also said the state could consider cutting the fund's 7.75 percent expected earnings target by a half-percent." (The Florida Current)

Highly-Paid Boston Public Employees Enjoying Free Commutes in Taxpayer-Funded Cars
"In all, 122 of the 199 city workers with take-home vehicles make more than $100,000 a year, including nine who earned over $200,000. At least 36 employees with take-home cars live outside the city, including officials who reside in Duxbury, Marshfield, Hingham, Norwell and Framingham, among other suburban towns." (BostonHerald.com)

Houston Sues Firefighters Pension Board to Open Its Books
"The Legislature created Houston's firefighters pension system and gives it the authority to unilaterally establish what taxpayers owe the system each year. Fund representatives are not even obligated to meet with city officials to discuss possible changes to the system." (The Houston Chronicle)

Ohio Senate Passes Public Pension Reform; Ohio House to Act This Summer
"Supporters say without action from lawmakers the pension funds will fall short of meeting their 30-year solvency requirement. The teachers' pension fund alone would need 38 years to do so. One of the largest funds, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, estimates that delaying reform costs their fund nearly $1 million a day. That same daily impact is nearly $2 million for the Ohio Police and Fire fund. And the State Employees Retirement System is losing $27 million in savings annually." (WIOT.com)

[Opinion] Ohio Public Retirement Systems Need Overhaul, Not More Tweaks
"$72 billion. That's the collective unfunded liabilities of Ohio's five defined-benefit public-pension plans. That's more than Ohio's biennial budget. Under current law, three out of the five plans never will be able to pay off those liabilities. Those are the stakes." (Columbus Dispatch)

Considerations in Preparing Disclosure in Official Statements on a Government Bond Issuer's Pension Funding Obligations (PDF)
"The overall point of the disclosure of pension funding obligations is to indicate whether the state or local government will likely struggle in meeting such obligations without making difficult financial decisions. One of those decisions may be related to the payment of debt service on bonds. Thus, in circumstances where there is expected to be financial strain caused by an issuer's pension funding obligations, being clear and plain about this point to investors is very important." (Pension Disclosure Task Force, National Association of Bond Lawyers)

New York State Retiree Health Liability Rises to $72 Billion; NYC's Is $84 Billion
"Most states cover retiree health benefits on a pay-as-you go basis. They don't set aside money annually to pre-fund the obligations, as they do with pensions. Last year, New York, the third-biggest U.S. state by population, spent $3.3 billion on health care for active and retired employees as health-care spending rose 6 percent." (Bloomberg)

Is Stock Market Recovery Providing Light at the End of the Tunnel for State and Local Pensions?
"The stock market's rebound from its depths in the recession has lifted pension assets substantially over the past two and half years ... The effects of the recovering market haven't yet shown up in most state pension funds' financial reports, but they will over the next few years. When most funds estimate their available assets, they phase in the impact of investment gains and losses over several years in order to minimize year-to-year changes in the amount of money that the state must deposit in the fund." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

[Opinion] That Which is Unsustainable Will Go Away: Pensions
"Assuming the pension funds are managed conservatively, how much money would have to be set aside to fund a single pension/benefits payout of $120,000 a year and one of $60,000? The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds is less than 2%, about in line with the average dividend on stocks. That means that a conservatively managed portfolio of stocks and bonds now yields around 2%.... To fund 100 senior retirees and 200 less-senior retirees, the city pension fund would need $1.2 billion, roughly equal to 10 years of the city's entire general-fund annual budget. To fund 600 retirees, the fund would need $2.4 billion." (Business Insider)

CalPERS Ignores Governor Brown, Rejects Immediate Application of Lowered Earnings Assumption
"The power of CalPERS to give the governor and the Legislature an annual bill that must be paid can be a friction point. In the dispute over paying off part of the new rate increase over 20 years, board members said they were giving lawmakers an option. 'We voted for the phase-in option to make things less painful for all employers during these difficult economic times,' said ... the CalPERS board president. 'If the Governor feels the state can make the payment in full, then I'll be happy to have someone come pick up his check today.'" (Calpensions)

CalPERS Begins Applying Lower Earnings Assumption for Country's Largest Pension Plan
"The disagreement was over the pace at which [the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or 'CalPERS'] is lowering its assumptions about future investment returns from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent, called the discount rate.... When the rate of return assumption goes down, governments must contribute more. The [CalPERS] board agreed to phase in the change over two years at a onetime $137 million savings ($78 million general fund), but [Governor Brown] had wanted the board to drop the discount rate immediately." (The Sacramento Bee)

California State Workers Might Face Shorter Work Weeks and Less Pay But No Adverse Effect on Pensions
"Under [Governor] Brown's plan, state workers would switch to a four-day workweek, working 9.5 hours a day, or 38 hours a week, instead of the current five-day, 40-hour workweek. The change would cut workers' pay by 5 percent, saving the state $401 million in general fund costs.... Brown's plan wouldn't affect California employees' pension calculations." (The Sacramento Bee)

Longtime Chief of Colorado State Pension Plans Resigns, Calls 401(k) Savings Model a 'Failure'
"We can no longer talk in terms of 'plain vanilla' defined benefit or defined contribution plans. Instead, we see a blending of features to meet the unique needs of particular jurisdictions. However, pooling of investment and longevity risk in a base-defined benefit plan remains the low cost provider of a retirement dollar.... The real story is that Americans in general are unprepared for retirement. They typically have no resources to support them if they should become unable to work, let alone sustain them in retirement. The 401(k) experiment is a failure. The social service cost implication of this situation is not being acknowledged and will become a huge burden in the future [said Meredith Williams, former executive director of the Colorado Public Employees� Retirement Association]." (Governing)

At April Meeting, GASB Simplifies Accounting for State Retirement System Liabilities (PDF)
"At the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) meeting April 18th through the 20th, the Board voted to greatly simplify the manner of apportioning the underfunding of typical state retirement systems among the individual participating employers. But the Board retained its original proposal that those apportioned liabilities should appear as liabilities on each participating employer's balance sheet beginning as early as 2014.... What remains uncertain is what the precise effects [will be]. Of particular concern and uncertainty will be the impact of the additional liabilities on public bond markets, on the rating agencies, on legal or contractual limitations on liabilities on the part of such participating employers, and whether efforts to enact specific state laws reallocating liabilities or reducing benefits will come about as a result." (Groom Law Group)

401(k) Option Still a Sore Point in Kansas Public Employees Retirement System Talks
"A six-member legislative panel negotiating House-Senate differences on reform of the state's public employee pension system plans to meet again Tuesday after House members have mulled over a Senate offer of a cash balance plan.... [T]he Senate isn�t offering employees even an option of a 401(k)-style plan coveted by conservatives.... [A Kansas Representative] said that while the guaranteed benefit that the cash balance provides would likely be more attractive to older employees closer to retirement, younger employees, if given the choice, might want to take on the risk of a 401(k)-type plan for the shot at a higher return. " (cjonline.com)

Drastic Ohio Public Pension Overhaul Biggest in State History
"Retirees will see their cost of living allowances cut and workers will be told to put in more years, pay more money into the system and accept a lesser benefit at the end of a long career, if the bills become law. Pension officials, who have been begging lawmakers to take action for nearly three years, say the changes are needed to shore up their finances for the long haul and to allow them to avert drastic cutbacks in health care benefits for current and future retirees." (Dayton Daily News)

State and Local Pensions Face New Accounting Rules
"The changes will alter how liabilities are calculated and how assets are reported on financial statements. Pensions would begin using the rules for fiscal years starting after June 15, 2013, and employers such as school districts would follow a year later. [GASB,] which decides how states and municipalities must keep their books, is set to issue the new rules next month.... The rules may raise government costs in the $3.7 trillion municipal market as investors demand more yield to compensate for higher pension risk and possibly lower ratings." (Bloomberg News)

New York City and State Pension Fund Chiefs Sing Praises of DB Plans and Offer Reforms
"[The chief of the New York City funds], backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, advocates an independent investment board composed of representatives of the mayor, comptroller and unions that would set pension strategy and hire managers for all five city pension funds. Additionally, the proposal calls for an independent Bureau of Asset Management headed by a chief investment officer who only answers to the investment board and not directly to any elected official. [T]he combined board and CIO proposal would lower costs of the five pension funds by $30 billion over 30 years without reducing benefits." (Pensions & Investments; free registration required)

Use of Voter-Approved Initiative to Scale Back Pension Benefits Wins First Court Test in California
"A superior court judge ... upheld a voter-approved initiative giving lower pensions to all city of Menlo Park new hires except police, the first court ruling as unions challenge similar measures in Pacific Grove and Bakersfield.... Being able to bypass a city council, where members may rely on union support, is one argument for ballot-box pension reform. Critics say setting pensions through local bargaining, rather than statewide legislation, tends to drive up employer pension costs. If one local employer raises pensions, unions ask other employers to match the benefit to remain competitive." (Calpensions)

Providence Pension Reforms Will Save $19 Million Over the Next Year
"The new [Providence ordinance] halts COLAs until city pensions are 70 percent funded ... caps individual pensions at 150 percent of the state's median household income and cracks down on the liberal awarding of disability pensions. And it calls for employees to continue paying into the pension system as long as they continue to accrue benefits, rather than stopping after 25 years as they can now.... [These changes echo those adopted at the state level Last November, when] Rhode Island also went after COLAs, providing them only once every five years until 80 percent of expected pension expenditures are funded.... [T]he state raised the retirement age to the age at which workers are eligible for Social Security ... [scaled] back the traditional defined-benefit portion of the pension plan and [added] a defined-contribution element that requires workers to contribute 5 percent of salary to an individual retirement account, matched by a 1 percent employer contribution." (Governing)

Illinois House Votes to Require Former State Employees to Pay Part of Health Care Premiums for First Time
"The measure ... takes aim at an $876 million annual subsidy that had been one of the most lucrative perks of public employment. 'Not only are these benefits unaffordable given today's fiscal situation, but they are far more generous than those provided by other governments to their employees and those provided by the private sector,' said [the Illinois] House Speaker[.]" (Chicago Sun-Times)

Arizona Public Workers to Be Reimbursed for Increased Pension Contributions
"The new legislation [returns the Arizona State Retirement System] contribution rate back to an equal 50/50 split between the state and its workers. The bill also appropriates $40 million to state agencies and school districts to reimburse employees for the return to the old formula.... The state law that went into effect on July 1, 2011, increased the portion of contributions state employees must make to their pension from 50% to 53%, while lowering the state's portion to 47%." (PLANSPONSOR.com)

Chicago Mayor Proposes Freeze in Pension Cost-of-Living-Adjustments, Wants to Raise Retirement Age
"The changes that the mayor outlined to reduce the city's unfunded pension liability by a projected 40 percent mirror the reforms proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn to solve the state's pension crisis. But [the mayor]'s 'roadmap to retirement security' go even further[.]" (Chicago Sun-Times)

Wellness Programs Credited with Keeping Eau Claire City Employee Insurance Costs Down
"Since the city began a wellness program through Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire about five years ago, those on the city's insurance program have lost 2,243 pounds.... After two years of no cost increases to the city, Group Health offered a renewal with a 3.5 percent increase." (insurancenewsnet.com)

N.Y. State Pension Comptroller Continues Criticism of 401(k) Option for Public Employees
"[The Comptroller] repeated his criticism of 'anti-pension advocates' who try to blame public pension plans for damaging state and local budgets and for handing out allegedly inflated payments. 'Another well-worn line of attack on public pension funds -- an argument that particularly disturbs me -- is that they are bloated with retirees making six-figure pensions,' he said. 'The vast majority of retirees in our system are receiving modest benefits.'" (Pensions & Investments)

California Pension Nightmare Worsens: Thousands More Are Joining '$100,000 Club' Annually
"Juxtapose the recent headcount of 12,119 [retired California government workers receive pensions in excess of $100,000] next to the at 9,812 released in June 2011. That mental image of California sliding into the Pacific Ocean under the weight of these pension obligations is becoming ever more real. Look at thes trend lines." (Wall Street Pit)

Analysis: Public Pension Fixes Face Stout Legal Challenges
"Any quick fixes would be hard to carry out. Each state has its own constitution, courts, case law and retirement systems that affect how they can try to rein in pension costs.... There are at least eight lawsuits nationwide contesting attempted pension fixes, such as one in Florida that is aimed at saving $1 billion a year by reforming public pensions. These lawsuits generally are brought by public sector unions." (Chicago Tribune)

State and Local Governments Belatedly Put Pension Deficits on Their Books
"The [GASB accounting] rules may raise government costs in the $3.7 trillion municipal market as investors demand more yield to compensate for higher pension risk and possibly lower ratings. Illinois became Moody's Investors Service's lowest-rated state in January because it hadn't dealt with its underfunded pensions." (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

Bill Revising Pension Benefits Goes to Alabama Governor for Signature
"[Alabama Governor Robert Bentley], legislative leaders and David Bronner, chief executive officer of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, worked together on the proposal ... Most state employees would have to work until they are 62 to begin receiving benefits ... Currently, a state employee may retire after 25 years of service, no matter the age of the employee, or retire at 60 after 10 years of service and begin receiving benefits." (The Montgomery Advertiser)

Louisiana Governor's Pension Reform Proposals Watered Down by Senate Committee
"Watered down versions of the most controversial portions of Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposed retirement overhaul are headed back to the Senate floor after passing their second committee Monday. The bills increase the amount employees contribute to the pension plans, delay the retirement age for many workers and increase the number of years used to calculate an average salary for retirement purposes." (The Times-Picayune)

Actuaries Recommend a $213 Million Increase in Annual State Pension Payments to CalPERS
"But $149 million would be added to the increase if the impact of a lower earnings forecast, dropped by the board in March from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent a year, is not phased in over 20 years. Either way, the annual state payment to CalPERS next fiscal year would still be less than the $3.9 billion payment expected two years ago when major investment losses began to push up rates from $3.3 billion." (Calpensions)

The Funding of State and Local Pensions: 2011-2015 (PDF)
"The stock market hovers around pre-crisis peaks, tax revenues have rebounded, and plan sponsors have raised employee contributions for all workers and/or reduced benefits for new workers, yet the funded status of state and local pension plans has once again slipped. ... Because of [actuarial] smoothing, the funding results looked much better in 2009 and 2010 than developments warranted, but less good than developments in 2011. In order to highlight the impact of asset smoothing in the short run and the stock market in the slightly longer run, this brief provides an update on the funded status of state and local plans in 2011 and also reports projections for the period 2012�2015." (Center for State & Local Government Excellence)

California Counties Deciding to Stop 'Picking Up' Employee Pension Contributions
"Yolo County along with many other local governments in California began, more than a decade ago, the practice of paying employees' share of pension contributions to CalPERS. The theory was that by taking on those contributions, which are a percentage of employees' salaries, cities and counties could help hold the line on future salary inflation. That backfired after 2008-09, when CalPERS suffered a 24 percent investment loss and began boosting required pension contributions." (The Modesto Bee)

Will San Jose and San Diego Voters Approve Pension Changes Lowering Future Accruals?
"The San Jose measure would give current workers the option of switching to a lower pension or staying in the current plan and paying off pension debt with annual contribution increases of 4 percent of pay, capped at 16 percent or half the debt cost. The San Diego proposition could impose a six-year freeze on the amount of pay used to calculate pensions and would switch all new hires, except police, to the 401(k)-style individual investment plans now common in the private sector." (Calpensions)

States Scaling Back Worker Pensions to Save Money
"For years, state governments lured workers with the promise of lucrative pensions that provide nearly the pay that employees earned on the job. But after years of budget crunches, nearly every state has revamped public retirement benefits in an effort to shrink the long-term obligations that are billions of dollars short of what is needed to cover benefits. The moves have triggered a legal and political battle over whether states are reneging on their promises to millions of public-sector workers." (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Virginia Governor Wants Mandatory Employee Contribution Requirement for Legislators' Pensions
"'Similar to requirements passed in 2011 for state employees, this amendment would require elected officials to contribute 5 percent of their income toward their Virginia Retirement System pensions, offset by a 5 percent increase in compensation when constitutionally permitted[.]'" (goDanRiver.com)

DOL Ruling Puts Kibosh on Connecticut's Idea for Pooling Private and Public Employers' Health Risk
"The U.S. Department of Labor has advised the Malloy administration that opening Connecticut's state employee and retiree health plan to nonprofits and small businesses could jeopardize the legal protections it now enjoys as a government plan." (CT Mirror)

Kansas Senate Endorses New Cash Balance Plan for State Employees
"[The proposal] would create a 'cash balance' system in which employees pitch in 6 percent and the state adds 4 percent. The state would guarantee employees' investments earn 6 percent. Employees would be vested after five years." (Chicago Tribune)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Notice Suggests Changes to Normal Retirement Age Rules for Governmental Plans (PDF)
"The Notice ... leaves open several questions related to normal retirement age for governmental plans, including: Should an additional rule be provided under which retirement after 20 or 30 years of service may be a reasonably representative normal retirement age for qualified public safety employees and would this also be reasonable for other categories of governmental employees? What information is available to assist the IRS and Treasury in determining the earliest age that is reasonably representative of the typical retirement age for governmental employees?" (Gabriel Roeder)

Defined Benefit Fans Tout Cash Balance Pension Plans for Public Employees
"Across the country, the pension reform debates have spurred a lot of talk about how to fix the mess created by runaway defined benefits plans that promised more than they could deliver. So it's no wonder that pension skeptics are suspicious about the latest scheme to emerge from traditional pension advocates, notably the labor groups and many in the actuarial community, who have proposed 'cash balance' plans as the new panacea.... For those unfamiliar with cash balance plans, they are sometimes known as 'defined-benefit plans in drag.'" (Governing)

[Guidance Overview] Minnesota State Agency to Pay Damages Plus Insurance Coverage to Resolve Case of 'Age 55 Cliff' Discriminatory Early Retirement Plans
"This decree ... resolves the last in a series of cases brought by the EEOC against Minnesota state agencies regarding early retirement incentive plans contained in collective bargaining agreements for certain employees. The incentive plans provided that the employee had to retire by age 55 to obtain the incentive, and would lose it if he or she worked longer, according to an EEOC statement. For an employee who did retire by age 55, the employer continued to pay the employer's share of the insurance premiums which generally ranged from 85 percent to 100 percent of the total amount of the premium -- and continued to do so until the retiree reached age 65. For an employee who retired after age 55, the employer paid nothing, and the cost of retiree insurance fell entirely on the retired employee." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

10 Worst-Off State Pension Funds
"How bad is the funding gap? The study calls it "a matter of debate," but according to the funding-status measure prescribed by the Government Accounting Standards Board, the nation's largest 126 pension plans were underfunded by around $800 billion in 2010, while critics of GASB's accounting methods estimate the aggregate pension fund shortfall to be as much as $4 trillion." (The Street)

Louisiana Legislators Decide Switch from DB to 401(k) for State Employees Might Be More Expensive Overall
"The [Louisiana House of Representatives] dealt a significant setback to a plan to enroll new state employees in a 401(k)-style plan [recently,] with members requiring that those placed in the new system also be put into Social Security. House Bill 61 would replace the pensions for most new employees with one based mainly on market returns as has been pitched as a way of keeping retirement costs in check for state government. But requiring that state employees, who are not now part of the Social Security system, enroll in the program could more than double the costs the state pays for each employee." (nola.com)

Stockton, California Bankruptcy Would Public Employee Pensions and Bondholders Nationwide
"Under a new California law governing municipal distress, Stockton has entered into a mandated mediation period before it can file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9.... Stockton faces an avalanche of obligations that it cannot meet. Foremost among them are contributions to public employee pensions, as well as debt service on bonds earlier sold to fund its pension contributions." (Governing)

[Official Guidance] Text of EBSA Advisory Opinion 2012-01A on Allowing Private Employers Into Connecticut's Group Health Plan
"[The state of Connecticut asked w]hether the status of the Group Health Plan for Employees of the State of Connecticut as a 'governmental plan' within the meaning of section 3(32) of ERISA would be adversely affected if the State permitted participation by certain private nonprofit employers who perform public service functions under contract with the State or receive substantial funding from governmental sources.... [T]he Department would view the participation of private nonprofit employers in the Connecticut State Plan described in your letter as more than de minimis, and, therefore, such participation would adversely affect the status of the State Plan as governmental under ERISA section 3(32)." (Employee Benefits Security Administration)

California State Officials Launch 'Health Happens in the Workplace' Program
"The health and wellness program evolved from a study ... of health care expenditures for state employees by the Urban Institute, in partnership with CalPERS, the largest purchaser of public employee health benefits in California. The study found that 22.4 percent of CalPERS' medical expenditures in 2008 were spent treating chronic diseases that could be prevented through changes in diet and increased physical activity." (The California Endowment)

Michigan Senate Bill Would Raise Lawmakers' Share of Retiree Health Contribution to 20% of Total Premium
"The Michigan Senate is currently debating legislation that would require retired public school, community college and university employees to shoulder 20 percent of [the total cost of] health insurance premiums. The requirement mirrors a new law requiring existing public employees to contribute 20 percent of health insurance premiums from their paychecks. The [Detroit News reported May 1, 2012,] that just seven months ago the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder approved a new law ensuring all but two of the 38 senators would get lifetime health insurance at age 55 at a cost of 10 percent." (The Detroit News)

Text of U.S. Census Bureau Summary Report on State and Locally Administered Pensions, 2010 (PDF)
"This survey covers the following retirement system activities: revenues by state (earnings on investments, employee contributions, government contributions); expenditures by state (benefits, withdrawals, other payments); cash and investment holdings by state (governmental securities, corporate stocks and bonds, foreign and international securities, etc.); and membership information by state (number of retirement systems, total members, beneficiaries receiving periodic payments)." (U.S. Census Bureau)

Wyoming Might Not Be Finished with Changes to Retirement Plan for State Employees
"Legislators plan to study further changes to the pension programs for state employees during the interim session to see if more legislation is needed in 2013. The Legislature passed multiple laws earlier this year that blocked cost-of-living adjustments for most retirees and modified the benefits for new employees." (WyomingNews.com)

Large Connecticut Public Employee Union Rallying Support for State-Run Retirement Plan for Private Companies
"One of Connecticut's largest public employee unions is trying to rally support in the waning days of the General Assembly session for a study of whether state government should offer a retirement plan to private citizens. But one of the key lawmakers behind the proposal conceded late last week that the chances of passage this year are poor with the legislature scheduled to adjourn in less than two weeks." (CT Mirror)

Switch from DB to DC for New Hampshire Retirement System Taking Shape Despite Opposition
"A bill to transition the state's retirement system into a 'defined contribution' plan will be finalized by House lawmakers in the coming weeks, despite strong opposition from public employee unions and an uncertain reception in the Senate. House Republicans have been considering the move since last year's pension reform effort, which increased contribution rates for employees and has been challenged in court by a coalition of unions." (Concord Monitor)

New Jersey Politicians Grandfather Own Benefits But Limit Those of New Workers
"[Figures obtained as part of a Star-Ledger analysis of sick and vacation time records for lawmakers and other public employees across the state] show that politicians can reap generous rewards from the same system they are charged with policing. The payouts also take sizable chunks out of local budgets that are already under duress." (nj.com)

Pensions for Elected State Officials: Target for Reform?
"It's the latest quirk in the hodge-podge of laws and practices, drawing the attention of a [California] legislative committee, that gives some elected officials pensions, prohibits pensions for other elected officials and allows some to choose no pension. Elected official pensions are 'under consideration' and 'may be included' in the proposal made by a two-house legislative committee on pension reform[.]" (Calpensions)

[Opinion] Illinois Pension Reform Plan: Taxpayer Costs Must Be Fixed, Not Unlimited
"The discussions going on in Springfield regarding pension reform still have not addressed the key concern: taxpayers must have a reasonable, fixed annual cost going forward. They cannot be on the hook for everything that can and will go wrong between now and 2062. Any increased pension costs beyond the agreed, affordable fixed taxpayer portion must either be paid for by other employees or result in automatic pension decreases." (Champion News)

[Opinion] How Retirement Benefits Might Sink the States
"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently offered a stark assessment of the threat to his state's future that is posed by mounting pension and retiree health-care bills for government workers. Unless Illinois enacts reform quickly, he said, the costs of these programs will force taxes so high that, 'You won't recruit a business, you won't recruit a family to live here.' We're likely to hear more such worries in coming years." (The Wall Street Journal)

Illinois Legislators Take Aim at Subsidy for Public Employee Retiree Health Insurance
"State employees earn a subsidy toward their retiree health insurance premiums based on the number of years they worked for the state. Employees get a 5 percent reduction in premiums for each year of service. As a result, employees who work 20 or more years pay nothing for their own health insurance in retirement." (Galesbury.com)

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