News Clips for February 18, 2014

NCPERS News

NCPERS Video Blog: PBS and the Arnold Foundation
In this week'd video blog, Executive Director Hank Kim discusses the recent investigative reporting by David Sirota exposing PBS' partnership with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and PBS' 'Pension Peril' series.

NCPERS Legislative Conference: Robert Klausner & the Detroit Bankrupcy Case
Robert Klausner, from Klausner Kaufman Jensen & Levinson discussed the Legal Implications of and the Next Steps for Detroit's Bankruptcy at the 2014 NCPERS Legislative Conference.

NCPERS Legislative Conference: Steve Kreisberg, from AFSCME & Illinois
Steve Kreisberg, Director of Collective Bargaining, from AFSCME, discusses the Illinois case study at the NCPERS 2014 Legislative Conference.

NCPERS Legislative Conference: NCPERS Awards Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler the Legislator of the Year
At the 2014 NCPERS Legislative Conference, Executive Director, Hank Kim and NCPERS President, Mel Aaronson, presented Oregon Treasurer, Ted Wheeler with the Legislator of the Year Award. Wheeler addressed the conference.

National News

The Wolf of Sesame Street: Revealing the secret corruption inside PBS's news division

Pando has exclusively confirmed that "The Pension Peril" is secretly funded by former Enron trader John Arnold, a billionaire political powerbroker who is actively trying to shape the very pension policy that the series claims to be dispassionately covering

Pension politics
David Sirota has a very important scoop today: the PBS series "Pension Peril" has secretly* been funded by John Arnold, a billionaire powerbroker with an aggressively anti-pensions political agenda.

Why won't PBS release details of its $3.5m deal with a billionaire? Here's a possible answer.

Of all those questions, though, one is the most significant: why are public broadcasting officials and the Arnold Foundation still refusing to release the entire grant agreement they signed?

How PBS sold its soul to a billionaire donor
A few days ago the Public Broadcasting Service announced it was returning a $3.5-million grant it had received from a Texas billionaire to fund a series of documentaries about the "pension peril" -- the costs to cities and states of their public employee retirement obligations.

State News

CTU report says pension overhaul would hurt city's economy, retirees

And the Chicago Teachers Union is sending a message to lawmakers: Forget about using the same pension overhaul that passed last year on city pension funds.

Kansas legislators question KPERS proposal for COLA
Bill would provide cost-of-living adjustment for those who retired before July 2009

Maryland Treasurer Opposes Governor's $100M Cut in Pension Funding
Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp (D) has told lawmakers she opposed Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) proposed $100 million cut in the pension contribution, and said it would undermine trust by the state's bond rating agencies.

N.J. Outlook Fails to Improve as Pension Hit Looms: Muni Credit
Governor Chris Christie, who says rising pension and debt payments threaten to crowd out spending on services such as public safety, risks a ratings cut as New Jersey debates how to tackle unfunded retirement liabilities.

Police & Fire fund argues pension cuts aren't necessary
Ohio's police and firefighter pension-fund managers argue that everything is fine; state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann says not so fast.

Okla. pension panel OKs switch to DC plan
The Oklahoma Senate Pension Committee approved legislation this week that will move state employees hired after Nov. 1, 2015, into a defined contribution plan instead of the traditional defined benefit plan.