News Clips for April 30, 2014

NCPERS News

NCPERS Annual Conference Day One Blog
Unable to attend the 2014 Annual Conference? Check out our blog for some of the information you missed

AFT Report Ranking Asset Managers
Report mentioned by Dan Pedrotty, American Federation of Teachers "Preserving Retirement Security and Holding Wall Street Accountable"

BNY Report: A First Perspective: The Transformational Influence of "Big Data" on the 21st Century Global Financial System
Report mentioned by Jack Malvey, BNY Mellon Investment Management in "How to Tame Big Data for Use in the Global Financial System"

National News


David Sirota: Wall Street's Secret Swindle of Public Pensions
In the national debate over what to do about public pension shortfalls, here's something you may not know: The texts of the agreements signed between those pension funds and financial firms are almost always secret.

Koch Brothers, Major Corporations Sponsor Pension Reform Seminar For Judges
As state courts across the nation prepare to referee numerous public pension reform disputes, a gaggle of interested parties - from major corporations to the Koch brothers - will next week sponsor an expenses-paid conference on public pension reform for judges who may decide the cases' fates.

Success Academy Charter Schools rake in $7.5M from swank fund-raiser
Wall Street's elite raised the eye-popping total for the charter schools during a swank fund-raiser at Cipriani on Monday.

Urban Institute Report: Retirement & Older Americans
Our extensive work on retirement policy covers the many ways the aging of America will trigger changes in how we work, retire, and spend federal resources.

State News

Senate Pension Reform Bill Now Heads To Floor, Still Differs From Merged House Bill
The Senate's pension reform proposal is now heading to the floor, after it passed its last committee Tuesday.

House, Senate reach deal on budget
(Florida) Spending plan doesn't include general state worker pay raises

Quinn floats new source for city pensions: Income tax
Gov. Pat Quinn today dangled a possible replacement to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to raise property taxes to restructure two Chicago pension funds: give the city a bigger cut of state income taxes.

Report: Kentucky pension reforms benefit workers An analysis by a Washington D.C.-based think tank says that a majority of government workers will fare as well - or better - under Kentucky's recent pension reforms.

Pension obligations need to be a priority
Massachusetts's public employee pensions are a growing burden on the state, even though it has gradually decreased its share of pension contributions, forcing employees to increase theirs.

The long game on pension reform THE ECONOMICS of public-sector pension reform are straightforward enough. Funds that states and municipalities must devote to employees' retirement benefits are funds that they cannot spend on parks, libraries, transportation, public safety and other services.