NCPERS News Clips

8/4/2009

Subset of the World

Our second link in this week's issue provides detail on a new National Institute on Retirement Security report on public pension and the aged. The Pension Factor: Assessing the Role of DB Plans in Reducing Elder Hardships has some really useful information that helps make the case that pensions are far better at delivering secure retirement than other vehicles.

• SEC Sheds Some Light On Proposed Placement Agent Ban
  Placement agents' worst nightmares have come true, as the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday released the full, 114-page documentation supporting proposals on ending pay-to-play problems at public pension funds that it made last month.
• Study Says Pensions Reduce Poverty
  Defined benefit pension income plays a critical role in reducing the risk of poverty and hardship among older Americans, according to a new study.
• $3.4 billion shortfall for N.H. pension
  The sinking economy has taken a billion-dollar bite out of the state's already-ailing pension system, leaving the New Hampshire Retirement System with about 59 percent of what it needs to pay its long-term liabilities, according to preliminary calculations, for a shortfall of $3.4 billion.
• RI: Public employee unions align to sue over pension changes
  Rhode Island's public employee labor unions are mobilizing to file a class-action lawsuit against the state to block pension changes the legislature adopted in June to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
• MA: Pension panel recommendations could come with a cost
  As they delved into the intricacies of the pension system Monday, a special commission charged with recommending reforms to the way Massachusetts funds retiree benefits hit a snag on a broader issue: should their proposals come at no cost?
• CA: L.A. pension board puts off early retirement debate; unions express frustration
  A Los Angeles pension board delayed a vote today on the city's planned early retirement program as union leaders stepped up their campaign to derail a controversial proposal for making the city pay off the program's cost 10 years sooner than expected.
• PA: State could take over city's pension fund
  A proposed statewide pension fix could boost the city of Pittsburgh's payment for retiree benefits from $50 million this year to $73 million -- a steep jump that would be tough to manage, according to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration.
• AR: Pension limit lifted for working retirees
  When Charlie Brown returned to work at the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education after briefly retiring last year, he knew that earning a paycheck would mean lowering the retirement benefit he had accrued over 28 years as an educator and state employee.
• IA: Sen. Steve Sodders to review state's retirement plans
  State Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, will help conduct a review of Iowa's public retirement systems in the coming months through an interim legislative committee.

National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
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