NCPERS News Clips

April 26, 2011

News Clips for April 26th, 2011

• Public Pensions, Once Off Limits, Face Budget Cuts
  When an arbitrator ruled this month that Detroit could reduce the pensions being earned by its police sergeants and lieutenants, it put the struggling city at the forefront of a growing national debate over whether the pensions of current public workers can or should be reduced.
• U.S. states face growing pension gaps
  U.S. states are short $1.26 trillion in paying for public employee pensions and other retirement benefits, a gap that grew 26 percent in one year and will take many more years to wipe out, according to a report released on Tuesday.
• Why Young Workers Want a Good Old-Fashioned Pension
  The conventional wisdom is that young people today are inured to the idea that they will change jobs repeatedly over their careers, and that because of that, they don't really think much about pensions. But it turns out that the conventional wisdom is wrong.
• Japan to divert pension contributions for quake aid
  Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan proposed a 4 trillion yen ($49 billion) extra budget, financed in part with 2.5 trillion yen originally intended to be contributions to the country's pension funds, to rebuild areas devastated by last month's record earthquake and tsunami.
• Middle Ground in the Public Pension Fight?
  Pension experts at the Center for State and Local Government Excellence say there's a middle ground between protecting traditional defined-benefit pensions for public-sector employees and eliminating them in favor of 401(k)-style defined-contribution plans that now dominate the private sector.
• Unions not to blame for public pension debacle
  No public worker union can negotiate a pension. Teacher and public sector pensions are decided by the Legislature. Pensions are not something unions are permitted to "negotiate." What caused the present pension crisis is that a few administrations ago a decision was made allowing the state and local school districts to use a floating contribution rate pegged to the health of the pension fund.
• Pension Gap For Public Employees Continues To Grow In Many States, Report Says
  U.S. states are short $1.26 trillion in paying for public employee pensions and other retirement benefits, a gap that grew 26 percent in one year and will take many more years to wipe out, according to a report released on Tuesday.
• Fire fighters turn up heat on pension reform
  Atlanta fire fighters turned up the heat on pension reform by bringing in a team of financial advisers and consultants who said Wednesday the proposed changes are “illegal, unjust and bad policy.”