NCPERS News Clips

July 24, 2012

News Clips for July 24th, 2012

• NCPERS Issues Statement on Report of the State Budget Crisis Task Force
  The following is a statement by Hank Kim, Esq., Executive Director and Counsel of NCPERS: "The Report of the State Budget Crisis Task Force verdict on the role public pensions are playing in state and local government fiscal woes - which recommends stronger local funding policies and greater disclosure - is a balanced one.."
• NCPERS: Public pensions are recovering from recession
  Despite years of underfunding by state and local governments, most public pension plans are "solidly funded and are experiencing a robust recovery from the Great Recession," according to Hank Kim, executive director and counsel of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS).
• 5 Myths About Public Employee Pensions
  OpEd: There's an oft repeated myth being fed by many that claims the defined benefit pension plans available to most public employees are going bankrupt.
• State-Run Pensions for Private-Sector Employees Proposed
  It's a new twist in the government-pension conversation: some states are considering government-run retirement plans for private-sector employees.
• Defined Benefit Criticisms are Based on a Misinterpretation of Funding
  PensionDialog welcomes the following guest post by Victoria Hubbell of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Fund. These days, it's hard to read an article about traditional defined benefit pension plans that doesn’t deal with funding — whether in the U.S. or in Canada. Yet pension plan funding is not as straightforward a concept as it may appear.
• State Pensions and Federal Cuts Loom Over Maryland's Triple-A Bond Rating, Three Ratings Agencies Say
  The big three New York bond rating agencies last week again affirmed Maryland's almost sacred triple-A bond rating, attributing the decades-old stamp of approval to a strong economy, high incomes, prudent fiscal management and a willingness to raise taxes.
• More state pension plans cutting assumed return rates
  Market, budgetary, political pressures spur reductions
•  US public pension funds to face calls to set realistic targets
  U.S. public pension funds are expected to report poor annual returns in the coming weeks, results that are likely to increase calls for more realistic retirement promises for teachers, police officers and other public workers.