NCPERS News Clips

July 16, 2013

News Clips for

U.S. News

• UPDATE 1-Sen Hatch says insurance firms can ease U.S. pension crisis
  A top Republican senator unveiled legislation on Tuesday that would radically change public pensions by having life insurance companies pay benefits through annuity contracts, helping to alleviate the underfunding that has engulfed many plans.
• Statement of Hank Kim, Esq., Executive Director and Counsel National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) On Hatch's Secure Annuities for Employee (SAFE) Retirement Act
  "Senator Orrin Hatch's legislative proposal to turn public employee pensions over to private insurance companies is not only ill-conceived and unworkable, it completely misses the point. His legislation is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem -- and his proposal deftly directs public attention away from the real problem.
• Orrin Hatch Wants AIG to Provide Pensions for Public Sector Workers
  No, I am not kidding. The NYT reported that Hatch is introducing a bill that would allow states to turn over the management and responsibility for pension plans to insurance companies. The NYT presented this sort of switch as good news for both workers and taxpayers, noting regulatory requirements for insurers:
• Which are better, 401(k)s or pensions?
  Study: In some cases, savers end up with more in 401(k)s
• Stop blaming public employee pensions for problems
  The economy is picking up steam. State, city and county employees have willingly accepted millions upon millions of dollars in cuts to their pensions. California’s largest pension fund has recouped every single investment penny it lost from the Great Recession.
• Battle lines harden over Detroit pension cuts
  Orr says he may know next week if city will file for bankruptcy
• Governor suspends lawmakers' salaries in Illinois pension stalemate
  Accelerating an increasingly bitter feud with the General Assembly, Gov. Pat Quinn suspended the pay of state lawmakers Wednesday, saying he believed the best way for legislators to reach a long-sought fix to Illinois' massive public worker pension debt was to "hit them in the wallet."
• Some good news about Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System
  The Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System, once ranked among the nation’s worst-funded systems, is now a source of some good news.
• State keeps its AAA bond rating, but firms warn of federal cuts, pension debt
  The governor and state treasurer cheered Maryland’s retention of its AAA bond ratings released Friday, and the three New York rating agencies continued their praise of Maryland’s high incomes, diversified economy and strong fiscal management.