Three public workers’ pension funds are suing New Jersey for billions in damages, claiming the state government breached contracts when it contributed less than planned. The filing Friday is the latest volley in a more than yearlong dispute over pension contributions. They stem from Gov. Chris Christie’s decision last year amid a budget shortfall to veer from a pension funding plan he signed into law in 2011. […]
The state has reached a potential settlement with thousands of past and present government employees over the constitutionality of the state’s 2011 pension-cutting law. General Assembly approval is still required. And the benefits of the settlement would not apply to the three relatively small groups of municipal police and firefighters who rejected it. But after weeks of gag-order secrecy and closed-door voting by thousands of public workers and retirees, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams, serving as [...]
By David H. Webber David H. Webber is a professor at the Boston University School of Law. Public pension funds should invest the retirement savings of government workers to secure their financial future, not undermine it. Yet across the country, these funds are financing companies that privatize their own workers’ jobs. And because many of these investments are funneled through private-equity companies, the problem is still largely hidden from public view. Pension trustees who are rightly concerned about these [...]
Alberta’s Auditor General recently released a report criticizing the sustainability of Alberta’s public sector pension plans. Pension plans under consideration include: Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP), Management Employees Pension Plan (MEPP), Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) and Special Forces Pension Plan (SFPP). All are included in the Treasury Board and Finance Department’s pension reforms, in the purview of Spruce Grove – St. Albert MLA Doug Horner. According to the report, the audit project began in 2011 as a result [...]
On December 18th, the Public Broadcasting Service’s flagship station WNET issued a press release announcing the launch of a new two-year news series entitled “The Pension Peril.” The series, promoting cuts to public employee pensions, is airing on hundreds of PBS outlets all over the nation. It has been presented as objective news on major PBS programs including the PBS News Hour. However, neither the WNET press release nor the broadcasted segments explicitly disclosed who is financing the series. Pando has exclusively [...]
Newtown Finance Director Robert Tait calls them “horror stories.” He is referring to endless news reports from states and cities including Connecticut and many of its 169 municipalities, about the horrible condition of public employee pension plans. But he said in a February 5 interview with The Newtown Bee that neither pensioners nor taxpayers should be too concerned about the state of Newtown’s pension system. And he reminded taxpayers that every year, they benefit to the tune of “millions…possibly as much [...]
