The Defined Benefit

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  • What is PEPTA and how would it impact public pensions?
    pensions

    In June, Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) reintroduced the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act (PEPTA). Rep. Nunes has introduced this legislation for the past four Congresses. PEPTA would require state and local public pension plans to disclose their unfunded liabilities to…

  • Victory in the Courts in Kentucky!
    Kentucky pensions

    In late June, a circuit court judge in Kentucky ruled that Senate Bill 151, the stinking, pension-gutting law, is unconstitutional. The extremely rushed process by which the state legislature passed the bill clearly violated state law and rendered the entire…

  • The Domino Effect of Attacks on Pensions
    Attacks on pensions promote retirement inequality

    Earlier this year, we exposed John Arnold’s “web of connections.” This is the wide variety of groups he funds to attack public pensions. Many of these groups are connected to each other and many of them cite each other’s work…

  • The Reason Foundation Has a Pension Reform Handbook
    protect pensions

    The Reason Foundation is a prominent, national libertarian advocacy organization. Their advocacy covers a wide range of public policy issues, but one area where they are particularly focused is public pensions. For their work campaigning against public pensions, they have…

  • Keeping Retirement Affordable in New Hampshire and Oklahoma
    retirement

    Earlier this year, we wrote about Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA). To recap, a COLA is an adjustment in the amount of a pension benefit to account for inflation. Since the price of almost everything is constantly going up due…

  • The “Pension Crisis” is a Myth, Part Eight
    pension crisis is a myth

    Since the Great Recession in 2008, warnings of an impending pension crisis have been splashed across the business pages of newspapers across the country. Despite these boisterous decrees, America’s public pension funds are stable. We explore the roots behind the…

  • What does the increasing gap in retirement ages mean for pensions?
    retirement age public pensions

    Retirement inequality is increasing in the United States and the age of retirement is one dimension of that inequality. While the overall average retirement age for Americans is increasing, that increase is not even across socio-economic status. Less educated workers…

  • Don’t Trust the Reason Foundation on Public Pensions
    Retirement Security Initiative

    Despite its name, the Reason Foundation cannot be trusted to provide accurate information regarding public pensions. This so-called “think tank” promotes a radical anti-government agenda that is openly hostile to public employees and their retirement security. They have also accepted…

  • Public Pensions Generate Tax Revenue for States
    U.S. without pensions

    Despite what you may think, public pension plans generated more than $277 billion in state and local tax revenues in 2016. That is the groundbreaking finding of a new report from the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS).…

  • Attacks on Pensions Promote Retirement Inequality
    Attacks on pensions promote retirement inequality

    Defined benefit pensions are the most secure form of retirement savings. This has been true for decades and is why cities and states have offered pensions to their public employees for more than a hundred years. Pensions also used to…

  • What is the California Rule and why does it matter?
    California rule protects pensions

    Last week we wrote about the various forms of legal protections that exist for public pensions in the United States. We noted that a majority of states (34) follow a contract rights approach to public pension benefits. One of the…

  • Colorado Makes Changes to Public Pensions
    Colorado-Pensions-NPPC

    Teachers, firefighters, and other public employees in Colorado are members of PERA, the Public Employees Retirement Association. This public pension plan covers most public employees in the state. It is also a Social Security substitute: most members of PERA do…