Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
NPPC News
Legislative Preview
As Americans navigate a tumultuous political, economic, and social landscape, NPPC continues to advocate for dignified, secure retirement plans for public servants from coast to coast–because the promise of guaranteed lifetime income following a career of service is one aspect of the American dream that we believe can still come true.
ICYMI: Check out our NPPC legislative preview, which outlines our public pension hotspots in 2026.
Black History Month: Public Pensions are a Civil Rights Issue
In our latest NPPC Defined Benefit blog, we spotlight the integral connections between Black History, civil rights, and public pensions. While public pensions are frequently discussed in fiscal or actuarial terms, when viewed through a historical and racial equity lens, they also represent a civil rights issue and an effective antidote to long-standing inequities in wages, wealth accumulation, and access to retirement benefits.
For generations, Black workers were excluded from many private-sector wealth-building opportunities, making guaranteed retirement benefits in public employment a critical pathway to economic security. Defending public pensions remains central to advancing racial and economic justice.
Data shows:
➝ Black workers are more likely than white workers to be employed in the public sector, particularly in state and local government.
➝ Public pensions provide defined benefits, offering predictable lifetime income that does not depend on individual investment risk.
➝ Workers with pensions are far less likely to experience poverty in retirement.
State News
Do Crypto Losses Expose Public Pensions to Risk?
Recent reports indicate U.S. public pension funds are absorbing hundreds of millions in losses from Bitcoin-linked investments, with some funds reportedly down as much as 60 percent. These losses underscore the real-world dangers of speculative assets that promise innovation but deliver only volatility.
Shares of Strategy (MSTR), a firm with concentrated Bitcoin exposure, have declined by about 67 percent over the past six months. According to Pension Policy International, 11 public pension funds together control nearly 1.8 million Strategy shares, now worth about $240 million, down from $577 million when the allocations were first reported.
Speculation Moves Into Federal Policy
At the same time that public pensions are grappling with crypto-related losses, federal policymakers are pushing to expand access to risky assets like cryptocurrency and private equity in 401(k) plans, despite strong opposition from organized labor. This approach shifts even more financial risk to individual workers while weakening the case for guaranteed lifetime income, deepening retirement insecurity.
As noted by the AFL-CIO, retirement plans remain solvent only when their assets are protected from fraud and unethical practices. The legislation lacks a regulatory framework for crypto assets or stablecoins comparable to the standards applied to other pension investments.
Workforce Destabilization Threatens Long-Term Retirement Security
From renewed threats of federal layoffs to chaotic immigration enforcement disrupting state and local workforces, political instability is creating new risks for retirement systems. Now the White House is pushing to reclassify thousands of federal jobs from non-partisan civil service roles into political patronage positions.
Fewer stable public jobs, a direct result of the federal DOGE initiative, the nearly 30 copycat DOGE panels across the country, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, could mean weaker contribution bases and greater strain on pension funds, reinforcing a troubling pattern: destabilizing public institutions today undermines retirement security tomorrow.
Be sure to check back next Friday for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement! For now, sign up for NPPC News Clips to receive daily pension news from across the country directly to your inbox.