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.
Oklahoma Gubernatorial Hopeful Often Absent from Pension Committee Assignment
Self-described free-market capitalist and Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei has a pension problem. The former State Senator and cabinet member under current Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has been outspoken about his plans to abolish defined benefit pensions for state and local government employees. Mazzei was appointed to the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Board in March 2023–but he has missed over three-quarters of the board’s meetings.
Mazzei’s staff has alluded to a busy campaign schedule as the culprit for the repeated absences. Ginger Sigler, the pension system’s executive director, said, “I think it’s the duty of any board member to come to meetings. “I totally understand that he is running for governor and he doesn’t have time. I don’t think he would be opposed to being replaced, but I also don’t think it’s his position to go to the governor and say, ‘Replace me.’”
Mazzei’s absence signals a broader concern over the gubernatorial hopeful’s plans for Oklahoma’s state-administered pension systems.
Michigan Governor Sends Mixed Signals After Pension Veto
Following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of nine outstanding 2023–2024 legislative session bills, including a critical pension bill intended to ease the staffing crisis at state correctional facilities administered by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), the Michigan governor is now praising the very proposal she truncated.
The vetoed measures would have moved eligible MDOC officers into the State Police Retirement System, into a hybrid pension plan. Safety concerns in Michigan’s understaffed prisons have plagued the MDOC for years–reports of prisoner-on-prisoner violence, assaults on staff, and cuts to basic services for inmates roll in regularly.
Byron Osborn, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization, has been outspoken on the dangerous conditions resulting from persistent vacancies and mandatory overtime. “With the short staffing, we’ve still got this massive problem with the MDOC not having enough high security facilities to house problematic and assaulted prisoners. So we’re still seeing a lot of assaults on staff, assaults on other prisoners,” Osborn said.
Part of a package of bills that passed during a lame-duck session but were not delivered to the governor’s desk until the Michigan Supreme Court mandated they be, Governor Whitmer defended her veto, saying that the legislation “referenced expired deadlines that would have led to more litigation.”
Whitmer issued a letter on July 15, which stated, “These bills were good policy. They expanded existing retirement options and would have improved officer retention and helped you feel more secure in your future. I want those benefits for you.”
Alaska Labor Organizations Sue Over Vacant Retirement Board Seats
Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of HB 78 earlier this year wasn’t the end of his impact on retirement security in Alaska; now he faces litigation for failing to fill two vacant seats on the Alaska Retirement Management (ARM) Board in what state law dictates a “timely manner”.
The Alaska AFL-CIO, National Education Association-Alaska, along with five individuals, are seeking a court order to fill seats on the ARM Board that have been vacant since March 1. Noting that state law dictates that “a vacancy on the board of trustees shall be promptly filled,” the lawsuit came about following a warning letter sent to the Governor’s office from the unions in May.
One of the plaintiffs, attorney Scott Kendall, cited that there have been two ARM Board meetings without union representatives, saying, “This isn’t the ‘Oops, this slipped through the cracks sort of issue.’ The new nominees were put forward by both unions three months before the prior terms expired. Those filings were acknowledged by the Department of Revenue, which handles this.”
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