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. You need to know this news in the fight for a secure retirement.
NPPC News
The first full week in May marks Public Service Recognition Week. We extend our deepest gratitude to the millions of public employees working daily to serve and strengthen our communities. From teachers shaping young minds, to firefighters keeping our neighborhoods safe, to sanitation workers, nurses, librarians, and countless others, their commitment ensures that communities thrive. Read our latest blog, Public Service Deserves Public Support, where we dive into exactly what kind of recognition public servants need today.
PSA: Michigan Public Workers Rally for Retirement Justice
On May 15, public employees and allies will gather at the Michigan State Capitol to demand action on critical retirement legislation that remains stalled due to political obstruction. Despite being lawfully passed by both chambers in 2024, several bills—including those expanding retirement benefits for correctional officers—have yet to reach Governor Whitmer’s desk.
The rally, organized by Michigan correctional officers and partners, calls for accountability, integrity, and the immediate delivery of these long-delayed bills. As the legal battle continues, public workers are making their voices heard—and demanding the retirement security they’ve earned.
📍 Michigan State Capitol Lawn
🗓 May 15, 2025 | 2:00 – 3:30 PM
NPPC stands in solidarity with Michigan workers fighting for their promised benefits.
Why are the Rhode Island Environmental Police finally fully staffed after 20 years? Pensions!
Vacancies have hampered the state environmental police in Rhoade Island for at least 20 years. But now, according to the Rhode Island Current, the “Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Division of Law Enforcement is poised to reach its full 32-person staff for the first time since Deputy Chief Mike Schipritt began working there in 2005.”
Agency officials credit an expansion in retirement benefits, specifically pensions, as the catalyst for the increased staffing levels. As of January 1st, over 340 public safety employees, such as those working for the DEM, Capitol Police, and campus police, are now eligible for the same retirement benefits as municipal police officers and firefighters, following the state’s budget legislation changes. The enhanced pension benefits, including a lower retirement age and higher retirement allowance, reverse a portion of the 2012 cuts implemented by former General Treasurer Gina Raimondo.
The DEM police provide 24/7 patrols and protection for state waters and parks, enforcing environmental protections, public safety, and regulations governing commercial and recreational fishing and wildlife. According to DEM’s website, more than 66,000 hunting and fishing licenses and permits are sold in-state each year. And across the 40,000 acres of state-owned land, environmental police are charged with stopping criminal activity such as vandalism, larceny, assault, and motor vehicle violations.
Lucas Walter, a new hire in DEM’s law enforcement division, cited the new pension benefits as a motivation for staying on the job. “Before, the benefits plan was pretty weak,” Walter said. “Now it makes sense to stay in this job for the long term and do the whole stint with the pension and everything.”
Reason Pushing Its Trademark Doom and Gloom in San Diego
The classic game plan of billionaire-backed groups like the Reason Foundation is to hype up “unfunded liabilities.” They’re at it again in San Diego, alleging that a pension that is 76.8% funded, just shy of the 80% threshold considered healthy for private sector multiemployer plans, is somehow a massive liability.
The Reason Foundation is pushing a solution in search of a problem. California courts have already determined that their proposal was illegal. In 2018, the California Supreme Court struck down a ballot measure that had replaced pensions with 401(k)-style plans for new San Diego city workers, excluding police, ruling it violated state labor laws by failing first to negotiate the changes with employee unions.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed an ordinance in 2022 restoring pensions for city employees, reversing the effects of the unlawful 2012 Proposition B. The City Council approved the measure unanimously, reinstating defined benefit pensions for AFSCME Local 127, the Municipal Employees Association, and unrepresented workers. The failed Prop B experiment shifted new non-police hires to 401(k)-style plans, severely undermining recruitment and retention. The gambit ultimately cost the city more than $80 million, despite being pitched as a cost-saving reform.
Reason can use its billionaire benefactors’ largesse to propose whatever it wants. However, the schemes they’re pushing are irrelevant unless it has San Diego City unions on board.
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.