Gates Says Benefits Costs Hit Schools
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates will step into the national debate over state budgets Thursday with a call for states to rethink their health care and pension systems, which he says stifle funding for public schools. Mr. Gates in an interview … Continue reading
Congressional Budget Office: State & Local Government Pension Liabilities Could Be $3 Trillion
Another voice chimed in this week on the unhealthy status of America’s public pensions. The Congressional Budget Office wrote, “The recent financial crisis and economic recession have left many states and localities with extraordinary difficulties for the next few years, … Continue reading
California’s Prison Guards Make More Than Twice Their Counterparts in Texas
As California tries to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, state workers—who earn 25.2 percent more than their counterparts in Texas—face cuts California’s prison guards make more than twice their counterparts in Texas—$71,000 a year, compared with $31,000. That difference … Continue reading
California’s Union Bosses Still Denying There’s a Pension Crisis
Public union leaders have consistently denied there is a problem with the current government employee pension system. They defend the high benefit levels and consistently argue that pension funds are perfectly solvent. Those claims are delusional at best; ignorant at … Continue reading
Members of Six Los Angeles Unions Should Approve a Plan to Raise Their Retirement Contributions
Members of six city unions should approve a plan to raise their retirement contributions. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year is imbued with his trademark optimism, but it also carries an implicit threat. The optimism is … Continue reading
Pension Quagmire: San Bernardino County Leaders Didn’t Think CalPERS Increases Would Be a Problem
Unions wanted them. Pension managers said they were affordable. Elected officials approved them. But improved pension benefits granted to public employees over the past 12 years are now costing local governments dearly. And for that, officials acknowledge, there’s plenty of … Continue reading
Pensions ARE the Problem
My colleague at The Heartland Institute, Eli Lehrer wrote a rather controversial op-ed for the Weekly Standard recently arguing that “Pensions Aren’t the Problem.” Eli’s piece makes some good points in regards to the public pension debate and has, if … Continue reading
Public Employee Retirements Surge as States Cut Benefits to Shrink Deficits
Teri Essex retired a year earlier than planned when she was offered $56,000 to leave her elementary-school teaching job in Elk Grove, California. Instead of accepting a salary cut, larger classes and less money for supplies from spending reductions made … Continue reading
San Jose, California’s Pension Crisis Is All Too Real
San Jose’s pension crisis is real and immediate. With more retirees and fewer employees, the cost of the pension plans is increasingly consuming the dollars needed to maintain the services we are here to provide — police officers on patrol, … Continue reading
There Was No Recession for California’s Public Employee Pensions
Only government-employee union officials at this point are denying the reality of California’s pension crisis, as public pension debts estimated as high as a half-trillion dollars are crushing state and local governments and threatening to increase the burden on already … Continue reading
