Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do every week, we have gathered the best stories from the previous week about pensions and retirement security. This is the news you need to know about the fight for a secure retirement.

Here are this week’s top stories:

  • Kansas needs to invest back in its people by Bailey Childers and Annie McKay: writing in the Hays Daily News, NPPC’s Bailey Childers and Annie McKay of the Kansas Center for Economic Growth call out Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback for diverting millions of dollars from the public pension funds in order to plug holes in the state budget caused by his disastrous tax policy.
  • Equal Pay Day represents gap between women, men by Bailey Childers: NPPC’s executive director Bailey Childers writes in the San Bernardino Sun that the lack of equal pay during their working years follows women into retirement. She tells the story of Jeanetta Adams, a Los Angeles 911 operator, who fought for equal pay and a secure retirement.
  • Why undermine public employees retirement? By Dr. Patricia Waters: legislators in Alabama are foolishly considering a plan to force public employees into an inadequate cash balance plan. One public employee speaks out about the harm this would do to public employees there.
  • Kentucky Lawmakers Reach Budget Deal; Over $1 Billion For Pensions by Ryland Barton: good news from the Bluegrass State! Legislators in Kentucky agreed to a deal this week that would put more than $1 billion into the severely underfunded public pensions this year.
  • Huge NYC Pension Fund Is Dropping Hedge Funds, Which Are a Ripoff by Hamilton Nolan: this week the New York City ERS announced that it was liquidating its holdings in hedge funds, due to the high costs and poor performance of the funds. This follows a trend of other public pensions abandoning hedge funds as evidence increasingly shows that hedge funds are costing the pensions more than they make.

Don’t forget to check back next week for the latest news about pensions and the fight for a secure retirement!