Around this time of year, many children- and some adults- are very concerned about whether they made it onto the naughty or nice list of a jolly old man who lives up north. Here at NPPC, we also keep a naughty or nice list. We know if you’ve been bad or good when it comes to public pensions, so be good for the sake of public employees’ retirement security.
Let’s take a look at who made it on our naughty and nice lists this year.
Naughty List
- John Arnold: he is always at the top of our naughty list. Throughout 2016, Arnold continued to pour millions of dollars into attacks on public pensions across the nation. Check out our video to learn more about his attacks on the retirement security of public employees.
- Chuck Reed and other members of the Retirement Security Initiative: the former San Jose mayor traveled across the country this year going after public pensions in places like Lincoln, NE and advocating for changes that would harm the retirement security of working people.
- The Pennsylvania and Michigan state legislatures: in both of these states, conservative-dominated legislatures considered end-of-the-year measures to gut public pensions. While the measures fell short in both states, thanks to a strong backlash from working people, we expect these same attacks to reappear next year.
Nice List
- The New Jersey legislature: for years the New Jersey legislature has battled Gov. Chris Christie over fully funding NJ’s public pensions. Earlier this month Christie signed legislation, passed unanimously by the state legislature, that requires quarterly payments into New Jersey’s public pension funds. This will strengthen those funds and save New Jersey taxpayers billions of dollars. Since Christie signed the bill, he’s off our naughty list for this year. If he keeps up this promise, he might even make the nice list next year!
- Voters in Arizona: they overwhelmingly approved a measure to improve the sustainability of the public pension system for public safety employees in May.
- The teachers, firefighters, sanitation workers, and other public employees who keep our communities safe and strong. We are grateful for their service and that is why we stand with them to protect their pensions.
Everyone at NPPC wishes you a happy holiday season!
