Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, 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.
Here are this week’s top stories:
- With teachers watching, Kentucky court considers pensions by Adam Beam: yesterday, the Kentucky Supreme Court heard the case regarding SB 151, the pension-gutting law hurriedly passed by state legislators earlier this year. While the court did not immediately issue a ruling, the justices seemed skeptical of the governor’s argument that the law is constitutional. Meanwhile, public employees are not waiting around for the court’s ruling. “I’m mostly thinking about elections right now. We’ve just got to vote in the elections so they don’t have a chance to do it again,” said high school teacher Erin Grace.
- Retirement Is In Peril For Most Working Class Americans, Warns New Report by Ted Knutson: Forbes covers the release of a new report on retirement savings by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). According to the NIRS report, nearly four out of five working Americans are falling short of conservative retirement savings targets.
- Pensions play into debate over why San Diego is losing workers by Michael Smolens: a recent report from the city auditor in San Diego found that city employees are leaving at a faster rate than in the past. In 2012, the city passed a controversial proposition that ended defined benefit pensions for public employees. While the report does not offer any definitive conclusions about the cause of the higher turnover, others place the blame squarely on the elimination of pensions. “I think it’s common sense. It’s the definition of a competitive disadvantage,” said Michael Zucchet, president of the San Diego Municipal Employees Association.
- Palm Beach fighting ‘experience gap’ caused by high employee turnover by William Kelly: Palm Beach continues to suffer devastating consequences due to harsh pension cuts enacted six years ago. The city is dealing with extremely high employee turnover, which is causing a lack of experienced staff capable of filling management roles. This is just further proof that pension cuts have far-reaching consequences.
Also this week, NPPC released a new report on public pensions in Oregon titled Oregon PERS Must Be Protected.
Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!
