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:

  • Study says Oregon teachers underpaid and undervalued by Alisha Roemeling: a new study from the Oregon Center for Public Policy finds that public school teachers in the state earn 22 percent less than their peers in the private sector with similar education and experience. Even factoring in other benefits, which includes pensions, teachers still earn 9 percent less in total compensation. This is just further evidence that pensions are a form of deferred compensation that teachers accept in exchange for lower pay during their working years.
  • Moving to a better Alabama by David Bronner: the CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) writes about the need for increased revenue in the state. Despite attacks from John Arnold, the Koch brothers, and others, the state has always fully paid its contributions to the RSA. Other public policy priorities remain underfunded due to the low revenue the state collects.
  • Worried about CalPERS? Three new laws could protect workers, governments by Adam Ashton: California Governor Jerry Brown has signed three new laws that will help to ensure public employees receive the pension benefits they have earned. Two of the laws aim to address a situation in which an employer leaves CalPERS without fully funding its required contributions, which could lead to retirees seeing their benefit cut. The third law creates a mechanism for government agencies to “pre-fund” their CalPERS contributions.
  • Beshear: Pensions can be saved by Bill Mardis: Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2019, has proposed expanding gaming in the state and dedicating the increased revenue to paying down the unfunded liability in Kentucky’s public pension systems. “This, dedicated solely to the pension systems, will solve the problem,” said Beshear.

Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!