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Welcome

The oncoming wave of public pension debt is even bigger than it seems. The purpose of this website is to provide an overview of the multiple pension crises that are about to drown America's taxpayers. Our primary focus is on California, but we also track other state pension funds, corporate pensions, milti-employer pension funds, social security and international trends. Now in its 15th year, PensionTsunami was founded by and is edited by Jack Dean. (Contact: JackDean-at-PensionTsunami-dot-com or 916-644-0688 or @PensionTsunami)

Latest Newsclips     last updated October 26 3:05pm PST

Each day's headline summary is e-mailed to subscribers.

October 26, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Proposition 13 Overhaul Is Pension Bailout in Disguise (op-ed - Corrin Rankin / Orange County Register)

October 25, 2019

• Updated at 6:00 AM (Pacific) -- FINAL:
• As California Economy Booms, Cities Struggle With Pensions (Adam Beam / Associated Press)
• California State Auditor's Local Government High-Risk Dashboard
• As of 5:15 AM (Pacific Time) . . .
• Marin Councilmen Maintain Push for Pension Reform (Richard Halstead / Marin Independent Journal)
• San Diego Ranks Last Among County’s Cities in Overall Fiscal Health, State Auditor Says (Charles T. Clark / San Diego Union-Tribune)

October 24, 2019

• Wyoming's Senator Enzi Criticizes Pension Bailout Bill, Saying It Would Cost Taxpayers (Brendan LaChance / Oil City News)
• Pension Guru Girard Miller Resurfaces With a New Book on Public Finance
• Low Returns for Public Pensions Threaten Future Retirees (Jen Sidorova / MarketWatch)
• Chicago’s New Mayor Grapples With Nation’s Worst Pension Debt (Heather Gillers / Wall Street Journal)

October 23, 2019

• No Will on Pension Reform (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• When the Money Runs Out: Some Thoughts on Public Finance and Pensions (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)

October 22, 2019

• How to Fix Government Employee Pensions (Craig Eyermann / Independent Institute)
• 10 States With the Worst Pension Funding (Marlene Satter / BenefitsPro)
• How GE Shafted Its Retirees (John Mauldin / Forbes)
• California State Worker Raises to Cost $5.6 Billion Under Gavin Newsom’s New Contracts (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• CalPERS Sells Holdings in Private Prison Firms (Arleen Jacobius / Pensions & Investments)
• CalPERS Pulls Millions of Dollars Out of Immigrant Detention Companies (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Property Taxes and Pensions in California (letter - Bakersfield Californian)

October 21, 2019

• Palo Alto Police Sergeant Federally Sued for Mocking and Beating a Gay Man Retires With $118,000 Annual Pension (Maggie Angst / Mercury News)
• California Is in Big Trouble Again (Noah Smith / Bloomberg)
• Pension Costs Continue to Drive Tax Hikes Across California (column - Susan Shelley / Orange County Register)

October 19, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Pension Costs Continue to Drive Tax Hikes Across California (column - Susan Shelley / Orange County Register)

October 18, 2019

• CalPERS' Skyrocketing Pension Costs: 'Like Being Strapped onto a Roller Coaster and You Can't Get Off the Thing' (John Burns / Argus-Courier)
• Taxpayers United on Illinois Governor's Pension Consolidation Plan: 'The Pension Funds Are Doomed' (Greg Bishop / The Center Square)
• Pension Issues Lead to Cutbacks for East St. Louis Fire Department (Chris Regnier / Fox 2)
• Study Says Connecticut Teachers Pension Problems Still Not Solved (Christopher Keating / Hartford Courant)
• Oregon Teachers Union Won't Fund Candidates Who Voted for Public Pension Reforms (Claire Withycombe / Corvallis Gazette-Times)
• Top Two Dutch Pension Funds Warn of Impending Payout Cuts (Toby Sterling / Reuters)

October 17, 2019

• Palo Alto Explores New Ways to Settle Giant Pension Bill (Gennady Sheyner / Palo Alto Weekly)
• Peoria Leaders to Discuss Raising Taxes for Public Safety Pensions (Morgan McHugh / Central Illinois Proud)
• Pension Crisis Forces Firehouse Closure, 9 Firefighter Layoffs in East St. Louis (Brad Weisenstein / Illinois Policy)
• Embattled Former Chicago Alderman Uses Loophole to Double Pension (Dane Placko / Fox 32)

October 16, 2019

• Offer a Skating Rink, Get a Tax Increase (letter - Chico Enterprise-Record)
• Mobility. Flexibility. Fairness. State Colleges Have These in Their Retirement Plans. Why Don’t K-12 Districts? (Chad Aldeman / The 74)
• US Supreme Court Justices Tackle Bid to Invalidate Puerto Rican Oversight Board (Jack Rodgers / Courthouse News Service)

October 15, 2019

• California Finally Has a Balanced Budget — If You Ignore the Billions in Outstanding Pension Obligations (editorial - Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• GE Joins Corporate Brethren in Trend to Put Defined Benefit Plan in the Rearview Mirror (James Comtois / Pensions & Investments)

October 14, 2019

• Chico, California to Consider Placing Tax Increase on the Ballot (Robin Epley / Chico Enterprise-Record)
• Pensions Primer: Public, Private Single Employer, Multiemployer, and Church Plans -- US Landscape (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• How Well-Funded Are Government Employee Pension Plans in Your State? (Craig Eyermann / Independent Institute)
• How Low Is Low? Projections Say It's Not Low Enough (editorial - Pensions & Investments)
• Court Overrides Oregon Attorney General, Ordering Her to Rewrite 'Misleading’ Draft of Pension Ballot Measure (Ted Sickinger / The Oregonian)
• Pension Obligation Bonds Are a Poor Fix for Pension Debts (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Already in Trouble, Corporate Pension Plans Are Doomed by Low Interest Rates (Allison Schrager / Quartz)
• General Electric's Pension Freeze Represents an Upsetting Trend at American Companies (video - Yahoo Finance)
• GE's Not Alone: 25 Companies That Owe $1 Trillion in Pensions (Matt Krantz / Investor's Business Daily)
• The $67 Billion United Nations Pension Fund: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Loraine Rickard-Martin / Pass Blue)

October 12, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Pension Obligation Bonds Are a Poor Fix for Pension Debts (editorial - Orange County Register)

October 11, 2019

• Pension Crisis: Montebello Considering Debt Some Think Is Risky (Mike Sprague / San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
• CalPERS Is Heavily Invested in Chinese Companies (Edward Ring / California Globe)
• PENSION PULSE: Fed Warns US Pensions Reaching for Yield (blog - Leo Kolivakis)
• Lessons From Puerto Rico’s Struggles With Debt and Unfunded Pension Liabilities (Thomas Savidge / American Legislative Exchange Council)
• Illinois Bright Idea: Put a Bunch of Underfunded Pension Plans in One Pile (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• The Search for Return Gets More Difficult as More Countries Go Subzero (Bloomberg)
• Social Security: Retiree Checks to Rise 1.6% in 2020 (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press)
• Pension Obligation Bonds May Soon Have Their Moment (Brian Chappatta / Bloomberg)

October 10, 2019

• Major Threat to US Economy: Unfunded Retirement Deficits (They're Almost as Big as Our National Debt) (opinion - Rachel Greszler / Fox Business)
• Contract Gamble: California State Workers Who Voted Down Raise Want to Return to Bargaining (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)

October 9, 2019

• Pension Debt Accounts for Over Half of All Debt for US States (Michael Katz / Chief Investment Officer)
• Pension and OPEB Costs Weigh on Government Balance Sheets (Sheila Weinberg / Accounting Today)
• The University of California Pension Fund Lowers Expected Rate of Return (Chief Investment Officer)
• Pension Investing Is a Poor Political Weapon (Brian Chappatta / Bloomberg)
• Local Newspapers Wait Anxiously for Pension Funding Relief Legislation (Doug Sword / Roll Call)
• Without Immediate Pension Reform, Providence Will Be Bankrupt (column - Arjun Shanmugam / Brown Daily Herald)
• Puerto Rico Board’s Proposed Pension Cuts Spark Anger (Michael Deibert / Bloomberg)
• 4 Reasons the Corporate Pension Is on Its Deathbed (Nathan Bomey / USA Today)
• NEW REPORT: How Legacy Costs Keep Teacher Salaries Low (Daniel DiSalvo / Manhattan Institute)
• Multiemployer Pension Plans Still Applying for Benefit Reductions (Rebecca Moore / PlanSponsor)

October 8, 2019

• Bondholders Have Lien on Puerto Rico Pension Bonds: Supreme Court (Robert Slavin / The Bond Buyer)
• US Supreme Court Turns Away Puerto Rico Pension Fund Dispute (Karen Pierog / Reuters)
• Connecticut's Pension Hole Getting Deeper (op-ed - Ryan Fazio / Greenwich Times)
• GE Targets $8 Billion Deficit Cut With Pension Freeze for 20,000 (Rick Clough / Bloomberg)
• San Jose Taxpayers Will Shell Out $1.4 Million to Fight Retirees' Lawsuit (Adam F. Hutton / San Jose Spotlight)
• Public Paychecks: Highest-Paid Sacramento City Employees (Sharon Havranek / Sacramento Business Journal)
• Nevada's Government Retiree Costs Must Be Reined In (Thomas Mitchell / Sparks Tribune)

October 7, 2019

• California’s Conflict-Of-Interest Bonds (David Crane / Medium)
• California Pension Debt Climbs Despite Strong Economy (op-ed - Joe Nation / East Bay Times)
• Good News Is Bad News in California (Steven Greenhut / The American Spectator)
• The US Department of Justice Agrees: CalSavers Is Illegal (op-ed - Jon Coupal / Orange County Register)
• CalPERS Trustee Re-Election Ends Outsider Streak (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Despite Rahm Emanuel’s Tax Hikes, City Pension Debt Grew by $7 Billion Since 2015. Here’s Why. (Hal Dardick & Juan Perez Jr. / Chicago Tribune)
• Escape Illinois: Get the Hell Out Now, We Are (blog - Mike Shedlock / MishTalk)
• World's Best-Run Pension Funds Say It's Time to Start Worrying (Frances Schwartzkopff / Bloomberg)
• 'Why Is There Nothing Left?' Pension Funds Failing at Catholic Hospitals (Chris Arnold / NPR Illinois)

October 5, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Good News Is Bad News in California (Steven Greenhut / The American Spectator)

October 4, 2019

• San Diego Labor Unions File Suit to Invalidate Prop B Pension Reform Measure (David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Lower Asset Growth Hampers State and Local Pension Outlook (Lee Barney / PlanSponsor)

October 3, 2019

• With Pension Crisis Looming, Marin Cities Need to Take Steps Now (op-ed - John McCauley & Larry Chu / Marin Independent Journal)
• Disgraced Congressman Chris Collins Will Likely Lose His Federal Pension (Adam Andrzejewski / Forbes)
• Oakland City Employees Make Big Bank (blog - Craig Eyermann / Independent Institute)
• Is California’s Fi$cal Health Cause for Worry? (Katy Grimes / California Globe)

October 2, 2019

• Marin Pension Report Contains Must-Read Information (editorial - Marin Independent Journal)
• City-Issued Pension Obligation Bonds to Save Marysville $9.8 Million (Appeal-Democrat)
• Visualizing the Financial State of the States (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• Teachers Want Higher Pay, But Pensions Swallow Up the Money (op-ed - Daniel DiSalvo / Wall Street Journal)
• NEW REPORT: Update on the Funded Status of State and Local Pension Plans -- FY 2018 (Jean-Pierre Aubry & Caroline V. Crawford / Public Plans Data)

October 1, 2019

• Lemon Grove Faces Calls to Return to County Rule to Address Mounting Financial Problems (Karen Pearlman / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• $129 Billion Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Plan Could Be Model for States (Mary Williams Walsh & Karl Russell / New York Times)
• Public Pension Funds Abandon 8% Dreams (Robert Steyer / Pensions & Investments)
• Pension Reform Newsletter for September 2019 (Zachary Christensen / Reason Foundation)

September 30, 2019

• Marin Pension Report’s Good Suggestions Don’t Go Far Enough (column - Dick Spotswood / Marin Independent Journal)
• Union Pension Fund to Slash Benefits to Avoid Insolvency (Chad Livengood / Crain's Detroit Business)
• Transparent California Now Has Over 2 Million Public Pay Records Online
• Keep Politics Out of Public Pension Funds (editorial - Pensions & Investments)

September 29, 2019

• SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT: Marin Pension Report’s Good Suggestions Don’t Go Far Enough (column - Dick Spotswood / Marin Independent Journal)

September 27, 2019

• Pension Bonds Are Staging a Comeback in California (Keeley Webster / The Bond Buyer)$$
• Public Employees Are Being Asked to Bear More Pension Burden, Risks (Michael Katz / Chief Investment Officer)
• Elizabeth Warren Offers a Social Security Reform Plan That Checks a Lot of Boxes (column - Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times)

September 26, 2019

• Hundreds of California School Administrators Have Pensions That Exceed IRS Limits (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• California’s Financial Future Looking Shaky After 2019 Legislative Session (Katy Grimes / California Globe)
• Ten States With the Largest Taxpayer Burden From 2009-2018 (video - Truth in Accounting)

September 25, 2019

• California’s Pension Debt Cannot Be Ignored (Joe Nation / CALmatters)
• Palo Alto Is Falling Behind on Pensions — Shortfall Grows to $455 Million (Elaine Goodman / Daily Post)
• California Gets an 'F' for Its State Finances; Ranks #43 in the Nation for Its Fiscal Health (Patch.com)
• Ohio’s Largest Public Pension System Looks to Cut Benefits (Laura A. Bischoff / Dayton Daily News)
• Ohio Will Likely Have to Reduce Pension Benefits to Save System (Tyler Arnold / The Center Square)
• Third Illinois City Faces Seizure of State Funds for Pensions (Cole Lauterbach / Newsbug)
• John Arnold: The Most Hated Man in Pensionland (Liz Farmer / Governing)

September 24, 2019

• California's Spending on Teacher Pensions Exacerbates School District Inequities (Carrie Hahnel / TeacherPensions.org)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: Marin County Public Pensions Are Due for Reform (George Russell / Marin Independent Journal)

September 23, 2019

• Is Vacaville Headed for a Financial Cliff? (op-ed - Wendy Breckon / Daily Republic)
• Gov. Newsom Tells CalPERS, CalSTRS to Favor Green Investments in Climate Change Order (Adam Ashton / Sacramento Bee)
• No Easy Answer to California's Pension Issues (letter - Ken Broad / Marin Independent Journal)
• $893,000 Payment Makes Rancho Mirage One of Few California Cities to Fully Fund CalPERS Pension Liability (Sherry Barkas / Desert Sun)

September 20, 2019

• These California Pension and Perk Bills Had Broad Support. Why Didn’t They Reach Newsom? (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Warwick’s Unfunded Liability for Pensions, OPEBs Nearing $860 Million -- a 'Crisis,’ Council President Says (Mark Reynolds / Providence Journal)
• Pensions, Recession Pose Risks to State and Local Governments (video - Bloomberg)
• Moody’s Take on State Pension Liabilities (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• CBO Says Rescue Plan for Multiemployer Pensions Won’t Help (Rebecca Moore / PlanSponsor)

September 19, 2019

• Santa Ana’s New Sales Tax Isn’t Going Where It Was Promised, Committee Says (Roxana Kopetman / Orange County Register)
• Unfunded Pension Liabilities Scary (column - Harry Saltzgaver / The Grunion)
• Pension Plans Gauge Risk Amid Quest for Gains (Bloomberg)

September 18, 2019

• San Jose Responds to Grand Jury Report on $3.4 Billion in Unfunded Pension Liabilities (Adam F. Hutton / San Jose Spotlight)
• Justice Department Backs Legal Effort Against California’s State Retirement Plan, CalSavers (Anne Tergeson / Wall Street Journal)

September 17, 2019

• Marin County's Elected Leaders Seek 10-Year Plan on Pension Costs (Richard Halstead / Marin Independent Journal)
• Health Insurance Costs 'Wildly Inflated’ for California's Government Workers, Analysis Finds (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)

September 16, 2019

• How Kamala Harris Helped Kill Pension Reform in California (Yuichiro Kakutani / Washington Free Beacon)
• California Unions Want to Gut Prop. 13 to Pay for Rising Pension Costs (editorial - Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• CalSTRS Faces Calls to Divest From Fossil-Fuel Investments (Arleen Jacobius / Pensions & Investments)

September 13, 2019

• Taxpayers Lose Again: Proposed California Pension Bill SB266 Could Affect Lemoore's General Fund (Lauren Wagner / Hanford Sentinel)
• Michigan's Pension Costs Eat Up Education Funding, and Teacher Pay Stagnates (Sarah Cwiek / NPR)
• A Generation of Sociopaths (1): The Brief Triumph of Long Retirement (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)

September 12, 2019

• CBO: Proposed Bailout of Failing Union Pension Funds Won’t Work, as Loans Will Go Unpaid (Mark Tapscott / The Epoch Times)
• Illinois Public Services Being Cut to Pay Unsustainable Pension Cost (Adam Schuster / Illinois Policy Institute)
• Under Bloomberg Pressure, CalPERS Coughs Up BCG Report on Private Equity (blog - Yves Smith / Naked Capitalism)
• Corporate Pension Funding Moves Closer to Worrisome 80% Level (Katherine Chiglinsky, Molly Smith & David Caleb Mutua / Bloomberg)

September 11, 2019

• Bay Area Officials Are Making Bank Off of Retirement Pensions (audio - Phil Matier / KCBS Radio)
• CalPERS Election Corruption: Huge and Illegally Opaque Dark Spending Against Candidate JJ Jelincic (blog - Yves Smith / Naked Capitalism)
• CalPERS’ Blatant Election and Mail Fraud (blog - Yves Smith / Naked Capitalism)

September 10, 2019

• Unions Pour Cash Into CalPERS Board Election, Use Mailer to Highlight Sexual Harassment Complaint (Bryan Anderson & Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• We Can’t Do Worse (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)

September 9, 2019

• Wildly Inflated Public Employee Health Costs Are Costing California Taxpayers $3.3 Billion Annually (blog - Transparent California)
• Sweet Deal: Some Retired Public Employees’ Pensions Are Bigger Than Their Salaries Were (column - Phil Matier / San Francisco Chronicle)
• CalPERS and CalSTRS Golden Handshake: Pension 'Air Time' Lives On (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• A Progressive View of California's Pension Problem (oped - Ron Garber / Whittier Daily News)

September 6, 2019

• Californians Can Consider Any New Property Taxes as Pension Taxes (Steven Greenhut / Reason)
• California Pension Mistakes Would Cost Cities -- Not Retirees -- Under Proposed Law (column - Wes Venteicher / Modesto Bee)

September 5, 2019

• A Slow-Motion Disaster (column - Dan Walters / Napa Valley Register)
• It's the Insolvency, Stupid -- Why Pensions Really Are an Urgent Issue for Chicago (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)
• Springfield, Illinois, Wants to Cut Police, Fire Pension Costs (Governing)
• Secrets to Success in Managing a Pension Fund (Barry Ritholtz / Bloomberg)

September 4, 2019

• Low Interest Rates Are Compounding the Big Problems Facing Pension Funds (Amit Sinha / MarketWatch)
• Worldwide, Tens of Thousands Still Receive 'Nazi Pension' (EU Observer)

September 3, 2019

• How a More Than $50 Billion Bet Boosted CalPERS Returns (Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)
• State Pension Funds Keep Increasing Risky Investments — as Pension Debt Mounts (Steven Malanga / City Journal)
• Illinois CAFR Arrives, Late and Covered in Red Ink (Yvette Shields / The Bond Buyer)
• Chicago's Mayor Lightfoot Is Still Not Ready to Lead on Pensions (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)

August 30, 2019

• CalPERS Falls Further Behind (editorial - Press Democrat)
• Case Study: Connecticut Town’s Change From DB to DC Plan Having Desired Effect (Brian Anderson / 401(k) Specialist)

August 29, 2019

• Are Public Pensions in a Crisis? Part 5: On Bonds and Bailouts (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• Pension Funds Reel From Falling Bond Yields (video - Bloomberg)
• Lompoc Takes First Step in Holding Sales Tax Election; Almost All Proceeds Will Go Toward Pension Obligations (Zac Ezzone / Santa Maria Sun)
• San Jose Lawmakers Drop Decision on Top Retirement Officials’ Plan (Nadia Lopez / San Jose Spotlight)
• Connecticut's Teacher Pension Funding Continues to Fall Despite Full Payments (Marc E. Fitch / Yankee Institute)
• Judge Rules That Public Has Right to NYPD Pension Info (Bernadette Hogan & Bruce Golding / New York Post)

August 28, 2019

• When California's Public Employee Pensions Get Bigger Than Big (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Santa Clara Police Chief Steps Down Early; Will Cash Out Over $500,000 in Vacation/Sick Leave Pay (Robert Haugh / Santa Clara News Online)
• Are Public Pensions in a Crisis? Part 4: On Closing DB Plans and Replacing Them With DC Plans (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)

August 27, 2019

• Trio of Los Angeles-Area City Workers Made Over $2 Million Last Year (Robert Fellner / Transparent California)
• California Highway Patrol Puts 14% of Its Raise Toward Pensions; New Contract Reflects Pension Debt Concern (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Marin School District Pension Debt Can Top $24,000 Per Household (Keri Brenner / Marin Independent Journal)
• As $100,000 Club Balloons, a More Elite Circle of City Employees Emerges: The $200,000 Club (Samantha Mehlinger / Long Beach Business Journal)
• Defined Benefit Programs Continue to Disappear in Private Sector (FedWeek)
• No, Bernie Sanders' Plan Won't Rescue Multiemployer Pensions ( Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)

August 26, 2019

• CalPERS Gets Candid About the 'Critical' Decade Ahead (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Blame the Fed for the Coming Pension Fund Crisis (Austin Rogers / Seeking Alpha)
• Potemkin Pension Accounting in California (David Crane / Medium.com)
• It’s Time for Truth in State and Local Government Finances (op-ed - George P. Shultz & David G. Crane / San Francisco Chronicle)

August 23, 2019

• With Pension Burden Climbing, California Highway Patrol Agrees to Delay Some Raises (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Are Public Pensions in a Crisis? Part 3: Is It Just an Accounting Problem? (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• Is the Sacramento Bee a Newspaper or a Front for the CalPERS Staff? (Tony Butka / CityWatch LA)

August 22, 2019

• Bubble Watch: California Gets Its 1st Credit-Ratings Upgrade in 3 Years (Douglas Digital Daily)
• Millennials Are the New Face of the Retirement Crisis (op-ed - Mark Hulbert / MarketWatch)

August 21, 2019

• Japan's Pension Fund -- the World's Largest -- Warns of Global Investing Losses (John Gittelsohn / Bloomberg)
• Los Alamitos City Council Confronts Fiscal Sustainability Crisis; Without Action, City Is Expected to Go Broke Soon (Orange County Breeze)
• Rockford, Illinois' Public Safety Pension Costs to Soar (Jeff Kolkey / Register Star)
• Rising Pension Costs Contribute to Higher Property Taxes in Idaho (column - Wayne Hoffman / Idaho Press)

August 20, 2019

• Pensions and Taxes in California: A Slow-Motion Disaster (Dan Walters / CALmatters)
• Avalanche of California School Bonds on Your Ballot in 2020; Every School Bond Is for Pensions (Richard Rider / Flash Report)
• Are Public Pensions in a Crisis? Part 2: Is Pay-As-You-Go Sustainable? (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• California Slates $300 Million Bond Issue to Fund CalSTRS Expansion Project (Arleen Jacobius / Pensions & Investments)
• 'He Did Not Perform Any Work’: Former CSU Professor Loses 10 Years of CalPERS Service Credit (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)

August 19, 2019

• Pension Tracker Adds 1,700 School Districts to Cover 3,400 California Public Agencies (press release - Stanford Inst. for Economic Policy Research)
• VISIT THE WEBSITE: California Pension Tracker (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research)
• Are Public Pensions in a Crisis? Part 1: My Opinion (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• CalPERS Faces 'Very Serious Risk’ in $1.2 Billion Long-Term Care Case, Judge Warns (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• America Is Facing a Pension Crisis. Retirees Will Pay the Price if We Don't Act Now (John Boehner & Joe Crowley / CNN Business)

August 16, 2019

• California’s Costly Local Government Pension Profligacy (editorial - Orange County Register)
• No More Limos for LACERA Board’s Travels (Elijah Owens / Chief Investment Officer)

August 15, 2019

• City of Richmond, California Faces Pension Stress (Edward Ring / FlashReport)
• Nearly 40% of Illinois' Education Spending Consumed by Pension Costs (Adam Schuster / Illinois Policy)
• Wall Street Journal Publisher Tells Supreme Court of Being Victimized by CalPERS (Eriq Gardner / The Hollywood Reporter)
• A Proposed CalPERS Board Code of Conduct Is Still Generating Controversy (Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)

August 14, 2019

• California State University Defends $1.5 Billion in Reserves Following Critical State Audit (Adam Beam / Press Democrat)
• US Contemplates Joining California Secure Choice Lawsuit (Rebecca Moore / PlanAdviser)
• Vacaville City Council to Vote on Response to Grand Jury Report on OPEB (Nick Sestanovich / the Reporter)
• Oregon State Employees Sue to Overturn Pension Reform Statute Mandating Contributions (Rob Kozlowski / Pensions & Investments)/
• To Help Reduce Pension Debt, Connecticut Eyes Privatizing Publicly Owned Assets (Steven Malanga / City Journal)
• Union Pension Underfunding Is Bankrupting the PBGC (op-ed - Rachel Greszler / Washington Times)

August 13, 2019

• Public School Cronyism Is Fueling the Pension Crisis (Lewis M. Andrews / The American Conservative)
• He Has a History of Sexual Harassment. So How Is This CalPERS Board Candidate a Favorite to Win? (opinion - Marcos Bretón / Sacrameto Bee)

August 12, 2019

• Were Sonoma County's Pensions Benefits Retroactively Enhanced Without Notifying the Public? (Edward Ring / California Policy Center)
• READ: Appellant’s Reply Brief, 'George Luke vs Sonoma County' (pdf)
• Underfunded Public Pensions Put Future Taxpayers on the Hook (Ivan Osorio / Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• Elizabeth Warren’s Curb on Top Pension Investment Abuses (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Kentucky's New Pension Law Marks Unprecedented Reforms (Liz Farmer / Governing)
• Governing Magazine to Discontinue Publication This Fall

August 9, 2019

• With California’s Public Pensions, Nothing Exceeds Like Excess (blog - K. Lloyd Billingsley / Independent Institute)
• Public Pension Fund Returns Are Lowest in Three Years (Fox Business)
• Six People Wanted to Help Cut $3.5 Million From Santa Monica's Budget (Madeleine Pauker / Santa Monica Daily Press)
• A Modest Proposal to Solve Illinois' Pension Woes (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)
• Lawmakers Demand Help for Union Pensions (John Manganaro / PlanSponsor)

August 8, 2019

• San Mateo County Grand Jury Encourages Pension Cost Transparency (Davis Rich / Half Moon Bay Review)
• Companies Are Racing to Dump Their Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Jennifer A. Kingson / Axios)
• Pension Safety Net PBGC on Track to Tank by 2025 (Law360)$$
• National Multi-Employer Pension Fiasco Merits Real Reform, Not a Bailout (Andrew Wilford / National Review)
• Retired New York Cops 'Getting Away With Murder’ by Raking in Fat Pensions, Says Report (Bernadette Hogan & Carl Campanile / New York Post)
• More New York Downstate Police Pensions Topping $100,000 (press release - Empire Center)

August 7, 2019

• CalPERS Board Considers Gag Policy (Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)
• House Passes Multi-Employer Pension Bailout Plan as Dems Eye Union-Heavy States in 2020 (Laura Davison / Berkshire Eagle)
• Feds May Weigh in on CalSavers Lawsuit (Nevin Adams / American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
• Here's How Much Your State Spends on Retirement (Samuel Stebbins / USA Today)

August 6, 2019

• More Than 1,000 Public Employee Pensions in California Are So Big They Exceed IRS Limits (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• The Most Important Political Appointment in 2019: Who Should Chair GASB (David Crane & Don Boyd / Fox & Hounds)
• America’s Public Employee Pension Funds Fell Short in 2019 (Heather Gillers / Wall Street Journal)
• California Taxpayers Are on the Hook for 26,000 Government Pensions Over $100,000, a 13-Fold Increase From 2005 (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)

August 5, 2019

• California’s Treasurer Celebrates State’s Tax-And-Spend Addiction (editorial - San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
• 'Fiscal Democracy,' Autopilot Spending, and Pension Underfunding: A New Report (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)
• I See a Bailout for Multiemployer Pension Plans (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• A Silent Pension Crisis Is Eating Away Local Government Services. Here’s What You Need to Know. (analysis - Sarah Anzia / Washington Post)
• Local Pension Costs Grew in California at Nearly Six Times National Rate, New Data Show (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• A Roadmap for Preventing US Public Pension Funds From Becoming a Taxpayer Burden (op-ed - Clive Lipshitz & Ingo Walter / Pensions & Investments)

August 2, 2019

• Public Employee Pension Costs Make California Agencies 'Do Less With More,’ Berkeley Professor Says (CalCoastNews)
• READ: 'Pensions in the Trenches: How Pension Costs Are Affecting US Local Governments' (Sarah F. Anzia / UC Berkeley)
• Social Security COLA for 2020: Will Trade Wars Increase SSA's Projection? (Nick Thornton / Benefits Pro)
• Three Pension Bills on Hold in Congress Until September (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)

August 1, 2019

• Funds for Military Pensions, Afghan Security Forces Among Those Being Diverted for Border Wall (Ben Kesling / Wall Street Journal)
• Los Angeles County Supervisors Call for More Audits of County Employees Retirement Association LACERA (Pasadena Now)

July 31, 2019

• How Wisconsin Fully Funded Its Retirement System (Chris Rochester / MacIver Institute)
• CalSTRS CIO Says Trump Tweets Are a 'Key Market Risk’ to Monitor (Elijah Owens / Chief Investment Officer)
• 'Painful, Emotional’ Tuolomne County Government Restructuring to Begin Next Week (Alex Maclean / Union Democrat)

July 30, 2019

• California Taxpayer Rights Group Re-engages CalSavers Challenge (Nevin Adams / American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
• $22,000 for a Trip to Australia? LACERA Pension Fund Trustees Draw Scrutiny Over Travel Costs (Matt Stiles / Los Angeles Times)
• Ultralow Interest Rates Bring Opportunity and Danger to States; What’s Good for Infrastructure Is Bad for Pensions (Brian Chappatta / Bloomberg)
• Elizabeth Warren’s Private Equity Plan May Harm Public Employees (Marc Joffe / California Policy Center)
• Senators Advance Effort to Curb Congressional Pensions (Katherine Tully-McManus / Roll Call)

July 29, 2019

• CalPERS Loss Triggers More Debt Payment Reform (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• California’s Surplus Is How Much? (op-ed - Jon Coupal / Orange County Register)
• A Decade of Low Interest Rates Is Changing Everything (Liz McCormick / Bloomberg)
• GOLDEN OLDIE: When City Retirement Pays Better Than the Job (Jack Dolan / Los Angeles Times)
• Why Should New JerseyTaxpayers Pay 50 Percent More for Public Workers’ Benefits, Pensions? (op-ed - Regina Egea / NJ.com)

July 26, 2019

• America’s Public Pensions Are Stuck in the Clouds (Spencer Jakab / Wall Street Journal)
• US Senate Reintroduces Multiemployer Pension Reform Bill (Hazel Bradford / Pensions & Investments)

July 25, 2019

• California Tax Revenue Is Soaring, So Why All the Talk of Tax Increases? (op-ed - Dan Walters/ Orange County Register)
• Jerry Brown, His Eye Still on Pensions, Endorses Candidate in CalPERS Board Election (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: Pension Reform (Tom Meyer / Meyertoons.com)
• Connecticut Pension Funding Declines 10% in Seven Years Pensions (Marc E. Fitch / Yankee Institute)

July 24, 2019

• Another California Pension Fund (CalSTRS) Falls Just Short of Its Investment Return Target (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacrament Bee)
• The Ultimate Double-Dip: Collecting 2 State Pensions (editorial - Connecticut Law Tribune)
• Possible Budget Deal Will Add $2 Trillion to the National Debt (Eric Boehm / Reason)

July 23, 2019

• Does the California Teachers Association (CTA) Represent the Majority of Teachers’ Views? (op-ed - Brenda Lebsack / Citizens Journal)
• NEW REPORT: De-Municipalization: How Counties, States Can Administer Public Services in Distressed Cities (Stephen Eide / Manhattan Institute)
• Pensions in These 10 States Have the Biggest Funding Deficits (James Leggate / Fox Business)
• Pensions Devour Connecticut Towns; Hamden Has Unfunded Liabilities of More Than a Billion Dollars (column - Chris Powell / News-Times)

July 22, 2019

• California Tightens Rules for Going Back to Work After CalPERS Disability Retirement (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• See the 100 Highest Pensions in the CalPERS and CalSTRS Systems (column - Kanimozhi Dharuman / Sacramento Bee)

July 19, 2019

• Firefighters Are the Happiest Workers in the Nation (Richard Rider / FlashReport)
• Multiemployer Pension Bailout Bill Coming (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• Arizona Officer Who Killed Unarmed, Sobbing Man to Get $31,000 a Year Pension (Melissa Blasius / ABC 15)

July 18, 2019

• Congress Is Coming for Your IRA (op-ed - Philip DeMuth / Wall Street Journal)
• How Mike Pence Became a Millionaire From Government Pensions (Chase Peterson-Withorn / Forbes)
• Florida's $6 Million Man: Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie (Adam Andrzejewski / Forbes)

July 17, 2019

• Yuba City, California Planning Meetings on Its Unfunded Pension Liability (Appeal-Democrat)
• California State Controller Eyes CalPERS Private Prison Divestment (Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)
• With Prudent, Diligent Efforts, CalPERS Can Meet Its Obligations to Retirees (Lisa Middleton / Desert Sun)

July 16, 2019

• SoCal Cities Are Spending Big Instead of Preparing for Next Economic Downturn (op-ed - Alix Ollivier / Orange County Register)
• New Santa Clara Fire Chief Brings 33 Years of Experience to the Job, But His Hefty Paycheck Plus Pension Is Raising Eyebrows (Erin Woo / Mercury News)
• Top Women to CalPERS Board Candidate: Drop Out, We Don’t Want an Accused Harasser (Marcos Bretón / Sacramento Bee)
• Good Returns Move State Pensions' Funded Status Higher in Q2 (Rebecca Moore / Plan Sponsor)
• Puerto Rico’s Bankruptcy Plan Is Almost Done, and It Could Start a Fight (Mary Williams Walsh / New York Times)
• Congress Moves to Put Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on Taxpayer Dole (Alex Pollock / Real Clear Markets)
• US Senate Split Over Retirement Savings Bill (Jessica Floyd / KATU 2)

July 15, 2019

• San Bernardino Deficits Grow After Bankruptcy (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Despite Booming Revenues, California Struggles With Debts (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Unraveling the Mystery Behind One LADWP Worker’s $313,865 in Overtime Pay (Teri Sforza / Orange County Register)

July 12, 2019

• Public Servants or the Public’s Masters? (Steven Greenhut / The American Spectator)
• Economic Recovery Has Not Reduced Pension Debt for Many States (Greg Mennis & David Draine / Pew Charitable Trusts)
• Simi Valley Considering Risky Pension Obligation Bonds to Refinance Much of Its $147 Million CalPERS Debt (Mike Harris / Ventura County Star)
• House Committee Advances Bill to Establish Union Pension Lifeline/Bailout Program ( John Manganaro / Plan Sponsor)
• CalPERS Reports Annual Return of 6.7% for Fiscal 2019 (Arleen Jacobius / Pensions & Investments)
• CalPERS Fell Short of Its Own Goals in Fiscal 2019 (Heather Gillers / Wall Street Journal)$$

July 11, 2019

• In California, Don’t Call Them 'Public Servants,’ Call Them 'The Government Gang’ (Thomas Lifson / American Thinker)
• Ontario, California's Pension Payments to CalPERS Are Going Up (Beau Yarbrough / Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)

July 10, 2019

• Garden Grove Police Raises to Cost More Than Double What City Disclosed (Nick Gerda / Voice of OC)
• Senate Resolution Cautions Against Federal Bailout of Fiscally Irresponsible States (Rachel Greszler / Heritage Foundation)

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