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, multi-employer pension funds, social security and international trends. Now finishing its 17th year, PensionTsunami was founded by and is edited by Jack Dean. (Contact: JackDean-at-PensionTsunami-dot-com or @PensionTsunami)
Spotlight
- California Supreme Court Ruling Ends the Pension-Reform Game -- for Now
by Steven Greenhut
Spotlight archivesNews Sites
- Capitol Weekly
- Contra Costa Times
- Fox Business
- Governing Magazine
- Government Executive Magazine
- Los Angeles Daily News
- Los Angeles Times
- Marin Independent Journal
- Orange County Register
- OurLA.org
- Sacramento Bee
- San Diego Union-Tribune
- San Francisco Chronicle
- San Jose Mercury News
- Voice of San Diego
- WebCPA
Blogs
- Aging Workforce News
- Andrew Biggs
- California City News
- California State Worker
- Calpensions
- CalWatchdog.com
- CIV FI
- Fair Pensions for All (Canada)
- Fox & Hounds
- Friends for Fullerton's Future
- Instapundit
- International Liberty / Dan Mitchell
- John Bury
- Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
- NY Fiscal Watch
- NY Public Payroll Watch
- Orange Juice
- Overpaid Government Worker
- Pension Dumping
- Pension Fund Meltdown
- Pension Pulse
- Pension Risk Matters
- PolicePay
- Public Capital (Texas)
- Public Sector Inc.
- RockTheCapital.org (PA)
- Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation
- Sierra Madre Tattler
- The Macro View
- Uncoverage.net
- UnionWatch
- Watchdog.org
- WirePoints Illinois
Govt Pension Sites
- California Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission
- California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS)
- California Public Employers Labor Relations Association (CalPELRA)
- California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)
- California: State Association of County Retirement Systems
- Contra Costa County Employee Retirement Association
- Illinois State Retirement System
- National Association of State Retirement Administrators
- National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
- New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System
- Official summary of the Pension Protection Act (H.R. 4)
- Orange County Employee Retirement System (OCERS)
- PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
- PBGC Statistics
- San Diego City Employees Retirement System (SDCERS)
- San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA)
- State Association of County Retirement Systems (SACRS )
- State Protections for Health Care Benefits (pdf)
- State Protections for Retirement Benefits (pdf)
- West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board
- What is the PBGC?
Resources
- American Benefits Council
- BenefitsLink
- California Association of Public Retirement Systems
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- California Local Government Finance Almanac
- California Local Government Salaries and Compensation Database
- California Public Retirement Systems Annual Reports
- California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA)
- California State Employees Pay Database
- Calvert Institute: Baltimore City Retirement Systems Heading for Trouble
- Center for Retirement Research
- Center for State and Local Government Excellence
- CHART: Comparison of Constitutional Protections for State Retirement Plans
- Citizens In Charge
- Employee Benefit Research Institute
- Federal Pay: Myth and Realities
- Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
- GovAnalyst.com
- Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
- Health and Retirement Study
- Heldrich Center for Workforce Development
- How to Contact Congress
- I.O.U.S.A. (2008 Documentary)
- Institute for Truth in Accounting
- Investigating Detroit's public pension boards
- Investment News
- LIVE WEBCAST: California Assembly
- LIVE WEBCAST: California Senate
- Medicare Lawsuit
- Mercer Benefit Study
- Milwaukee County Pension Scandal
- MyGovCost.org
- National Academy of Social Insurance
- National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA)
- National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare
- National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
- New Jersey Public Employee Salary Database
- Oregon's Pension Crisis In Depth
- Pacific Research Institute Pension Study
- Pension Freeze Fact Sheets
- Pension Research Council
- Peter G. Peterson Foundation
- Police Misconduct Reporting Project
- Project on Social Security Choice
- Public Pension Promises: How Big Are They and What Are They Worth?
- Public Plans Database
- Public Retirement Systems (nationwide)
- Reason Foundation Study: The Gathering Pension Storm
- Reason Magazine Pension Articles
- Retirement Catch-Up
- San Diego Pension Crisis
- San Diego Pension Scandal for Dummies
- SeeThroughNY
- Six-figure Los Angeles city pensions
- Social Security: 2006 Status Report
- State Budget Solutions
- Students for Saving Social Security
- Sunshine Review
- TeacherPensions.org
- Terry Savage (columnist)
- The Two Connecticuts
- Transparent Nevada
- Underfunded Union Pension Funds
- Watson Wyatt Worldwide
- You Work for Us
Taxpayer Orgs
- Central Coast Taxpayers Association
- Americans for Tax Reform
- California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility
- California Taxpayers Association
- Citizens for Limited Taxation (MA)
- Clean Up San Diego City Hall
- Contra Costa Taxpayers Association
- Encinitas Taxpayers Association
- Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
- National Tax Limitation Committee
- National Taxpayers Union
- New Sonoma
- NY Public Payroll Watch
- Orange County Taxpayers Association
- Pension Fairness for Illinois Communities
- Pension Reform for Illinois
- Sacramento Taxpayers League
- San Diego County Taxpayers Association
- Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association
- Shasta County Taxpayers Association
- Silicon Valley Taxpayers' Association
- Ventura County Taxpayers Association
- Yolo County Taxpayers Association
- YourPublicMoney.com
Pension News Sites
- Benefit News
- BenefitsLink
- California Healthline
- Fox Business Channel
- Global Pensions
- League of California Cities
- Marin County Pension Reform
- Pension Crisis: The Gathering Storm
- Pensions & Investments
- PlanSponsor.com
- Retirements in Peril (MarketWatch)
- State Budget Solutions
- The Bond Buyer
- Workforce Management
Think Tanks
- Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
- Calvert Institute
- Cato Institute
- Claremont Institute
- Commonwealth Foundation (PA)
- Empire Center for New York State Policy
- Heartland Institute
- Illinois Policy Institute
- Independent Institute
- Institute for Policy Innovation
- Ludwig von Mises Institute
- Manhattan Institute
- National Center for Policy Analysis
- National Center for Policy Analysis
- Nevada Policy Research Institute
- Pacific Research Institute
- Pensions Institute [UK]
- Pew Charitable Trusts
- Reason Foundation
- Reason Foundation\'s Pension Reform Project
- Retirement Security Initiative
- RetirementReform.org
- Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
- Rio Grande Foundation
- Rockefeller Fiscal Studies
- Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation
- State Budget Solutions
- The Volcker Alliance
- Yankee Institute
Sponsored Links
Latest Newsclips last updated June 29 1:53pm PST
Each day's headline summary is e-mailed to subscribers.June 28, 2021
June 24, 2021
- How CalSTRS and CalPERS Are Working to Change the Face of Wall Street (Brandi Cummings / KCRA3)
- Colorado Public Pension System's Unfunded Debt Up to $31 Billion (Derek Draplin / Colorado Politics)
- The Latest Pension Reform News from Around the Nation -- Updated Regularly (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / Actuarial News)
- California Pension-Related News -- Updated Regularly (Jodi Morales / Citizens for Sustainable Pension Plans)
- The Pension Integrity Project (Reason Foundation)
- LOOK UP Pension Amounts for Retired California State and Local Public Employees (database - Transparent California)
June 23, 2021
- Califoria's Public Unions Are Working Hard to Defeat Newsom Recall Effort (Steven Greenhut / Reason)
- California Cities and Counties Should Use Budget Surpluses to Pay Down Benefit Liabilities (op-ed - Marc Joffe / Orange County Register)
- MBTA Police Pension Fund Overpaid Retirees by Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Over More Than a Decade (Matt Stout / Boston Globe)
June 22, 2021
June 21, 2021
June 18, 2021
- Despite Market Rebound, Rising Unemployment Hurt Public Pension Funds (Michael Katz / Chief Investment Officer)
- Pension Worries Ease for States, Localities on Stimulus, Stocks (Fola Akinnibi / Bloomberg)
June 17, 2021
June 16, 2021
June 15, 2021
June 14, 2021
- US House Prices Are Being Pushed Up by Pension Funds Outbidding Middle Class Families (Adam Schrader / Daily Mail)
- Pensions Under Fire After PE Underperforms (Adam Lewis / PitchBook)
June 11, 2021
- How California Detects Fiscal Distress in Local Governments (Jeff Chapman / Pew Charitable Trusts)
- Cranston, Rhode Island Mayor Defends Unusually Rosy Forecast for Pension Plan (Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV)
June 10, 2021
- National Public Pension Coalition vs. Truth in Accounting: Who Is Accurate With Public Pension Unfunded Debt? (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
- Supreme Court Justices Deny Look at Lennar’s Alleged $1 Billion CalPERS Fraud (Alex Wolf / Bloomberg Law)
- US Public Sector Pension Funding Improved During the Pandemic Year (Andrea Riquier / MarketWatch)
June 9, 2021
- California Prison Guards to Get $5,000 Bonus, Raises in Deal With Newsom Administration (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
- How State Pension Funding Ratios Have Declined Over Time (Jordan Campbell & Zachary Christensen / Reason Foundation)
June 8, 2021
June 7, 2021
- Rising Pension Costs in Santa Cruz: Your Questions Answered (Kara Meyberg Guzman /
- The California Budget Speaks Again (op-ed - Joe Mathews / San Francisco Chronicle)
June 4, 2021
- Rhode Island Lawmakers Incentivize Providence on Pension Borrowing (Paul Burton / the Bond Buyer)
- Oregon Pension Board to Meet for Important Decision That Could Ratchet Up Costs for Schools and Public Agencies (Ted Sickinger / Oregonian)
June 3, 2021
- The Rhetoric Does Not Match the Arithmetic on Public Pensions (column - Patrick Cloney / Eureka Times-Standard)
- How Well-Funded Are Pension Plans in Your State? (Janelle Cammenga / Tax Foundation)
June 2, 2021
June 1, 2021
- Solano County Grand Jury Report Urges Vacaville to Stay on Top of Unfunded Liabilities (Nick Sestanovich /The Reporter)
- Generous Pension, Poor Investments Left Kern Co. Taxpayers With Ballooning Burden, Grand Jury Says. (column - Alex Tavlian / The Sun)
May 28, 2021
- California's Pension Crisis (column - Tom Scott / Gold Country Media)
- Why Should Taxpayers Bear CalPERS Risk? (letter - Juanita Sumner / Chico Enterprise-Record)
May 27, 2021
- Hard Lessons From the Coming Public Pension Plan Shortfall (Mark Hilbert / The Street)
- Texas House Gives Initial Approval on Reform of State’s Employees Retirement System Pensions (Wes Rapaport / KXAN)
- Wisconsin Pension System 100% Funded (column - Clint Wolf / Beloit Daily News)
May 26, 2021
- Foster City Uses Funding Surplus to Pay Down Pensions (Curtis Driscoll / San Mateo Daily Journal)
- Detroit Faces Looming Pension Cliff (Detroit Today / WDET Radio)
May 25, 2021
- Inflation-Driven Pressure for Wage Increases Could Squeeze Local Governments' Budgets and Crush Pension Funds (Girard Miller/ Governing)
- Alternative Investment Looting Is Destroying Pension Funds (Edward Siedle / Forbes)
May 21, 2021
May 20, 2021
- How to Retire Like a Millionaire (op-ed - Andy Caldwell / Santa Barbara News-Press)
- Georgia House Panel Moves Forward on Bills to Increase Legislator Pensions (James Salzer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
May 18, 2021
May 17, 2021
- Pensions for Local Public Safety Employees Are Skyrocketing (op-ed - Marcia Fritz / Capitol Weekly)
- Top Paid Los Angeles Lifeguards Earned Up to $392,000 in 2019 (Adam Andrzejewski / Forbes)
- Texas Considers Much Needed Reforms to Employees Retirement System (Leonard Gilroy / Reason Foundation)
- How Did Arizona Succeed With Pension Reform? With One Weird Trick . . . (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)
May 14, 2021
May 13, 2021
- California’s 944 School Districts: Strong Balance Sheets or Drowning in Debt? (John Moorlach / California Globe)
- F.B.I. Asking Questions After a Pension Fund Aimed High and Fell Short (Mary Williams Walsh / New York Times)
- County of Sonoma Provides Retirement System Annual Review (press release - Sonoma County)
May 12, 2021
- Cities Grapple With Stemming Pension Tide (David C.L. Bauer / Journal-Courier)
- Public Pensions Won’t Earn as Much From Investments in the Future. Here’s Why That Matters (Andrea Riquier / MarketWatch)
- To Pay $79 Million Owed to Retirement Fund, Montclair Turns to Pension Bonds (Steve Scauzillo / Daily Bulletin)
- The Wolf at San Jose's Door (David Crane / Medium)
May 11, 2021
May 10, 2021
May 4, 2021
- Pending Bill Opens Door to Pension Corruption at CalPERS (Dan Walters / CALmatters)
- Pension Obligation Bonds a Bad Idea (letter - Dave Howell / Chico Enterprise-Record)
May 3, 2021
- Pension Plans Heading the Way of the Dodo: What’s Your Plan B? (Peter Reagan / WBAP Radio)
- Your Pension Board Thinks It’s Smarter Than Warren Buffett -- It’s Not (Edward Siedle / Forbes)
April 28, 2021
April 26, 2021
April 23, 2021
April 21, 2021
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