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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 December 14 6:45pm PST

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

December 14, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Pensions Are a Present Obligation (Sheila Weinberg / Truth in Accounting)

December 13, 2019

• What, Us Worry? California Lawmakers Still Ignoring Dark Pension Clouds. (Steven Greenhut / Reason)
• Government Credit Ratings Vulnerable to Downside Pension Risk -- Moody’s (James Comtois / Pensions & Investments)
• California’s Accounting System Cost Taxpayers $1.1 Billion and Still Can’t Produce a State Checkbook (Adam Andrzejewski / Forbes)
• French Workers Strike to Keep Their Lavish Pensions; Proposed Reforms Will Coddle the Old and Squeeze the Young (The Economist)
• L.A. Councilman Asks City to Divest Public Pensions From Oil, Gas Companies (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Puerto Rico Government Launches Defined Contribution Program for 110,000 Employees (José Alvarado Vega / Caribbean Business)

December 12, 2019

• Update on the Senate Multiemployer Pension Rescue Proposal: The NCCMP’s Point of View (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)
• Town of Moraga, California Seeks Citizen Input Regarding Unfunded Needs Assessments (Vera Kochan / Lamorinda Weekly)
• City of St. Helena, California Steps Up Contribution to Unfunded Pension Liabilities (Jesse Duarte / St. Helena Star)
• Retired City Workers Get '13th Check’ Year-End Bonus, Even With Pension Shortfall at $3 Billion (Lauryn Schroeder / San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Firefighter Overtime Surged 65% in a Decade, Costing California $5 Billion a Year in Wages (Matt Stiles / Los Angeles Times)
• New Deal Gives Sacramento Firefighters Raises, Homebuying Perk (Firehouse)
• Nothing Is Sacred for New Leader of CalPERS (Heather Gillers & Dawn Lim / Wall Street Journal)$$

December 11, 2019

• The Soaring Cost of California Pensions Is Hurting Employers and Taking Away Minority Contracts (The Sacramento Observer)
• Another Price Increase? Some With CalPERS Long-Term Care Insurance Face Sticker Shock (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• 15% Teacher Raises Doomed Sacramento City School Budget, Says State Auditor (Nick Cahill / Courthouse News Service)
• Sacramento Schools Should Consider Cuts to Teacher Salaries, State Audit Suggests (Sawsan Morrar / Sacramento Bee)
• Do Your Own Digging on California's Pension Liabilities (David Crane / Medium)
• Big Raises, $10,000 to Buy a Home in Sacramento: City Firefighters Will Get Salary Boost (Theresa Clift / Sacramento Bee)

December 10, 2019

• 'It's Really Over': Corporate Pensions Head for Extinction as Nature of Retirement Plans Changes (Nathan Bomey / USA Today)
• Pension Strikes Cripple Paris, More Travel Woes Ahead (Nadine Achoui-Lesage & Angela Charlton / Star Tribune)
• With France in Uproar Over Pensions, Macron May Need One Early (Adam Nossiter / New York Times)
• Lessons From Orange County’s 1994 Bankruptcy (op-ed - John Moorlach / Orange County Register)
• Governments Urged to Bolster Pensions to Adapt to Aging World (Michael Katz / Chief Investment Officer)
• Riverside County to Vote on $145 Million Worth of Salary Increases for Deputy Sheriffs (Sam Metz / Desert Sun)
• One-Fifth of CalPERS Equity Portfolio Faces Climate Change Risk (Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)

December 9, 2019

• California Town Paying Police More in Pensions Than Salary (editorial - Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• 'Tax Exhaustion' May Be on the Horizon (editorial - CALmatters)
• READ THE REPORT: CalPERS '2019 Annual Review of Funding Levels and Risks' (pdf - California Public Employees’ Retirement System)

December 8, 2019

• SUNDAY WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: It's a Bait and Switch on California's Public Pensions (Dan Walters / CALmatters)

December 7, 2019

• SATURDAY WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: True to Form, California Lawmakers Ignore Dark Pension Clouds (op-ed - Steven Greenhut / Orange County Register)

December 6, 2019

• Kern County Fire Department's Pensions (Burn Notice / KGET-TV)
• California's State Analyst Recommends Increase to School District Pension Funding (Aidan Freeman / Record-Bee)
• CalSTRS Goes Green With Muni Bond Debut (Bloomberg)
• McClatchy Seeks to Avoid the Fate of Other Regional News Chains; Pension Obligations Weigh on Stock Price (Joe Nocera / Bloomberg)

December 5, 2019

• Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti Blinks at Worker Benefit Reform (Joel Fox / Fox & Hounds)
• Why the US Pension System May Need a Federal Bailout (video - MarketBrief / Barron's)
• France Shuts Down: Mass Strike Hits Trains, Eiffel Tower Over Plan to Overhaul Pension System (Angela Charlton & Sylvie Corbet / Associated Press)
• A Look at France's Heated Debate Over Pensions (Associated Press / Daily Herald)
• Ex-Chicago Police Commander Spared Prison for Collecting Dead Mom’s Social Security Checks for Years (Jason Meisner / Chicago Tribune)
• Can the Government Tell if You'ee Dead or Alive? (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)

December 4, 2019

• CalPERS Fires Most of Its Equity Managers (Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)
• 'This Was Not a Close Election’: Losing CalPERS Candidate Drops Challenge (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Clock Ticks on Connecticut's Pension Bomb (Chris Powell / Republican American)
• Connecticut's Pension Debacle Worsens But State Capitol Just Ignores It (Chris Powell / Journal Inquirer)
• 'Peak’ Private-Equity Fears Are Spreading Across Pension World (Anchalee Worrachate & John Gittelsohn / Bloomberg)

December 3, 2019

• Aunt Becky and the 'Underpaid Teachers’ Myth (Andrew G. Biggs / National Review)
• Pension Liabilities Are Cause for Concern (letter - San Diego Union-Tribune)

December 2, 2019

• San Mateo's Government Officials Face Growing Pension Costs (Anna Schuessler / San Mateo Daily Journal)
• Will California Schools Get More State Aid? (Dan Walters / CALmatters)
• Gavin Newsom’s Climate Order Focuses on Pensions and Roads. What Does It Mean for Taxpayers? (column - Adam Ashton / Sacramento Bee)
• CalPERS, Just Missing Target, Broadens Its Investment Strategies (Steffan Navedo-Perez / Chief Investment Officer)
• Defined Benefit Plan Cash Flow Needs Are Greater Than Ever (Rebecca Moore / PlanSponsor)
• PBGC's Good News Could Sour Quickly (Hazel Bradford / Pensions & Investments)

November 28, 2019

• Pension Reform Waits for California Supreme Court (Edward Ring / California Globe)
• Thanksgiving and the Birth of American Free Enterprise (Richard M. Ebeling / American Institute for Economic Research)
• Happy Thanksgiving! We'll be back on Monday . . .

November 27, 2019

• CalPERS' Numbers Tell Costly Pension Story (editorial - Press Democrat)
• Most City Workers Pay $0 in Healthcare Premiums. Garcetti Said He’d Change That. He Hasn’t (Dakota Smith / Los Angeles Times)

November 26, 2019

• Will Negative Rates Finally Kill Defined Benefit Pensions? (Paul Jacobs / Palisades Hudson Financial Group)
• Divestment Won’t Fight Climate Change (op-ed - Robert L. Bradley Jr. / Daily Independent)
• CalPERS Police-Fire Pension Costs Hit 'Unsustainable’ Level (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)

November 25, 2019

• 'Their House Is on Fire': The Pension Crisis Sweeping the World (Josephine Cumbo & Robin Wigglesworth / Los Angeles Times)
• Are Taxpayers Ready to Foot the Bill for School Pensions? (editorial - Marin Independent Journal)
• Connecticut State and Local Unfunded Retirement Obligations Top $124 Billion (Marc Fitch / Yankee Institute)
• Why Does Elizabeth Warren Hate Public Pension Funds? (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• Sacramento Sheriff Attacks McClatchy, as Company’s Pension and Debt Burdens Pile Up (Dale Kasler / Sacramento Bee)
• At Long Last: US Senate Moves Forward With a Multiemployer Pension Rescue (Elizabeth Bauer / Forbes)

November 23, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: California’s Spending Boom Masks a Spate of Problems (op-ed - Steven Malanga / Wall Street Journal)

November 22, 2019

• The Cost to Taxpayers of Enhancing Sonoma County Employee Pensions (Edward Ring / Fox & Hounds)
• California’s Pension Systems Need to Continue Reducing Risk (op-ed - Leonard Gilroy and Zachary Christensen / Orange County Register)
• Why Millennials Should Care About Government Pensions -- Even If They Don’t Have One (Jen Sidorova / MarketWatch)
• Pension Reform Newsletter for November 2019 (Zachary Christensen - Reason Foundation)
• Management Failing to Do Job in Public-Pension Governance (op-ed - Bob Bunnell / Marin Independent Journal)
• How California Governments Will Be Able to Hide Files From the Public (op-ed - Robert Fellner / San Diego Union-Tribune)

November 21, 2019

• California Has Huge Budget Surplus, But Does Pension Debt Spoil the News? (Tim Lantz / iHeart Media)
• California School Funding in 2020-21: Not Much of an Extra $3.4 Billion to Spare After Paying Pension Expenses (John Fensterwald / EdSource)
• Plan to Proposed Shore Up Failing Multiemployer Pension System (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• New York Double-Dippers Increased by 10% Last Year (Caitlin Gilligan / Empire Center)

November 20, 2019

• CalPERS Retiree Returned to Work for Twice the Pay, Flouting Law. He Wants to Keep the Money (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Alarming PBGC 2019 Annual Report (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)
• 'F--- the POA' Is a Slogan With Power; POAs Are at the Heart of California's Pension Crisis (Joe Mathews / Fox & Hounds)
• Report: Multiple Riverside County Agencies Require Funding Boosts (Patch)
• Huntington Beach Will Move Forward on Refinancing $436 Million in Pension Debt (Julia Sclafani / Daily Pilot)
• Average 2018 Health Costs for California Cities (Transparent California)

November 19, 2019

• Netherlands Headed for Unprecedented Crisis: Millions of Retirees Face Pensions Cuts Thanks to the ECB (Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge)
• Why 2 Firefighters Say CalPERS Should Let Them Keep $70,000 in Pension Overpayments (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• General Electric's Pension Changes Provide a Lesson for Maryland (op-ed - Carol Park / Washington Examiner)

November 18, 2019

• Report: Exploding Pension Costs Fuel Opposition to Marin School Parcel Taxes (Keri Brenner / Marin Independent Journal)
• Sacramento’s School District: A Model of Mismanagement (Dan Walters / CALmatters)
• CalPERS Falling Short of Private Equity Goals (Steffan Navedo-Perez and Randy Diamond / Chief Investment Officer)

November 16, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Huntington Beach Officials Want to Refinance the City’s $1.35 Billion Pension Debt (Julia Sclafani / Daily Pilot)

November 15, 2019

• California Court Wrongly Halts Public Pension Info (editorial - Orange County Register)

November 14, 2019

• Pension Costs Feed Resistance to Higher School Taxes in Marin County, California, Study Finds (John Fensterwald / EdSource)
• READ THE REPORT: 'The Canary in the Gold Mine: The Implications of Marin’s Rising Pension Costs and Tax Revolt for Increasing Education Funding'
• California Passed a Law Letting Troops Buy CalPERS Pensions. It Has Never Worked (Adam Ashton / Merced Sun-Star)

November 13, 2019

• California Cities and Schools Are in Financial Distress; Pensions Are a Major Driver (Dan Walters / CALmatters)
• What Do You Know, L.A. Is in Financial Peril Again (editorial - Los Angeles Times)
• Los Angeles City Budget Situation Reflects a Sad Reality of Today’s Politics (Joel Fox / Fox & Hounds)
• Public Paychecks: Highest-Paid Folsom City Employees (Sharon Havranek / Sacramento Business Journal)
• CalPERS Disability Status Is Protected. Read the Judge’s Ruling (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)

November 12, 2019

• California’s $100K Pension Club Grows as Tax Hikes Mount (editorial - Orange County Register)
• CalPERS Candidate Wants Re-Do in Election He Lost, Saying Pension Fund Broke the Law. Read His Letter (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Anchorage Should Think Twice About Pension-Debt Deal (op-ed - Peter J. Caltagirone / Stock Daily Dish)
• 6 Things Every American Should Know About Congress’ Bailout for Select Coal Miners’ Pensions (Rachel Greszler / The Daily Signal)

November 11, 2019

• Why Raise Property Taxes When Revenues Are Way Up? (op-ed - Jon Coupal / Orange County Register)
• Pensions and Retirement Funds Put Culver City in Debt (Dennis J. Freeman / Culver City Observer)
• Pension Bailouts Could Raise the National Debt by $7 Trillion (Rachel Greszler / The Daily Signal)
• Court Ruling Threatens to Gut California's Public Records Law (Robert Fellner / Transparent California)
• Disability Status for CalPERS Retirees Must Remain Private, Court Rules (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Pension Funds Could Lose Some Shareholder Clout (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Former California Pension Leader Says CalPERS Broke Election Law, Wants Result Overturned (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• New Health Care Perk for 102,000 California State Workers, Explained (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• California’s Massive Public Pension Liabilities Offer a Warning to Other States (Mike LaChance / Legal Insurrection)
• The End to the Chicago Teacher Strike Underscores Pension Crisis (blog - Peter Klensch / Citizens Against Government Waste)

November 9, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: Disability Status for CalPERS Retirees Must Remain Private, Court Rules (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)

November 8, 2019

• San Rafael Cries Foul Over Pension Rating (editorial - Marin Independent Journal)
• California Taxpayers on the Hook for Six-Figure Government Pensions (Yuichiro Kakutani / Washington Free Beacon)

November 7, 2019

• Los Angeles Has Spent More Than $2 Billion in Overtime Payments for City Workers (David Goldstein / CBS)
• L.A. Firefighter Banked $360,010 in Overtime Pay in One Year, City Audit Finds (Dakota Smith / Los Angeles Times)
• Overtime Costs for Los Angeles a Bigger Share of Payroll Than in New York, San Francisco (Elizabeth Chou / Daily News)
• California Wants All the Money, Chicago Needs All the Money (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / STUMP)
• PENSION PULSE: CalSTRS Sees a Big Drop in Carried Interest (blog - Leo Kolivakis)
• PBGC Fund Could Be Tapped for Bailout of Multiemployer Pension Funds (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)

November 6, 2019

• Pensions, General Funds Pose Financial Risks for Grass Valley, Nevada City (John Orona / The Union)
• Marysville, Yuba City Push Back Against Financial Report (Jack Abbott / Appeal-Democrat)
• California State Auditor's Local Government High-Risk Dashboard

November 5, 2019

• Nearly 80,000 California Retirees Are Receiving Pensions of $100,000 or More, New Data Show (Transparent California)
• CSU Professor Lost a Cut of His CalPERS Pension. 5 of His Peers With the Same Deal Kept Theirs (column - Wes Venteicher / Sacramento Bee)
• Santa Cruz County Cities Earn Red Flags in State Auditor’s Fiscal Health Analysis (Jessica A. York / Santa Cruz Sentinel)
• Take Politics Out of Public Pension Plans (Christopher Burnham / Forbes)
• Falling Interest Rates Wreak Havoc in US Pension System (Chris Flood / Financial Times)
• Lindsay Among Most Fiscally Challenged California Cities (The Sun Gazette)
• San Rafael Protests No. 1 Ranking for Pension Debt in California (Keri Brenner / Marin Independent Journal)
• Peoria’s Public Pension Crisis Continues (op-ed - Nagaraju Rayani / Journal Star)

November 4, 2019

• California Pension Costs Hitting Home -- Hard (Dan Walters / CALmatters)
• Pension Reform Newsletter for October 2019 (Zachary Christensen - Reason Foundation)

November 2, 2019

• WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT: We Need Trump to Renegotiate These California Government Employee Contracts (op-ed - Patricia Suzanne / The Signal)

November 1, 2019

• California Pension Funds Should Focus on Improving Funded Ratios, Not Politics (op-ed - Zachary Christensen / Orange County Register)
• Ohio May Cut Pension Benefits for New Government Workers (Laura A. Bischoff / Dayton Daily News)
• Illinois Cities' Police and Fire Pension Costs Are Growing Faster Than Property Taxes (Tim Jones & Jared Rutecki / Crain's Chicago Business)
• Culver City's Council Declares Fiscal Emergency, Paving Way for Possible Extension of Sales Tax (Stephen Hadland / Culver City Observer)
• Divestment Won't Fight Climate Change (op-ed - Robert L. Bradley Jr. / Washington Examiner)
• Barriers to Fully Funding Public Pensions (Tom Kozlik / Hilltop Securities)
• Largest Private Coal Miner in US Files for Bankruptcy; UMW Pension Plan a Concern (blog - John Bury / Burypensions)

October 31, 2019

• Where Public Pension Funding Went Awry (Paul Burton / The Bond Buyer)$$
• Taking a Peek Inside Los Angeles County's $60 Billion Pension Fund LACERA (video - Bloomberg)

October 30, 2019

• California Cities' Finances Squeezed by Pensions (Joel Fox / Fox & Hounds)
• America’s (and California's) Halloween-Scary Debt Crisis (editorial - Lompoc Record)

October 29, 2019

• Amid Recession Fear, Many California Cities Are in Fiscal Peril (editorial - Orange County Register)
• Most California Cities Are at Fiscal Risk Due to Pensions. Will the State Supreme Court Rescue Them? (editorial - San Diego Union-Tribune)

October 28, 2019

• Pensions and Other Fiscal Risks Have Put at Least 18 California Cities on Shaky Ground (Judy Lin & Elizabeth Castillo / CALmatters)
• Next Time the Chicago Teachers Union Says Its Teachers Don’t Get Social Security, Show This Graphic (Ted Dabrowski & John Klingner / Wirepoints)
• Second Chance for a Major Ruling by the California Supreme Court on Pension Cuts (blog - Ed Mendel / Calpensions)
• Proposition 13 Overhaul Is Pension Bailout in Disguise (op-ed - Corrin Rankin / Orange County Register)
• How More Than Half of California’s Cities Came to Be at Risk for Fiscal Trouble (editorial - San Francisco Chronicle)
• El Cajon Has One of the Highest Pension Obligation Risks in California (Maya Srikrishnan & Ashly McGlone / Voice of San Diego)
• Chicago's Death Spiral: There's No Can Left to Kick (blog - Mike Shedlock / Mish Talk)
• The States Where Taxpayers Should Worry Most About Public Employee Pensions (Doug Whiteman / MoneyWise)

October 26, 2019

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

October 25, 2019

• As California Economy Booms, Cities Struggle With Pensions (Adam Beam / Associated Press)
• California State Auditor's Local Government High-Risk Dashboard
• 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)

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