Pension reform is probably the most fundamental and controversial among the reforms on the agenda this year. Now seated on the Public Service Committee, I expect to give this area quite a bit of my own attention.
Pensions & Benefits
benefit improvements, disability reform, early retirement incentives, long term perspective, municipal health insurance, opeb reform, pension reform, public/private comparisons
Embracing change in municipal health insurance
I have decided to co-sponsor a controversial health care cost control bill authored by the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
Health benefit comparisons
Most state and local government full-time workers are entitled to health benefits in Massachusetts with employee contributions often under 20%.
Pension Reform
While the basic structure of the pension system is economically sound, and the fact that the federal social security system has been underfunded is no reason to punish current Masschusetts employees, there are many pension anomalies that annoy taxpayers and merit fixing.
Private sector pension crisis
Problems in the public sector system mirror problems in the social security system.
Social Security in MA — statistics
The average social security retirement in Massachusetts in December 2005 was just over $12,000 per year.