Key resources on this issues include: Mass Taxpayers Foundations report on municipal liabilities. Pioneer Institute White Paper: The Elephant in the Room: Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45. Actuarial Valuation Reports for the Commonwealth. Federal Reserve Bank overview brief..
Government Reform
children and families, election laws, ethics rules, insider jobs, pensions & benefits, structure and operations, transparency
Will grasps pensions-will “they” care?
Will Brownsberger’s recent posts and proposed ideas illustrate what a thoughtful legislators does; research, consult, publicly debate and propose. He is one of the good ones. While I would go in the direction of getting the state out of the retirement business, Will is attempting to lead reform that would reshape the pension system and …
A facet of pension reform: Buyback interest
It’s time to eliminate half-price sales of pension benefits for special employee groups.
Public/Private Benefits Comparisons
Given the controversy about public employee benefits, it is important to get a clear picture of how public retirement benefits compare to private retirement benefits. In a nutshell, they are much richer.
Transparency Changes Passed
The first substantive roll call of the new legislative session was to adopt a transparency amendment to the house rules. I had been working hard on the changes for over a year and I was grateful for the unanimous support of the leadership team and my colleagues on Thursday.
Will wrong on redistricting
It pains me to public disagree with our usually well intentioned state representative, but Rep Brownsberger was wrong to vote in favor of a 28 member Legislative Redistricting Commission offered by his party rather than a seven person non legislative commission. While it was the politically smart and easy vote, it is not in keeping …