Retirement Policy

Presentations

• What Pension Crisis? – An analysis of Brookings’ proposed debt-stabilization funding policy, with Robert Costrell, prepared for September 2019 seminar
• Protect Workers and Taxpayers by Improving State & Local Retirement Policy, prepared for October 2017 Harvard conference titled Gathering Storm: The Risks of State Pension Underfunding
• Arnold Foundation Big Deck Explaining Issues Related to Public Pensions

Policy Briefs and Papers

• General
  • Creating a New Public Pension System, Arnold Foundation
  • Social Security’s Unsafe Harbor, TeacherPensions.org
  • Do State and Local Pensions Lock In Mid-Career Employees?, Urban Institute
  • How Long Must State and Local Employees Work to Accumulate Pension Benefits?, Urban Institute
  • When Do State and Local Pension Plans Encourage Workers to Retire?, Urban Institute
  • Improving Public Pensions: Balancing Competing Priorities, Brookings Institution
  • Pension Politics: Public Employee Retirement System Reform in Four States, Brookings Institution
  • Are Public Pensions Keeping Up with the Times?, Brookings Institution

• Teachers’ Pensions
  • Teacher Pensions Explained in Less Than 3 Minutes, TeacherPensions.org
  • Modernizing Teacher Pensions, National Affairs
  • Better Pay, Fairer Pensions: Reforming Teacher Compensation, Manhattan Institute
  • Better Pay, Fairer Pensions II: Modeling Preferences Between Defined-Benefit Teacher Compensation Plan, Manhattan Institute
  • Better Pay, Fairer Pensions III: The Impact of Cash-Balance Plans on Teacher Retention and Quality, Manhattan Institute
  • Rewarding Experienced Teachers: How Much Do Schools Really Pay?, Manhattan Institute
  • Feeling the Squeeze: Pension Costs Are Crowding Out Education Spending, Manhattan Institute
  • The Pension Pac-Man: How Pension Debt Eats Away at Teacher Salaries, TeacherPensions.org
  • Negative Returns: How State Pensions Shortchange Teachers, TeacherPensions.org
  • Eating Their Young: How Cuts to State Pension Plans Fall on New Workers, TeacherPensions.org
  • Doing the Math on Teacher Pensions, National Council on Teacher Quality

• Investments
  • State Public Pension Funds Increase Use of Complex Investments, Pew
  • Making State Pension Investments More Transparent, Pew
  • State Public Pension Investments Shift Over Past 30 Years, Pew and Arnold Foundation

•  Risk
  • Assessing the Risk of Fiscal Distress for Public Pensions: State Stress Test Analysis, Pew
  • Risky Choices: Simulating Public Pension Funding Stress with Realistic Shocks, Farrell and Shoag
  • Public Pension Funding Practices, Rockefeller Institute

• Alternate Defined Benefit Plans
  • Public Pension Cash Balance Plans, Pew and Arnold Foundation
  • Hybrid Public Pension Plans, Pew
  • Cost-Sharing Features of State Defined Benefit Pension Plans, Pew

• Defined Contribution Plans
  • Defined-Contribution Pensions Are Cost-Effective, Manhattan Institute
  • Equivalent Cost for Equivalent Benefits: Primary DC Plans in the Public Sector, Arnold Foundation
  • Investment Options for Public Sector Defined Contribution Plans, Pew

• Transition Cost
  •  Issue Summary
  • The Transition Cost Mirage – False Arguments Distract from Real Pension Reform Debates, Arnold Foundation
  • Transition cost not a bar to pension reform, Pensions and Investments
  • GASB Won’t Let Me – A False Objection to Public Pension Reform, Arnold Foundation

State-Specific Policy Briefs 

Arizona

• Arizona’s Pension Challenges: The Need for an Affordable, Secure, and Sustainable Retirement Plan, Pew and Arnold Foundation

Colorado

• Risky Retirement: Colorado’s Uncertain Future and Opportunities for Reform, Arnold Foundation
• Few Reach the Peaks: How to Fix Colorado’s Teacher Pensions, Arnold Foundation, TeacherPensions.org, and Bellwether Education Partners
• What Has Caused Colorado’s Pension Crisis?, Reason Foundation
• Colorado Adopts Significant Pension Changes for All Public Employees, Reason Foundation

Illinois

• Chicago Crowd-Out: How Rising Pension Costs Harm Current Teachers and Students, Manhattan Institute
• Could a Cash Balance Plan Benefit Illinois Public School Teachers?, Urban Institute
• Illinois Needs to Pass Public Pension Reform, Pew and Arnold Foundation

Kentucky

• Kentucky’s Successful Public Pension Reform, Pew and Arnold Foundation
• Kentucky’s Pension Challenges: Opportunities for Real Reform, Pew and Arnold Foundation

Louisiana

• Is a Cash Balance Plan the Right Choice for Louisiana State Employees?, Urban Institute
• The State of Public Pension Reform in Louisiana, Urban Institute

Montana

• Montana’s Pension Challenges, Pew and Arnold Foundation

New Jersey

• Garden State Crowd-Out: How New Jersey’s Pension Crisis Threatens the State Budget, Manhattan Institute

New York

• The Never-Ending Hangover: How New York City’s Pension Costs Threaten Its Future, Manhattan Institute
• Understanding the Growth in Government Contributions to New York State’s Public Pension Plans, Urban Institute
• Why Have Government Contributions to New York Pension Plans Soared since 2010?, Urban Institute

Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania’s Historic Pension Reforms, Pew

Texas

• The Time to Fix Texas’s Public Pensions Is Now, Manhattan Institute
• Swamped: How Pension Debt is Sinking the Bayou City, Arnold Foundation
• A Pivotal Moment: Assessing Houston’s Plan for Pension Reform, Arnold Foundation
• The Houston Pension Question: How the City’s Pension Liability Grew and the Options for Reform, Kinder Institute
• The Dallas Public Pension Crisis: A Warning for Cities Across Texas, Arnold Foundation
• A Boomtown at Risk: Austin’s Mounting Public Pension Debt, Arnold Foundation
• McGee Prepared Opening Remarks for Pension Review Board Meeting on 2-11-16
• McGee Houston Matters Appearance 2-9-16