Retirement Policy Links

Presentation Explaining Issues Related to Public Pensions

Policy Briefs and Papers

• General
  • Creating a New Public Pension System, Laura and John 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 Brown Center
  • Pension Politics: Public Employee Retirement System Reform in Four States, Brookings Institution Brown Center
  • Are Public Pensions Keeping Up with the Times?, Brookings Institution Brown Center

• Teachers’ Pensions
  • 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 Plans, 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
  • 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

• Transition Cost
  • The Transition Cost Mirage – False Arguments Distract from Real Pension Reform Debates, Laura and John 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, Laura and John Arnold Foundation

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

State Policy Briefs 

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

Colorado

• Risky Retirement: Colorado’s Uncertain Future and Opportunities for Reform, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
• Few Reach the Peaks: How to Fix Colorado’s Teacher Pensions, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, TeacherPensions.org, and Bellwether Education Partners

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, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Laura and John Arnold Foundation

Kentucky

• Kentucky’s Successful Public Pension Reform, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Laura and John Arnold Foundation
• Kentucky’s Pension Challenges: Opportunities for Real Reform, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Laura and John 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

New York

• 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

Texas

• Swamped: How Pension Debt is Sinking the Bayou City, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
• The Houston Pension Question: How the City’s Pension Liability Grew and the Options for Reform, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
• McGee Prepared Opening Remarks for Pension Review Board Meeting on 2-11-16
• McGee Houston Matters Appearance 2-9-16