Pension / Legacy Costs

Since 2006, we've been tracking trends and policy developments pertaining to state and local pension plan health and pension reform.  All our greatest hits are here.  Be sure to take a look at our reader-friendly guide Fixing Minnesota's Public Pensions: What Every Citizen Should Know, which uses an easy-to-follow "question and answer" format to educate all Minnesotans on the controversial issues and questions surrounding the sustainability of our state and local pension plans.

January 10, 2022

State Pension Plans: Great Returns Don’t Assure Peace in the Valley

A 30.3% investment return in FY 2021 by the State Board of Investment should pave the way for a rather quiet year for Legislative Committee on Pensions and Retirement.  But nothing is ever quite that easy in pension land.

September 01, 2020

Banking on “A Superior Form of Capitalism”

For over two decades Minnesota public pensions plans’ investments in private equity have delivered the outsized investment returns needed to meet Minnesota’s defined benefit plans’ high return expectations.  In today’s persistent low interest rate environment, the demand for private equity is…

May 05, 2020

Pension Fallout of COVID

The state has plenty of immediate fiscal problems to deal with in responding to COVID. But like the virus itself, a “second wave” of impact looms in the state’s future.