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.

April 09, 2015

This Year in Pensions: Five Things We Learned

Rip roaring investment markets and new pension accounting standards changed a few things on the surface. Underneath, sustainability pursuits continue to be built on a foundation of sand.

July 21, 2014

The Mad Men Guide to the 2014 Session

Wisdom and insights from television's most famous advertising executives have a lot of relevance to recent lawmaker decisions regard the state budget, property taxes, and other policy areas.  From our May-June 2014 edition of Fiscal Focus.

July 18, 2014

Breaking Down the Meltdown

From our January-February 2014 edition of Fiscal Focus.  The latest state and local pension valuation reports now show a collective deficit of $17 billion.  We break down how we got to this point by reviewing valuation report histories and assigning numbers to the various contributing factors.