Senator David Balmer is honored to represent the citizens of Senate District 27, which covers part of Arapahoe County.
Prior to...
Prior to...
An honest picture of a retirement system in dire need of reform
February
20,
2012
People often criticize government’s approach to tackling tough problems as “kicking the can down the road.” Many Colorado officials are doing worse than that when it comes to the state pension system — they won’t even acknowledge there is a problem
So far legislators have been willing to shoulder the burden of growing pension payments under the assumption that this is “what it takes.” Now it looks like these efforts may not be enough. In a recent oversight hearing, PERA officials presented their long-term solvency projections which showed that the pension’s shortfall will narrow but not disappear over the next 30 years, if they can deliver investment returns of 8 percent per year. But under a more realistic independent projection of 6.5 percent annual return, the system’s overall solvency plummets.
To address PERA’s lack of transparency, I’m running SB84 to make the pension accounts of elected officials and cabinet members public information. With many press reports of abuse by legislators across the country and many state pension plans in the red, it’s only fair that the public and state employees know the value of the most lucrative part of elected officials’ pay packages.
To read more of the story click here
Share
Tweet
So far legislators have been willing to shoulder the burden of growing pension payments under the assumption that this is “what it takes.” Now it looks like these efforts may not be enough. In a recent oversight hearing, PERA officials presented their long-term solvency projections which showed that the pension’s shortfall will narrow but not disappear over the next 30 years, if they can deliver investment returns of 8 percent per year. But under a more realistic independent projection of 6.5 percent annual return, the system’s overall solvency plummets.
To address PERA’s lack of transparency, I’m running SB84 to make the pension accounts of elected officials and cabinet members public information. With many press reports of abuse by legislators across the country and many state pension plans in the red, it’s only fair that the public and state employees know the value of the most lucrative part of elected officials’ pay packages.
To read more of the story click here
Share
Tweet
