Issues

Reports

• 12-31-28 Report of the Commission on Pensions of State Employees
• Public Retirement System Survey: Preliminary Results
• Funding the Golden Years in the Golden State
• Legislative Update

Background Information

National trends in post-employment benefits for private- and public-sector employees

• "Retirement Decisions - Federal Policies Offer Mixed Signals about When to Retire," U.S. Government Accountability Office, July 2007
  
• "Illinois urged to stay with pensions, Study says 401(k) would cost more," by Doug Finke, The State-Journal Register, May 8, 2007.
  
• “Defined Contribution Experience in the Public Sector,” Mark C. Olleman, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, February 2007.
  
• “Public Fund Survey Summary of Findings for FY 2005,” Keith Brainard, Research Director, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, September 2006
  
• “Public Fund Survey for FY 2005" - Actuarial Funding Levels, Public Fund Survey, September 2006.
  
• “Retiree Pensions and Health Benefits: State and Local Governments Face New Budget Challenges,” by Donald Boyd, Rockefeller Institute of Government, April 2006.
  
• "Beneath the Surface: Pennsylvania's Looming Pension and Healthcare Benefits Crisis," by Richard C. Dreyfuss, Commonwealth Foundation, February 1, 2006.
  
• "The Report of the Benefits Review Task Force," State of New Jersey Benefits Review Task Force, December 1, 2005.
  
• “2004 Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems,” William Ford, Senior Staff Attorney, Wisconsin Legislative Council, December 2005.
  
• “Retirement Plan Participation: Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Data,” Employee Benefit Research Institute, September 2005.
  
• “What’s Wrong with ASOP 27? Bad measures, Bad Decisions,” by Lawrence N. Bader and Jeremy Gold.
  
• “Assumed Rates of Discount for Valuations of Publicly Sponsored Defined Benefit Plans,” by Jeremy Gold, September 22, 2000.
  
• "Benefit Review Study of the Nebraska Retirement Systems," Buck Consultants, August 2000.
  

Public Employee Pensions

• "Defined Contribution Experience in the Public Sector" by Mark C. Olleman, Benefits & Compensation Digest, February 2007.

• “Public Pension Plans Face Billions in Shortages,” by Mary Williams Walsh, New York Times, August 2006.
  
• “The Value of Defined Benefit Plans,” American Academy of Actuaries Issue Brief, July 2006.
  
• “NASRA Response to the Reason Foundation Study, ‘The Gathering Pension Storm,’” Keith Brainard, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, January 2006.
  
• “The Gathering Pension Storm: How Government Pension Plans are Breaking the Bank and Strategies for Reform,” George Passantino and Adam B. Summers, Reason Foundation Policy Study 335, June 2005.
  
• “The Economic Effects of Public Pensions,” National Association of State Retirement Administrators, 2004.
  

Public Employee Health Care and Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB)

• "Retiree Health Benefits: Still Misunderstood…Still Protected" by Robert F. Bezemek, CPER Journal, October 2007.
  
• "Questions and Answers: California's First Retiree Health Valuation," by Jason Dickerson, California Legislative Analyst's Office, May 9, 2007.
  
• "2006 Health Benefits Survey of Employers," California State Teachers' Retirement System, February 2007.
  
• “Paying for Promises,” by Jonathan Walters, Governing, February 2007.
  
• "Other Post Employment Benefit Liability of Local Governments in Minnesota," State of Minnesota, Office of the State Auditor, October 18, 2006.
  
• “An Analysis of Public Sector Health Care Costs in California,” The Center for Government Analysis, September 2006.
  
• “Retiree Health Care: A Growing Cost for Government,” by Elizabeth G. Hill, California Legislative Analyst’s Office, February, 2006.
  
• “Public Retiree Health Coverage: A Bibliography,” The California Health Care Foundation, 2006.
  
• “Benefits in the Balance: The Uncertain Future of Public Retiree Health Coverage,” The California Health Care Foundation, 2006.
  
• “GASB Statement 45 on OPEB Accounting by Governments: A few basic questions and answers,” Government Accounting Standards Board, 2006.
  
• "State Government Retiree Health Benefits: Current Status and Potential Impact of New Accounting Standards," by Stan Wisniewski, Ph.D. J.D., and Lorel Wisniewski, Ph.D., Workplace Economics, Inc. July 2004.
  
• “A Plain Language Summary of GASB Statements No. 43 and No. 45,”
  

Perspectives from the credit rating industry

• "Old Promises, Emerging Bills: Considering OPEB in Public Finance Ratings," Laskey, Amy R. et al., Fitch Ratings, March 2007.
  
• “Improved U.S. State Pension Funding Levels Could be on the Horizon,” Parry Young, Standard & Poor’s, February 2007.
  
• “The Not So Golden Years: Credit Implications of GASB 45,” Fitch Ratings, June 2005.
  
• "Reversal of Fortune: The Rising Cost of Public Sector Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits," Joseph D. Mason, Fitch Ratings, September 2003.