The Senate Committee on Government Operations on Friday voted unanimously to approve a bill that would divest state pension funds from carbon-related forms of energy investments.
Pensions benefits and costs will rise, even though assets are down $251 million. Given the election results, Vermont’s state bureaucracy is now in the full veto-proof grip of “smoothing-talker” progressives, who can take full credit and responsibility for “fixing” the state pensions.
Public pensions lost a median of 7.9% from fiscal year 2021 to 2022, their worst performance since 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Unfunded state debt for things like retired public employees health care coverage continues to balloon to an unsustainable level, according to a new report.
Unfunded state pension liabilities have climbed to $8.28 trillion, or nearly $25,000 for every person in the United States, according to a new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Vermonters must come together on the math and find ways to fund realistic promises to our public servants, who are torn in a tug of war between bureaucrats and taxpayers. We must find nonpartisan solutions before this crisis becomes intractable.
The pension fund, which was valued at $11.5 billion as of March 31, has seen few gains over the past nine months amid volatility in the stock market, the report shows. “Market volatility is always an issue,” Karlon said. “That’s why over the past 10 years NHRS have lowered their assumptions.”
Vermont finally undertook to shore up its underfunded, overpromising pensions system in Act 114. Unfortunately, vulnerabilities have exposed the pensions system to a profound blow in the recent stock market slide — the Act 114 “fix” will not come close to fixing this problem.
A Defined Benefit Plan freeze must be implemented. This means no more plan participants will be admitted into the plan. Concurrent with the freeze, a Defined Contribution Plan would be offered to not only new hires, but also to existing Defined Benefit Plan participants.
“I have been clear it does not include enough structural change to solve the enormous unfunded liability problems the State faces. I offered balanced solutions, which were disregarded.”
Union representatives will tell workers that they “avoid the risk” by having a pension instead of a defined contribution plan, like a 401k. What Governor Scott and Republicans want is just to give our state employees a choice.
The governor once again is urging lawmakers to consider his warning about unstable economic times that are pressing Vermonters as they decide what to do with a state budget that includes billions in federal assistance.