by rondelord | Jun 8, 2015 | Fire, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
FORT SMITH — Fort Smith police and firefighters who have worked for the city for years in hopes of enjoying their retirement looked on Tuesday night as city directors voted to cut their pensions in an attempt to avoid insolvency in their pension program....
by rondelord | Jun 8, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
SAN DIEGO —A proposed ballot measure unveiled Thursday would reduce pension payments for state and local government employees in the nation’s most populous state. Former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio and former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed will try to tap the...
by rondelord | Jun 8, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
A recent study pegged the debt of state and local government pension plans at $4.7 trillion. If politicians and voters fail to adopt reforms, younger people will be stuck paying off a massive and growing debt they did not create or approve. State and local government...
by rondelord | Jun 8, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Four years after a strident confrontation with organized labor he later regretted laid the groundwork for a more cooperative relationship, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will strike a dramatically different tone on Wednesday. The mayor has summoned leaders of virtually every...
by rondelord | Jun 8, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
The City of Omaha’s two pension funds earned smaller investment returns last year as the city tries to dig itself out of its pension shortfall. The city expects a return of about 8 percent each year. In 2014, the fire and police pension fund returned 4.9 percent and...
by rondelord | Jun 8, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Health Insurance, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Unions
This is a particularly bad year to put more fiscal stress on towns. Hats off to House Speaker Brendan Sharkey and Minority Leader Themis Klarides for apparently blocking a bill that would have done so. The bill, passed by the Senate 25-11 earlier in the week, has two...
