Pension System

Investing for retirement would be quite straightforward if there were only one economic scenario to consider and its incumbent risks to manage, but that is not reality. This is the central problem with the recent column, "Questionable Investment Strategy in Maryland's pension plan" (op-ed, April 11), in which the author envisions one economic scenario for the state's pension system: recession. In reality, the system's Board of Trustees works to create an optimal, risk-adjusted asset allocation that considers both the plan's assets and liabilities, in the context of multiple risks and economic scenarios.

Marta Mossburg wrote in a recent Frederick News Post column that "people like easy answers" where "facts … often play a minor supporting role in our decision-making process. " Ironically, she proves her point in a different column appearing the same day in The Sun ("General Assembly elevates the trivial, neglects pension reform," April 10) when she notes that Del. Andrew Serafini, a Washington County Republican, has a novel proposal in search of a problem: outsource the duties of the State Retirement System's Chief Investment Officer to a consultant - an idea the facts do not support.

The recent column by Marta Mossburg, "Maryland Retirement Fund: Paying for Poor Performance" (Oct. 12) offered undeserved criticism of the compensation awarded the State Retirement System's chief investment officer and unjustly questioned the integrity of the system's method of accounting. In the spirit of transparency and openness, I readily provided the columnist with information on both issues over the course of the last few months. Unfortunately, she chose not to share information that did not reinforce her expressed opinion of public pension plans.

State legislators often prioritize important legislation the way kindergartners rank vegetables among the food groups. They focus on media-friendly social legislation instead of structural reform requiring time and effort to understand and craft. Why, for example, did they pass gay marriage and a law regulating how long a child must face rearward in a car seat but not figure out the budget until the absolute last minute? And why didn't they spend time this year on how to pay the pensions of the 373,000 people in the state retirement system?

IN THE winter of 1984, one Maryland legislator saved the state's pension system, preserved its elite borrowing power and ended a threat to the state's fundamental solvency. One man, one vote, one history-making moment. The legislature's bipartisan fiscal leadership gets credit for these accomplishments, but they were blocked until one citizen legislator did the right thing. Treasurer Richard N. Dixon, an African-American Democrat then representing conservative Carroll County in the House of Delegates, stepped up while others cowered in fear of a powerful lobby.

Sheriff's deputy elected to pension system board Anne Arundel County Deputy Sheriff Jennifer L. Gilbert was sworn in last week as an elected trustee of the county's 13-member retirement board. She is the first woman and Teamster member elected to the board, according to the sheriff's office. The trustees oversee management of the pension system.

THE bull in the state's fiscal china closet this legislative session may be the massive pension boost that state employees and public school teachers are seeking.Under the present pension system, after 30 years, an employee making $34,000 a year receives $10,000 annually upon retirement. Under the improved plan, that pension would be increased to $15,000 per year. Assuming Social Security benefits and possible income from savings, future retirees would replace a sizable portion of their income.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration took the first step yesterday to close major gaps in the nation's pension system by seeking to expand the availability of retirement funds to the 42 million uncovered American workers who make up nearly half the work force.The proposal unveiled by Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin also would make it easier to move from job to job without losing retirement benefits in the increasingly mobile U.S. work environment."When you talk about the 'golden years,' will they indeed be golden?"

Maryland's state employee pension system finished 31st of 40 in a national ranking of the investment performance of large public plans, officials said yesterday. The pension fund's 77th percentile ranking for the fiscal year that ended June 30 is an improvement from fiscal 2001, when the Maryland plan was last among 38 funds ranked by Wilshire Associates. The state system recently announced that it lost about $3 billion in assets last year on top of about $3.5 billion the year before - leaving it with $26.5 billion.

Assets owned by the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System gained 1.56 percent in value for the six months that ended Dec. 31, a report shows. That's not a bad result during a tumultuous period. Credit bonds and international stocks. The fund that finances retirement income for teachers, police and other public employees is more diversified than it used to be. Standard & Poor's index of 500 big U.S. stocks delivered a negative return of 2.7 percent for the period. Seven years ago, U.S. stocks made up 48 percent of the portfolio.

A bill from Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz that could have reduced some workers' pensions stalled in the County Council Monday after pressure from unions that complained the bill undermined labor rights. The 4-3 vote to table the legislation came after union members and state labor leaders rallied outside the county courthouse, saying the bill sidestepped contract negotiations for members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The bill would have stopped AFSCME members from using overtime in their pension calculations, which they have done for more than 30 years.

After reading Kathleen Hetherington's letter ("Pension shift would hurt community colleges," March 6), I can offer a few suggestions. What about getting involved with the exorbitant cost of textbooks as a result of collusion between the schools and the publishing industry. Schools might ensure that the same text isn't just rearranged and considered a new book, and whether required books are even going to be used in the actual classes. If the publisher won't lower the prices, maybe college could put it out for bid outside of the "good 'ol boy network.

A union that represents hundreds of public workers in Baltimore County is threatening to file an unfair labor practices complaint against the county, saying a pension bill introduced by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz attempts to sidestep ongoing contract negotiations. The bill, pending before the County Council, would end the practice of using overtime wages to calculate pension benefits for members of AFSCME, whose members include laborers in the Department of Public Works and other agencies.

Baltimore County retirees and union leaders urged state lawmakers Friday to reject a measure that would limit some public employees' pension benefits, calling it unfair and illegal. At a Baltimore County House delegation meeting in Annapolis, two retirees said the county is already cheating them out of pension benefits. The bill, requested by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, would let the county continue to exceed state restrictions on how much can be deducted from some people's pensions.

The Maryland General Assembly is currently debating a proposal from Gov. Martin O'Malley to shift hundreds of millions of dollars in pension costs from the state to the county governments. Counties disagree that this shift will do anything to improve the sustainability of state pension funding. Years ago, Annapolis took the pension away from the counties, broke it by raising benefit levels and now wants to give it back and force us to pay the bill for their financial frivolity.

WESTMINSTER - Carroll County Public Schools Superintendent Steve Guthrie this week sent parents an email urging them to contact legislators to fight a state proposal by Gov.Martin O'Malley to shift a portion teacher pension costs to counties. In the email, Guthrie said the move could impose an addition $7 million obligation to the county. Currently, county school systems across the state negotiate contracts with teachers and pay Social Security costs, but the state pays for pension costs.

The State Retirement and Pension System of Maryland said yesterday that it agreed to receive a $54.7 million payment to settle a dispute with the Resolution Trust Corp. over bonds that the state agency bought from a thrift that later failed."We have done well by our participants," said Peter Vaughn, director of the pension system, which manages $20.1 billion in retirement and pension funds for state teachers, police and other government employees. "We think this vindicates our position. We are not risk-takers."

The General Assembly will hold a hearing after the November election on the state employee pension system and its oversight of money manager Nathan A. Chapman Jr., a senior senator said yesterday. Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Pensions, said lawmakers need to know more about questionable transactions disclosed by The Sun involving Chapman and an investment firm he supervised. "I want to know for myself what happened and how it happened," said Kasemeyer, a Howard County Democrat.

Will there ever be a time when the Sun editorial board will present an objective case outlining all the pros and cons of an issue? Their latest failing is their position regarding teacher pensions and who should pay for them ("Kamenetz stands alone," Feb. 22). The assumption, it seems, by the Sun, Gov.Martin O'Malleyand now Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is that local teacher pension costs should be paid at the local level. It seems to me that the Governor is trying to unload costs from his already bloated 35+ billion dollar budget, and he is using the pension cost move to do that, and proposes that somehow, in the Sun staff's opinion, an "elegant solution," would be to raise taxes in a way that would increase the "piggy back" payment back to the counties.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said this morning that Gov. Martin O'Malley will try to push some of the cost of teacher pension to the locals, but would not say how much. Those details are expected to leak out today as the governor briefs fiscal leaders on his FY2013 spending plan. Miller has long advocated for the counties to pick up some of the pension costs. When asked if he was pleased with O'Malley's position, Miller said: "Very much so. " Miller said that O'Malley is "recognizes this is a fair and equitable way to assist the counties while at the same time balancing the budget.