A Florida circuit court ruled last week that Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Republican legislative leaders' decision last year to cut public employee salaries to offset the state's contribution to their pension fund was an unconstitutional breach of... Read More
Pension and postretirement benefits represent a significant cost to employers. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has specified that postretirement benefits are a form of deferred compensation. FASB concluded that the obligation to provide postretirement... Read More
By Brian M. Pinheiro and Samantha E. McMillan On Friday [July 6th], President Obama signed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4348), which makes significant changes in pension law, including pension funding stabilization provisions... Read More
Legislation pertaining to pensions has been introduced this year in every state but six - Arkansas, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin - according to data compiled by State Net. And although pension measures have failed in 32 states, they've... Read More
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) said his administration intends to appeal a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling [ AFT Mich. v. State , 2012 Mich. App. LEXIS 1632 (Mich. Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2012) [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ]] that declared... Read More
By Edward W. Stepnick CPA, G. Robert Smith Ph.D. C.P.A. C.G.F.M and Dwayne N. McSwain CPA* Employee pensions and other postemployment benefits (OPEB), such as healthcare, life insurance, disability, and long-term care benefits, are significant elements... Read More
The specter of unfunded pension liabilities is haunting U.S. state and local government. These liabilities were an underlying factor in recent municipal bankruptcies in California. They hover over Pennsylvania, which is pondering pension reform while... Read More
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) made public employee pension reform a benchmark of his 2012 agenda. For most of this year, however, his Democratic colleagues met his call with a pronounced lack of enthusiasm. But with the session winding down to its final... Read More
West Virginia's unfunded pension liability - estimated at $10 billion last year - is one of the highest per capita in the nation. But the state became a standout on the issue in a very different way last month when lawmakers approved legislation proposed... Read More
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has proposed a 12-point plan to reform public employee pensions in the Golden State. Brown says he wants to put his proposal before voters in November 2012. The linchpin of Brown's plan would involve moving... Read More
When Dr. Dena Davidson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry in 1995, her expectations were pretty reasonable. "I knew being an optometrist was not going to make me rich," she says. "But I felt I would... Read More
A pair of district courts have ruled that recent public pension reforms in Arizona and New Hampshire boosting the share current workers must contribute toward their retirement are unconstitutional. The courts ruled that both states broke their contracts... Read More