Annapolis keep your hands off local pensions
By Ken Decker Caroline County Administrator About a year ago, I wrote an essay for MarylandReporter.com suggesting the state legislature
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Maryland should look to local government for pension solutions
By Ken Decker Caroline County Administrator For MarylandReporter.com Potential solutions to Maryland’s looming pension crisis can be found in the
Read moreIllinois pension debt now $130 billion
Press Release Illinois Policy Institute Every Illinois household now on the hook for $27,000 in public pension debt for state
Read moreRetirement Income: Bill would expand pension exemptions
By Bryan Renbaum For MarylandReporter.com Del. Karen Young, D-Frederick,: is proposing to exempt as much as $75,000 on pensions because
Read moreRascovar column: State pension fund may have turned corner
Good news from the Maryland state retirement agency: investment earnings over the past year ending June 30 rose a strong 14.37 percent. Don’t get too excited: The agency is still digging out of a deep financial hole caused by the Great Recession, poor decisions by former governors and legislators and poor advice from the agency’s consultant. The retirement fund’s health, though, is showing solid improvement
Read moreMaryland pension fund earns 14 percent, now valued at $45 billion
Maryland’s pension system for state employees and teachers had another strong investment performance for the fiscal year which ended June 30 earning 14.37%, bringing the value of the portfolio to $45.4 billion, a gain of more than $5 billion.
It was the second year in a row of strong performance due to sharp upturns in stocks, according to Chief Investment Officer Melissa Moye. The fund exceeded its target of 7.7% and its market benchmark of 14.16% — what its basket of assets would have been expected to earn
Read moreSenate rejects GOP cuts to $39 billion budget; Miller gripes about environmental ‘whackos’
With minimal debate, the Maryland Senate rejected a half dozen Republican attempts to further trim Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $39 billion budget Wednesday, and gave preliminary approval to the spending plan that will be sent to the House this week.
The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee ultimately cut $492 million from the current budget and O’Malley’s proposal for next year, partly to make up for lowered revenue estimates in both years.
Read moreExtra pension payments cut by Senate committee to balance budget
The Senate Budget Committee voted Friday to take $500 million over the next five years from extra payments into the state pension system to balance the budget this year and for the next four.
Read more$300 million pension payment on chopping block to balance Md. budget
Much or all of an annual $300 million extra payment into Maryland’s pension system is on the chopping block as Senate budgeters seek to balance Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $39 billion budget at a voting session Friday.
Read moreTreasurer, comptroller urge senators to restore $100M cut in pension funding
In unusual joint testimony, Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot, chair and vice-chair of the state pension board, pleaded with Senate budgeters not to permanently cut $100 million in state payments to the retirement system. They said the cut proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley had high long-term repercussions and undermined the state’s credibility with bond rating agencies by reneging on promises made in 2011 pension reforms.
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