• 401(k)'s, Higher Retirement Age Recommended for Arizona Pension System
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Arizona   |   December 21, 2012
• Lawmakers should consider creating an optional 401(k)-style retirement plan and raising the retirement age for future public employees if Arizona is interested in changing its financially ailing public-pension system, according to a 13-member pension-study committee led by the state treasurer.

• Massachusetts to Review Pension Holdings in Gun Firms
• Source: Boston Globe   |   Massachusetts   |   December 19, 2012
• As gun makers took a financial drubbing in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings, Massachusetts Treasurer Steve Grossman directed the state pension fund to review its investments in any companies in the firearms industry.
• 5 Comments

• 2 NYC Police Get Higher Pensions in Claims of 9/11-Related Cancer
• Source: New York Times   |   New York   |   December 14, 2012
• The state’s highest court awarded enhanced pension benefits to two retired New York City police officers who said they were sickened by their work at the World Trade Center site, overturning a pension board’s ruling that their cancers were not related to ground zero.

• California State Employees Are Highest-Paid
• BY: Liz Farmer   |   California   |   December 13, 2012
• As a result of years of escalating wages and overtime costs, California state employees enjoy the highest average pay out of the nation's most populous states.
• 5 Comments

• How Did 2012 Treat Public Employees?
• BY: Heather Kerrigan   |   December 12, 2012
• Unions took a blow in Michigan this week. We review how the entire year impacted unions as well as government hiring, pensions and retirement.
• 4 Comments

• R.I. Case Tests Whether States Can Cut Pensions
• Source: New York Times   |   Rhode Island   |   December 5, 2012
• Rhode Island’s dispute is being closely watched as a first major test of whether, and how, financially strained states and cities can cut the benefits of their workers and retirees.
• 8 Comments

• Government Unprepared for Boomers’ Mass Exodus
• BY: Heather Kerrigan   |   December 2012
• The mass exodus of baby boomers from the workforce has been a crisis in the making for years. Yet in many cases the public sector is still not prepared.
• 2 Comments

• Court OKs Big Benefit Changes for Michigan Teachers
• Source: MLive.com   |   Michigan   |   November 30, 2012
• A key question now is whether employees being asked to pay more or get less later will have to do so immediately or if the status quo will stay during the appeals process.

• Pennsylvania Gov. Corbett Calls for Pension Reform
• Source: Philadelphia Inquirer   |   Pennsylvania   |   November 28, 2012
• The Corbett administration released a detailed report warning of steep budget cuts if a way is not found swiftly to rein in public-pension spending.

• Pension Crisis on Top of Pennsylvania Gov.'s 2013 Agenda
• Source: Philadelphia Inquirer   |   Pennsylvania   |   November 20, 2012
• Gov. Corbett presented a broad outline of his agenda for 2013, saying his chief priorities are addressing the pension crisis, privatizing state liquor stores, and combating the high cost of college.

• Cities, Bankruptcy Law and Pension Payments
• BY: Penelope Lemov   |   November 15, 2012
• As cities face extreme fiscal pressure, can Chapter 9 ease their pension obligations?
• 36 Comments

• Judges Can be Forced to Pay More for Benefits, New Jersey Voters Say
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   November 8, 2012
• More than 83 percent favored a ballot question that will allow lawmakers to force judges to pay more for their health and pension benefits.

• After Pension Amendment Fails, Illinois Lawmakers Back to Drawing Board
• Source: Chicago Tribune   |   Illinois   |   November 8, 2012
• With Illinois voters narrowly rejecting a constitutional amendment on pensions, those on both sides of the issue said the state is in largely the same place it would have been had voters approved the measure: facing tough choices about needed reforms.
• 2 Comments

• Illinois Constitutional Amendment on Pensions Looms
• Source: The Chicago Tribune   |   Illinois   |   October 31, 2012
• During a year dominated by discussion of the state's deepening pension crisis, voters across Illinois will find on their ballot a question asking if they want to make it tougher for governments to approve increased retirement benefits for public employees.

• Philadelphia Proposes Hybrid Pension Plan for Elected Officials
• Source: Philadelphia Daily News   |   Philadelphia   |   October 19, 2012
• Currently, elected officials get a retirement plan that allows them to collect pensions as high as their full salaries. But the city is proposing to move future elected officials to a hybrid plan that combines a lower-benefit pension with a 401(k).