Pensions

• Emanuel Replaces Entire Ethics Board in Chicago
• Source: Chicago Tribune   |   Chicago   |   October 4, 2012
• During its quarter-century existence, the ethics board hasn't found a single case of wrongdoing by aldermen, though more than 20 were convicted of felonies in that period. The ethics board also has been criticized for failing to mete out punishment in cases involving employees.

• Chicago Teachers Vote on New Contract
• Source: Chicago Tribune   |   Chicago   |   October 3, 2012
• The new teachers contract is expected to cost about $74 million a year, and charter operators are pressing to make sure Chicago Public Schools doesn't pay for it by tapping into money intended for publicly funded charters.

• Nashville Cuts Pensions for Future Employees
• Source: Tennessean   |   Nashville, Tenn.   |   October 3, 2012
• The changes include raising the service requirement for vesting in the pension system and retiree health insurance program from five years to 10 and reducing the amount that Metro contributes in medical care premiums.

• California Governor Vetoes Some Labor-Backed Bills
• Source: Sacramento Bee   |   California   |   October 2, 2012
• Gov. Jerry Brown is proving not to be a yes man – even to unions that spent millions to elect him.

• Union Battle Moves to California This November
• Source: New York Times   |   California   |   October 2, 2012
• The battle to curb labor’s political clout has moved from Wisconsin to California, where wealthy conservatives are championing a ballot measure that would bar unions from donating to candidates.

• Detroit Water Workers Ignore Judge's Order to End Strike
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Detroit   |   October 2, 2012
• Members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 207, who began the strike Sunday, even defied Al Garrett, president of the umbrella AFSCME Council 25, who asked them to return to work.

• Without Reform, Illinois Will Pay $1.5B a Year to Fix Pensions
• Source: Chicago Tribune   |   Illinois   |   October 2, 2012
• Absent significant pension system reforms, it would cost the city an extra $1.5 billion a year beginning in 2016 to start the process of restoring financial health to its pension funds.
• 2 Comments

• Detroit Water Department Workers Strike Where Strikes Aren't Legal
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Detroit   |   October 1, 2012
• City officials planned to go to court to end a strike by some Detroit Water and Sewerage Department union workers that could impact millions of residential and commercial customers in the region.
• 4 Comments

• Montana Opens 1st State Public Employee Health Clinic
• Source: Reuters   |   Montana   |   October 1, 2012
• Gov. Brian Schweitzer says the primary care clinic in the state capital Helena will keep the area's 11,000 state workers and their dependents healthier while saving the state $20 million over five years.

• Public Workers Bid for Their Jobs
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   October 2012
• As cities seek new ways to save money, more and more are requiring their employees to bid against the private sector for work in a process known as “managed competition.”

• What Will Government Look Like in 2037?
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   October 2012
• This month marks Governing’s 25th anniversary, so we asked leaders for their predictions on how government will have changed 25 years from now.
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• GOP Study Warns Against Federal Bailout of State Pensions
• Source: Reuters   |   Nation   |   September 27, 2012
• State and local governments facing pension liabilities that already total in the trillions of dollars will be forced to seek bailouts from the U.S. government, Republican Party Congressional staffers said in a study, as they warned that such bailouts could have dire consequences.

• New Mexico Police Chief's Resignation Leaves Just 1 Certified Officer: A Dog
• Source: AP/Houston Chronicle   |   Vaughn, N.M.   |   September 27, 2012
• A drug-sniffing dog now is the only certified member of the police force in the small eastern New Mexico town of Vaughn.

• Shared Services and the Velveteen Rabbit Factor
• BY: Feather O'Connor Houstoun   |   September 26, 2012
• One of the biggest barriers to consolidating service delivery is a jurisdiction's fear that it will lose its individual identity. There are ways to deal with that.

• Teachers’ Unions Court GOP in Search of More Allies
• Source: New York Times   |   Nation   |   September 25, 2012
• Over the past few years, even as Republicans have led efforts to thwart unions, lawmakers previously considered solid supporters of teachers’ unions have tangled with them over a national education agenda that includes new performance evaluations based partly on test scores, the overhaul of tenure and the expansion of charter schools.