Brown will save California?

By on May 14, 2012   /   California, Latest, Pension Reform  

View release as a PDF
SACRAMENTO— Lucky, lucky California! Today, Governor Brown announced a new budget! He was ‘off’ $16 billion on his last budget. But this time, yes this time, he’s sure he’s got it right! According to Brown, “You can never get it quite right…” No governor, YOU never got even close.
He’s going to cut, cut, cut. And tax, tax, tax. He’s sure that’ll bring more jobs here!
But Governor, why no mention of unsustainable California public pensions that keep digging the hole deeper?
Taxpayers United of America (TUA) and Free and Equal (F&E) today revealed government employee pensions for the Sacramento area. California is the 13th state in a nationwide tour for the two organizations.
“Many government retirees make more in pension payments than private sector taxpayers make in salaries,” stated Christina Tobin, TUA Vice President and Founder and Chair of Free And Equal. “The California economy and the public pension systems are in serious trouble. Taxpayers struggle to save for their own retirement and fund the public pension system. Government retirees should be concerned that their pension payments will continue.”
Tobin continued, “For example, Rickey Martinez, retired Sacramento government employee, collects an annual pension of $210,618. His estimated lifetime payout is $9,477,788. * ”
“Mary M. Carrillo Mejia, retired government teacher, has an annual pension of $195,305, with an estimated lifetime payout of $7,997,727.* ”
“Retired Sacramento County government employee, David Lind, has a lifetime estimated payout of $7,460,967* based on his actual annual pension of $192,790.”
View pension amounts below:

“California’s government pension systems are crushing middle class Californians. Replacing defined benefit pensions for all new government hires with social security and 401(k)s would eventually eliminate unfunded government pensions. If current government employees would just increase their pension contributions, they would preserve their pension benefits. We need a stable system that is fair to both taxpayers and beneficiaries or pension checks will stop coming.” Tobin will be attending Thursday’s Pacific Research Institute event that will examine public pensions.
“The pension crisis is the number one budgetary problem for cities, counties and states across the country. A nationwide movement is under way to shift the dialogue to action. We are collaborating with the leaders of pension reform, in working to avert the collapse that will result from inaction. We will be launching our nationwide database for pension and electoral reform in the coming days. This online database will provide a repository of information on elections: the names, the money and the agendas.”
“Many politicians lack the courage to do what’s in the best interest of taxpayers. The many pension groups that have formed, are working to help enhance the citizens’ groundswell that wants true electoral reform.”
*TUA submits FOIA requests for actual pensions. Since personal information is not available, lifetime pension payouts are estimated based on retirement at 55, life expectancy of 85 (IRS Form 590), and 3% COLA.

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Pekin Daily Times | Dig deeper into pensions

By on May 14, 2012   /   Illinois Press, Press  

Gary Heiser wrote a letter to the editor  in the Pekin Daily Times featuring TUA’s three part series on the Illinois pension problem.

To the editor:
The editorial on pension reform was informative, but it did not go far enough into the problem. The editorial needed to expose the obscene retirement packages that Illinois taxpayers have to fund. Not only do state employees have the option of retiring at an early age, the dollar amount of the pensions are totally out of line. Most private sector workers have to save and invest to assure they have the funds to survive their retirement years. This is not the case with the people in the State Employment Retirement System. They receive close to full pay for life. Talk about a sweet deal!
I am listing some examples of retired state employees’ pensions that I consider obnoxious. State human services retiree Sadrashiv Parwatikar retired at age 64 and receives an annual pension of $184,470. To date he has received $1,464,787. State human services retiree Kamal Modir retired at age 60 and receives an annual pension of $166,732; to date he has received $1,981,427. An example of state police pensions is $134,026 per year (John Lofton, retired at age 58 and has collected $1,077,048 to date).
The state university pensions are also out of control, two examples, Tapus K. Das Gupta, his annual pension is $426,855 and Edward Abraham has an annual pension of $414,709. All of these pensions are in the “double wow” factor.
All of the SERS pension info is available on the Taxpayers United of America website, www.taxpayersunited.org. It should be noted that all of the Springfield Democrats voted to approve the 67 percent state income tax surcharge. All of the tax dollars collected from this surcharge are being pumped into the state pension fund.
All of these pensions are an outrage and shame on our governors and congressmen (past and present) for allowing this type of thievery from the hard-working taxpayers of Illinois. With that said, I shudder to think what the pensions are for federal retirees.
— Gary Heiser, Pekin
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Government-Pension Crisis: #1 Budgetary Problem in U.S.

By on May 3, 2012   /   Latest, Pension Reform  

The government-pension crisis is the number one budgetary problem in the U.S., stated the Vice President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“The government-employee pension plans of a number of cities are headed toward default, and these sinking pension plans are the underlying reason why some cities already have declared bankruptcy and why more cities may be staring bankruptcy in the face,” according to Christina Tobin, TUA Vice President and Founder of Free and Equal Elections Foundation.
“For the last year, I have been traveling to different states county-by-county, releasing local government pension amounts. I have seen firsthand the dire financial situation that is occurring in cities and counties across the country.”
“Reuters noted that so far in 2012, there have been 21 municipal defaults totaling $978 million, versus 28 defaults totaling $522 million for the same period in 2011,” said Tobin.
“A number of US cities have filed for bankruptcy, the most prominent of which is the city of Vallejo, once the capital of California. Municipalities that have either filed for bankruptcy or are just emerging from it include Central Falls, Rhode Island, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Boise County, Idaho, and Jefferson County, Alabama.”
“According to the San Francisco Examiner, leaders of Pritchard, Alabama, a city on the outskirts of Mobile, had known since 2004 that the pension fund was scheduled to run dry in 2009. Officials tried to declare bankruptcy, but state law forbids a town from ducking its pension obligations. The city just stopped paying its pensions. Pritchard’s 150 retired city employees were reduced to showing up at City Council meetings begging for money to make it through the Christmas season.”
“As of December 2010, America’s public pensions were underfunded by an estimated $3.6 trillion. The pension problem might be worse than figures suggest, because many cities and states are either ignoring the problem or actively trying to conceal it.”
“It’s now judgment day for the lavish, gold-plated city and municipal government pensions,” said Tobin. “Many retired government employees receive pensions that are higher than salaries in the private sector. Government pension plans are hemorrhaging dollars.”
“According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Pritchard stands as a warning to cities like Philadelphia and states like Illinois, whose pension funds are under great strain.”
“The way to fix the broken pension system is to replace pensions for all new government hires with social security and 401(k)s, and increase current employee contributions,” said Tobin. “The current crop of Republicans and Democrats won’t do it—they’re controlled by corporate and union interests. We need a national movement of Americans from across the political spectrum who will unite and throw them out of office. Then, we will get meaningful pension reform.”

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