Stewart: State's Pension Plans Need Fixing NOW

Mimi Stewart

NMPolitics - For New Mexico’s more than 45,000 public and educational employees, ensuring the sustainability and solvency of their retirement programs is of monumental concern. Our workers deserve a fair shake. They work hard, serve the public and our communities, and play by the rules. They make significant contributions to fund these retirement programs, one of which, the PERA plan, ranks as one of the best in the nation. The solvency of these retirement funds is a concern to taxpayers as well. To find answers, the Legislature established the Retirement Systems Solvency Task Force in 2009. With 24 members representing organized labor, state agencies, private sector and lawmakers, the task force spent two years studying the difficulties facing our pension funds. PERA and ERB, with combined assets of more than $20 billion, are today more than $7 billion short to meet promised benefits. That shortfall is projected to more than double in five years and hit $20 billion by 2019. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Stewart: State's Pension Plans Need Fixing NOW