EDITORIAL: Long-term solutions for pensions
That was a well-thought-out proposal to support a new version of the state's basic retirement plan for rank-and-file state workers.
Proposed by the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System, or LASERS, the new plan was based on data officials compiled on the workers who are investors in the pension fund and ultimately beneficiaries of their investments and those of the state.
What LASERS found is that turnover was so great in state government that the majority of participants failed to stay long enough to vest in the system. As pension funds in other states have done in recent years,
While the plan would not show a huge saving for the state over a period of decades, it would better serve workers, LASERS said -- and would not affect the existing beneficiaries.
Such common sense was a bit too radical for the political masters of state workers.
Bills were offered by the chairmen of the Legislature's retirement committees, state Sen.
"This plan represents a significant reform on a major state issue and deserves a vigorous and substantive debate -- not an automatic derail," CABL said. "If we ever wonder why the state can't get out of some of the fiscal messes it gets into, this could be a prime example."
While a far-reaching change for future state hires deserves study, the extensive work on the hybrid plan by the LASERS staff and outside analysts at the
This, though, is not a routine issue, and Schroder has been paying close attention: The treasurer recently told the
It's an election year, so change may be harder politically.
Still, we agree with Schroder and hope that the governor and Legislature will take another look at this attempt to give tomorrow's workers a better deal.
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