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Mayor No Fan of Pension Bonds

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piggy bank

The Mayor of Pittsburgh stated yesterday that he would not be in favor of the Governor’s approach to issue pension bonds as a way to shore up underfunded pensions.  Why?  Because of Pittsburgh’s experience with the tool in the mid to late 1990s.  A 2002 Allegheny Institute report detailed the City’s use of pension bonds.

Though the topic of pension bonds has only been mentioned for reforming state pensions (for state workers and school employees in two large pension plans) the Mayor has suggested reforms he would like to see for municipal pensions, of which there are 3,000 in the state.  On that topic one member of the local legislative delegation did not provide much hope that municipal reform would get done this year, noting “Municipal pension reform is not on the list of top 10 things right now to get done, but it will be on the list of things we do in the fall”.

Perhaps we can take some encouragement that there is some bipartisan disdain for “spiking” pensions through overtime, which has been a reform bandied about by the City’s own recovery coordinators for a decade.

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Allegheny Institute
Allegheny Institute

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government.

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