During a recent interview with WTOP radio, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, harshly criticized New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, for wanting to switch state employees to 401(k)-style retirement plans and increasing the years of service required to retire with full benefits. Christie says such changes are essential to reduce New Jersey's $53 billion unfunded pension fund liability. Christie, O'Malley charged, "delights in being abusive towards public employees."
O'Malley refuses to back away from Maryland's traditional defined benefit public employee pension system even though it is currently $19 billion in the red and just 64 percent funded. That makes the pension system O'Malley defends the lowest rated in the country, based on AAA ratings. Instead, O'Malley wants teachers and state workers to pay a little more now (or accept lower future benefits) so he can use the expected $120 million in savings to reduce a $1.4 billion state budget deficit now instead of shoring up their retirement fund.
O'Malley's hollow promise to start reinvesting all of the savings back into the pension fund -- but not until 2014, when he leaves office -- highlights the cynical shell game he is playing. State employees should be outraged that O'Malley will take 87 cents of every extra dollar they pay to plug a budget gap caused by his own extravagant spending while doing absolutely nothing to fix a pension system that state House Minority Leader Anthony O'Donnell correctly warns will soon bankrupt the state. O'Malley is simply throwing state employees' retirement plan under the bus.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
O'Malley refuses to back away from Maryland's traditional defined benefit public employee pension system even though it is currently $19 billion in the red and just 64 percent funded. That makes the pension system O'Malley defends the lowest rated in the country, based on AAA ratings. Instead, O'Malley wants teachers and state workers to pay a little more now (or accept lower future benefits) so he can use the expected $120 million in savings to reduce a $1.4 billion state budget deficit now instead of shoring up their retirement fund.
O'Malley's hollow promise to start reinvesting all of the savings back into the pension fund -- but not until 2014, when he leaves office -- highlights the cynical shell game he is playing. State employees should be outraged that O'Malley will take 87 cents of every extra dollar they pay to plug a budget gap caused by his own extravagant spending while doing absolutely nothing to fix a pension system that state House Minority Leader Anthony O'Donnell correctly warns will soon bankrupt the state. O'Malley is simply throwing state employees' retirement plan under the bus.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
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