Barry Rascovar: O’Malley’s Latest Pension Grab

It takes quite a bit for the quiet, diplomatic State Treasurer, Nancy Kopp, to criticize her fellow Democrat, Gov. Martin O’Malley. But she gently laid it on the line in opposing O’Malley’s $100 million budget cut for state pension contributions.

“It’s a question of trust,” Kopp said, as reported last week by MarylandReporter.com.

Bond rating agencies will look askance at O’Malley’s effort to permanently reduce by $100 million a year the state’s commitment to funding future pensions. “It will be very difficult to defend” when the agencies question her, she told legislators.

What Kopp didn’t say, but others are filling in the blanks, is that O’Malley’s action is a cold, calculated slap in the face of state workers.
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