As badly as your 401(k) may be doing because of this year’s COVID stock market swoon, your personal retirement account is not short as many dollars as Maryland’s state pension system. As of last June 30th, Maryland’s pension fund was over $20 billion in the hole, with only enough assets to cover 73% of its liabilities. This year’s numbers will likely be far worse.
Nearly a decade ago, reforms enacted under then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) were intended to put the fund on course to reestablish good health by 2023. The “reforms” included higher employee contributions, benefit cuts, and a delayed retirement age for future employees. A significant annual increase in the state’s own annual employer contribution was also supposed to help correct the fund’s imbalance.
Instead of taking advantage of a decade long bull-market to shore up the fund, money promised from the state was spent elsewhere. By 2014 the legislature was already diverting money for promised employer pension contributions to their other spending. As a result, instead of declining, the total dollars due for the pension deficit in fact increased since the O’Malley era “reforms.”[i] All this while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has doubled.
Maryland’s elected official with the most direct responsibility for the pension fund has been missing in action in addressing these problems. The state’s “chief fiscal officer,” Comptroller Peter Franchot has instead used his position as an officer of the board of trustees for his signature political grandstanding, such as calling on the fund to divest itself from Alabama-based companies because of a local abortion law.[ii] (Spoiler alert, only two Alabama headquartered companies are listed in the S&P 500.)
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21 comments:
As a retired State of Maryland employee, I'm very, very disappointed to find out what I was told years ago to be true. It seems the government can use the State employees money but we can't seem to get it back. PLEASE QUIT USING OUR MONEY!! Why don't you give it back by taking back all the raises you gave yourselves and not the employees. Oh, that's right. You didn't do this because it would be money out of your pocket. You really should have been voted out of office. State employees are losing money but you aren't. Something very wrong about this.
Going to tax us up the ying yang soon.
Yep social security getting low but Pelosi can take dip into SS fund to pay for impeachment proceedings that mounted to nothing RIPPING the PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATE off It should have come out of their pocket
Make pot legal and tax it. Colorado makes billions on it.
Before O'Malley and the Democrats started stealing money from the State Employees Retirement Fund it was in the top 5 for stability and funding. O'Malley started the theft scheme and Hogan has continued it. Hogan has done nothing to insure the quality of our pensions.
When the Pension system starts cutting the retirees money then the first ones to lose their pensions and benefits are these Politians past and present. They stole our money and should be held accountable. They should also be made to pay back all the money they stole if they have to sell and lose everything they have.
A CROOK is a CROOK.
Where is Frosh and Franchot? Them and them and the rest of the political appointees should be the first to lose their pensions and benefits along with the crooked politians.
WHER IS THE UNIONS?
Hogan, aka Hitler, is giving away our money to these illegals. Hogan, aka Hitler allowed MD to become a sanctuary State and is taking a Retirees hard earned retirement and giving to illegals.
Hitler and the Democrats need to be charged with contract violation.
No Excuses !! Maryland better find all the stolen $$$$ they dip in &
skim from Retirement !!! Cry to the Feds !!!
Maryland OWES it & Better Pay It indefinitley !!! No Wining !!!
Tell him to ask his fat ass friend Larry Hogan for the $20 billion.
And $13 icecream
Yes they do, but as a Colorado resident who supports the industry, the problem is, the Feds still define the money as drug money, so ALL transactions are cash, INCLUDING the money the the dispensary owners who have to pay the state for taxes. The problem is the state of Colorado gets MILLIONS of dollars in CASH from these business' and it them becomes EXTREMELY easy for the state to squander it, and only a small amount ever gets back to the localities schools, roads, etc. Its just CORRUPTION AS USUAL!
Simple....DON'T make promises ya can't keep! It ain't rocket science. If you continue to cave to union demands KNOWING you cant generate the revenue, than DON'T keep doing it! Odd, how private business' must work off their budgets, production revenues etc. So when they owe more than they make, they must cut costs (Staffing, benefits, etc) WHY can't govt bureaucracy's manage that? Its just like running a household budget....If ya don't have it, ya do it t spend it! Just follow president Trumps lead...watch, learn. Ya don't gotta like him, but he's done miracles with our financial growth by refusing to just hand our money to fix national problems, and more so, by NOT throwing dollars at countries that want to kill us!
Keep voting democrats in and everyone loses.
Getting paid off
They steal your money right in front of you and you don't do a damn thing about it
so you blame the governor when it's the demonicRat controlled legislature that makes up these bills and approves them?
Yup can't fix stupid. keep voting for the demonicRats!
Democrat's piggy bank - use it for any reason to pay off their friends and deadbeats. Roll-over debts that keep sinking us further that don't appear on the budget because they are a given for the incoming year. Cowards succeed. Shame on you legislatures.
When the pension stops the chaos starts! The State of Maryland needs to take corrective steps to strengthen the pension system, you don’t want the recourse if it collapses.
Maryland OWES the damn Pensions , so Don't Ever cry to me !!!!
Maryland better buy some Printing presses from the Fed Govt !!!!
Get Printing more $$$$$$$$ like they do & don't come to us taxpayers !
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