Fury Over Public Pensions Sparks Disclosure Lawsuits
Several state and local retirement funds have balked at disclosing the pensions of individual government workers, triggering lawsuits that claim taxpayers have the right to such information.
The showdown comes amid growing scrutiny of public-sector pensions as voters, many struggling amid the recession, increasingly question how tax dollars are spent in states and cities facing budget shortfalls and service cutbacks.
…Some advocates of disclosure say the funds are hiding behind legal arguments to avoid scrutiny, especially in the wake of the recent Bell, Calif., controversy that revealed the city's administrator was earning close to $800,000 a year. Based on that salary, it has been estimated that he stands to collect at least a $600,000 annual pension from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers…
California State Controller John Chiang recently announced he is requiring all California cities and counties to report compensation for current public employees, which he plans to post on his website in November.
Jeannette Neumann
Wall Street Journal
No comments:
Post a Comment