Jackson Jambalaya

My thoughts exactly when i read that cute little article.

Anybody listen to Quorum on PBS at 7pm, the issue of PERS came up in their press release, maybe steer the conversation to SLRP.

This is one you and all others need to stay on top of.

I forwarded your post to MS PBS in advance and asked them to put together a question. I doubt they will, but worth a try. Maybe if more of us spoke up we might actually get this issue on the front burner rather than stuffed away in a closet behind the PERS issue.

Well, I've written about it, gone on Kim Wade for an hour about it, done about what I can do for now. You guys just have to raise hell with Gallo, Clarion-Ledger, and the tv stations to get them to cover it.

Gallo won't do anything unless someone drops some coin in Davenport's direction.

Double dipping is a drop in the bucket... How about a $7.9 BILLION unfunded liability in PERS??

http://downloads.pewcenteronthestates.org/The_Trillion_Dollar_Gap_final.pdf

KF, spoke to you earlier regarding Quorum on PBS at 7PM. I got a little bit of satisfaction, they claim that they forwarded my link to this article and the question "why don't we save money here?" As a community, I encourage everyone to tune in, twitter, email, call, etc. tonight, they really are receptive. Whether they actually ask the question, I do not know. Long live intelligent constructive criticism!

5:42 While I appreciate the magnitude of the issue, I frankly don't care. Government has time and time again proven that it does well for itself and its employees. Think, who in the real world still has access to a pension? Frankly the programs should STOP. End them. Let them start a 401K like the rest of the world. Why do governmental employees receive such incredible benefits? Is it the low wages? Is it the promise of guaranteed employment? Is it protections not afforded the general public? I say, like the housing crisis at hand, NO BAILOUT. Let it fail. The fact is the very people who administer it are the ones who benefit from it and ultimately should also experience the alternative if not properly managed.

There are no guarantees in life, except maybe, a government pension. NOT!

5:42, not disagreeing with you.

Well, MPB is a blow hole.

Mississippi Pers directly invested 12Million in an India Ponzi and lost every dime, yet to read anywhere in a Mississippi paper, but AG has filed suit to recoup. This was in NYT. What else do we not know.....

send it to me. thanks.

Being a state worker isnt that great. I pay 7% in retirement, I have no choice. Thats more than most people pay in.

Also our health insurance is terrible and expensive.

When do we stop the legislature from double-dipping?

When 25,000 people show up @ their building for a lunch time rally on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (because those are the only days they work) screaming for their heads on the block then it will change. That is the level of protest it is going to take and that is where the state will be come the 2011 session.

Kirby seems to be saying to state employees," You can retire and keep working, but you won't work for the state. The state will hire new people who receive full benefits."
Perhaps I'm missing something. It just doesn't make sense.

And why does the Highway Patrol have a much better retirement system than other state employees? It is far from fair for these glorified traffic cops to have a much better retirement package than the local cops who are busting the bricks protecting our homes and businesses.

Oh, did I mention the legislature needs an overhaul?

"Being a state worker isnt that great. I pay 7% in retirement, I have no choice. Thats more than most people pay in."

True, and we have NO say in the management of our investments.

CL covered it on March 15:

"The Legislature is patting itself on the back as it seeks resolution on legislation to prevent "double dipping" by state employees who retire and then return to work as part-time or contract workers for the government.

The Senate passed House Bill 957 to require state agencies to make a contribution to the Public Employees Retirement System fund for those employees, even though the contract workers and part-time workers cannot accrue more time toward retirement. Currently, neither the returning employees nor the agencies that hire them contribute to the retirement system.

Senate Finance Chairman Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, said last week that the bill would prevent "double dipping." He said many state employees retire and then soon return as contract workers.

"The purpose of the bill is to make sure our retirement system stays solvent," Kirby said.

Mississippi's Public Employees Retirement System has $18 billion in assets and pays out about $1.5 billion each year in benefits.

The state currently has more than 20,000 employees eligible for immediate retirement. Mississippi PERS covers nonfederal public employees. That includes people who work for state, county and city governments; public schools; universities; fire departments and law enforcement agencies.

Kirby said the bad economy and tight state budget have prompted some agencies to suggest employees retire and then come back as part-time workers. That saves an agency money, because it only pays a part-time salary and no longer must pay into the retirement system for that worker. The employee would earn that salary, plus his or her state pension.

"That really hurts the retirement system," Kirby said.

That's not the only thing that hurts the system, Senator.

Since 1989, Mississippi's 174 legislators and the lieutenant governor have enjoyed a preferential state retirement system that is 1.5 times more lucrative than that provided "regular" state employees like school teachers or highway workers.

The special legislative system - called the Supplemental Legislative Retirement Plan (SLRP) - allows legislators to pay into the PERS at a rate 50 percent higher than for regular employees. At the same time, the state contributes to the SLRP at a rate 50 percent higher for legislators than it does for regular state employees.

That means state legislators have a better state retirement plan than school teachers and other state employees. Far better, in fact.

So before Sen. Kirby or anyone else in the Legislature pulls a muscle patting themselves on the back about impeding "double-dipping" they might want to take a long, hard look in the mirror - or just follow that giant "SLRPing" sound.