Jackson Jambalaya

PERS is a bleeding dinosaur, on the decline to extinction. Completely unsustainable. Don't be surprised if a "run" on contributions unfolds when people see the writing on the wall....if they haven't already.

The worst reason to maintain a failing or failed system is because it provides jobs that contribute to something else, in this case, a retirement system.

Should we have kept DDT factories operating because of the jobs involved? Should we have kept producing the chemical that killed termites on contact simply because there was income at risk. Do we want to return to the notion of 'everybody deserves a house' although it nearly collapsed the banking institution? So now we should not attempt to improve services because the poorly functioning paradigm helps prop up PERS?

Employees who leave the PERS system for whatever reason or circumstance have options: They can retire if and when eligible, they can draw down their money or they can leave it alone. Employer contributions would decrease much more than the shrinkage caused by less employee contributions.

Crawford periodically takes pot-shots at the PERS system and now claims he wants to save its jobs for the wrong reason, but, he has never once given any recommendations re how to improve its soundness. Likewise, he has no recommendation re how to improve state services that could be privatized.

Why not make every job a state job? That would really stabilize PERS. Creeping socialism.

To leave people on the public payroll (e.g., ABC) to protect the PERS is just about the dumbest idea I have ever heard. "Hey, folks, we are going to restrict your freedom as citizens (to buy liquor where you want) in order to protect the pensions of those workers."

Extend it: "Hey, folks, we are going to stop you from driving where you want in your car to protect the pensions of workers."

Yup, the back assward logic that says we need to grow inept and inefficient government in order to save an upside down Ponzi scheme. I'd expect nothing less from Crawford.

Yes, PERS needs to be addressed. I can't argue that. But I CAN argue against these chicken littles crying the PERS sky will fall if state employment goes down. That is nothing short of asinine.

For every man hour worked by a state employee, the state is underfunding the promised retirement benefit. The unfunded PERS liability that Kingfish always refers to is the sum of the present value of all of the promised pension beneifits minus today's assets in the plan. Sooooo, every additional employee you add into the equation INCREASES the unfunded liability. Less employees DECREASES the liability.

Yes, I'll admit that having less employees paying into the system brings the day of reckoning closer to the present. But the answer is not to push the liability out into the future by making it even bigger. By Crawford's logic, we could double the salary of all state employees and fix PERS.

"So when Republican legislators propose privatizing state parks and beer and wine services....."

Beer has never been distributed by the state. Only wine and spirits. And the state does a horrible job in this distribution. The single overloaded and overwhelmed warehouse in Madison County means wine is packed into hot (or cold) trucks and trucked for hours to the far corners of the state. And wine doesn't like temperature extremes. The trucking costs alone make this a model that wouldn't exist in the private (read that realistic) world. Only in government.

lol what an amusing headline...while it IS true that privatizing state jobs undermines PERS...it ignores the FACT that PERS is undermining PERS...(I don't have to elaborate...KF has done that plenty enough in previous posts you may avail yourselves of in the search box)

It is time for UBI. With UBI, the retirement ponzi schemes will become ancient history.

If the elite central bankers can print trillions for stealth fighters that can’t fly but twice a year, and aircraft carriers that are nothing but giant floating targets for the Chinese, they can print a few trillion to keep old people from choosing their meds over a can of catfood for supper.

The US Dollar hasn’t been real since the Federal Reserve Act was passed. We’ve accepted worthless fiat and fractional reserve banking for over 100 years. Stop believing the lie that the economy will suddenly collapse with UBI, because it wont.

How much of that wine and spirits "falls off" those state trucks?

PERS should not be privatized. It should be abolished. And I say that as someone who supported the modernization of the tax systems. In fact it was the last tax to be integrated into the MARS (Mississippi Automated Revenue System) tax system.

More and more I recognize jobs becoming 1099 share cropper agreements that as a rule promise a grand future that is realized by only a few and often miss the qualifications for such agreements.

I worked for more than 8 years as a 1099 contractor and understood from the beginning that the situation didn't fit the IRS regulations but I was earning 4x the average wage in the state so why would I complain. But I quit when the owner decided to cut commissions of myself and 3 others 25% who were producing more revenue than 17 others who were not suited working without supervision and backup and required a guaranteed minimum. The owner could not justify to the unmotivated why they should work for a fraction of what the top producers were earning.

Most people want to have a stable, secure position paying a comfortable wage/salary that doesn't require brown nosing their bosses or working from 'can to can't' without immediate recognition and reward for their efforts and expect healthcare and some recognizable retirement benefits. For those of us who can get up and meet the challenge and can recognize when the opportunity is worthwhile the 1099 positions can be worthwhile but I expect to be paid what I am worth and I will be loyal to my employer as long as they are loyal to me and my agreement. I can look at the illegal alien employers in this state along with the 1099 employers and see a similar position and it is a position that is all about the employer and the employees are just dime-a-dozen disposable dummies. Or so it appears to me. And all in all I have filed taxes as a self employed for 35 years.

ABC being privatized has nothing to do with PERS. It's because ABC is horrible and cannot do their jobs. Everyone who deals with them directly hates them and would gladly pay more to deal with an open market.

Their last stunt, deleting all outstanding orders so their "past due" number would go to zero instead of a few thousand orders sealed their fate. Liquor license holders are done dealing with them.

Crawford has been pilloried unnecessarily in this blog. But, with this post, as 8:45 points out (backward logic), he's earned it.
RMQ

Actually, Aisle B, you've been shown in several posts that that is not true.

8:04 - You've succeeded in showing your ignorance as it is not possible for employees to 'make a run on contributions' until they leave the system.

This article demonstrates the author's complete lack of education (and understanding) of public administration and public finance. First and foremost, government exists to provide services in the most efficient and effective manner for the taxpayer (and to to provide or preserve government jobs). There is absolutely no justification for the existence of ABC from a public service standpoint. Liquor is legal and has been for a long time. We can tax liquor equally whether there is an ABC or not. The paltry number of employees in ABC and a few parks cannot even begin to move the needle in the funding of PERS. With that said, our current (and past) legislature has its head up its own ass with regard to PERS. It needs a solution, and not necessarily a simple increase in funding for the shortfall with taxpayer money. However, not a single legislator (male, female, black, white, Dem, Rep) has the nerve to take on the problem. They hope someone else tackles the issue and solves it (while the cowards oppose the solution for political reasons).

hey genius at 8:04 - how, pray tell, do you make a 'run' on PERS contributions? The only people that could do that are current employees, by quitting their job and withdrawing their contributions. If they did that, the State's contribution stays in PERS and they remove their future liability to PERS. Probably a win, win if it happened. Anybody ever calculated how much PERS benefits from people working for the state for a few years and then quitting. Bet it's a lot.

12:01 nails it. Don't let the PERS debate take the focus off of the crappy job that DOR is doing with wine and liquor. Ask any restaurant owner or liquor store owner. Its horrible.

I know/knew an agent of the Ms. State Tax Commission/Alcoholic Beverage Control. Went on a double date with him and a friend of mine. We went to The Bulldog. He spent his entire night looking around the room for “underage” (aka: people he didn’t like on sight) people drinking and was threatening to arrest them. Growing up, he was picked on by his schoolmates, never had any personal power. He therefore chose a job where he could impose his will upon others. Fish, please do post this. Fuck ABC, fuck MBN, get the fuck out of average citizens lives and consider hanging yourself while crying in your own garage because your wife hates you, you ineffectual piece of shit, waste of skin. Get a real job and adhere to The Constitution, you goddamned scumbags.

No politician will do anything about PERS because they benefit from it. Sooner or later, hard choices will need to be made about PERS. Until then, just keep kicking that can down State Street.

@12:09 8:04 Genius here lol.....yes, I agree, and think it would be a "wash" at the moment of withdrawal.....but the point I was trying to make was that the "run" would accelerate people coming off the rolls that do contribute much faster (whether voluntarily or through privatization), and so instead of PERS being officially funded at 59% at present, those future anticipated contributions would rapidly drop that factored number even more to the point of scaring the hell out of even more folks who might only have 10-15 years in to withdraw for fear of losing everything.....during a run, the mentality is "Screw the state portion! It's better to get half than nothing at all!" when they start to lock you out of even being able to withdraw anything. (Ever seen It's a Wonderful Life?)

I wouldn't be surprised if these scumbags are already drafting some kind of legislation saying you can't take early withdrawal. This is why there are hundreds of 28+ year folks retiring as we speak. The fear has already begun, and they hope to get "locked in".

When an unsavory government falls on serious hard financial times, corrupt "leaders" will raid every budget possible. Look no further than the feds who have been doing it for years with social security.....which is all PERS is. These models have been building up to a disaster at both the state and federal levels for decades, because the Ponzi scheme that it is is predicated on contributions that have all been propped up by massive deficit borrowing, which makes the whole scam bogus in the end....until it crashes...and it always does. Prepare accordingly.

@4:27pm So, when's the wedding?

4:52, while I agree with you on a lot of this, a defined benefit plan is no ponzi. You calculate the future benefits at today's value and you fund them as they are earned currently. That's no Ponzi.

How our legislature over promises benefits without funding them....their practices do appear to Ponzi-ish.

4:52 - Again, you show your total ignorance of the system. Nobody needs to draft legislation prohibiting early withdrawal. There is already no way to 'early' withdraw PERS contributions unless somebody quits the system. And the impact of that would be virtually zero.

Your 'Wonderful Life' comparison is bullshit. But, I do hope you have one.

As usual, Crawford writes stuff to get views.
(which equals more money for him)

And while I agree that PERS needs a serious overhaul,
a few dozen employees at a Sate owned whiskey warehouse will have no impact on PERS.

But yes ... for goodness sake, fix the damn State Parks.

(What was once some of our best kept secrets,have devolved into embarrassing pieces of crap).

(privatizing) (moving Parks to a different Agency) (spending more money) or whatever.

I hope our "leaders' address the Park issue.

When 30% of the population of MS is employed at some level of city, county, or the State..
You can be damn sure no big changes are happening.

I predict PERS will require 40 years of service before vesting..caps on withdrawal rates..and
increasing contribution rates to offset longevity risk.

My two cents.

God help the 60% if indeed you’re correct.

Magnolia regional health center, a hospital in corinth that is owned jointly by the City of Corinth and Alcorn County, is recently no longer hiring employees into PERS. They created a separate company called "magnolia staffing solutions " to staff the hospital to circumvent PERS. The AG gave them them the go ahead to do this in the form of an AG opinion. Only a matter of time before cities, counties and institutions across the state follows suit, and the PERS ponzi scheme runs dry with the drop off of new contributions.

6:41pm You're still missing the point.....what if finances for so many get so bad they do decide to QUIT their jobs in droves in order to access early withdrawal? If you think this is far-fetched, you lack experience. A bird in hand is worth ten in the bush when you're starving or about to be evicted, and the agency of your state job treats you like shit anyway. Just saying it could happen with the trajectory Mississippi is on.....meaning - no one is even looking into fixing it, like everyone here agrees.

8:00 pm 2/14 - Keep your day job. Your predictions are nonsense.

In MS it does not mean the 'government job' or cost is eliminated. Truck drivers become 'fleet managers' etc. Copy machine operators become 'Visual Graphics Experts', etc.

The point is that you can see just over the horizon the possibility that faith and trust in PERS could suddenly plummet - and thus - as was mentioned - dry up due to no more contributions (privatization) being made, along with early withdrawals. It's not that hard to imagine if you look at the data, and most recent annual report. If fact, it's already happening.

No, 5:50, I don't lack experience. I worked for 42 years, 25 of it in a state agency. I don't know many people who would quit a job if finances got tight. The few who might aren't contributing jack shit now anyway. Now, you've veered off into the ditch of an IQ test. You've watched too many westerns where there was a run on the bank in Dodge. But, your opinion is noted, as outlandish as it may be. If you believe what you posted, you lack wisdom and critical thinking skills.

And you probably will consider selling your car if gas goes any higher.

@10:15am Dude! You're proving the point for everyone here! Your generation haven't seen any change in MS in probably 60 years! "Nothing will ever change" you folks say oh so often. Are you blind? The financial situation MS (and the country for that matter) are in dire straits, not seen since WWII. You've live a charmed life....and likely benefit from the adolescence/youth of PERS thinking it's still untouchable. Just incredible naive. I heard plenty of stories from my parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression. Dad was a federal bank examiner....and often saw some financially painful stuff that most will never experience fortunately. But in MS, the largest employer is the State....and that's a bad company to put stock in to.

No, you probably don't know a lot about people today who struggle financially in ways you couldn't possibly understand because your generation was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. PERS cannot last in its present form...it's only a matter of when. On that - everyone agrees.

Every single worthless, incompetent, and insolent city, county, and state employee could be replaced by a grateful and hardworking H1B holder. Who will receive a full path to citizenship.

Just like the private sector.

Inform them of this and watch their attitudes change when they don’t have the bureaucratic and socialist protections of the State Personnel Board.

Just like Corrupt Republicans, Let the State invest millions in State Parks. Then privatize the Parks so their big money political donor can profit with out investing a penny.

Anybody who starts a sentence with DUDE is probably still driving mom's old Volvo and working tables in The Fondren. This 'dude' has hired and trained hundreds of people (some wearing penny loafers), many strapped financially prior to being hired and after being hired. A federal bank examiner never comes in contact with real people who have problems - although he may visit them mentally while pouring over boring records.

Yes, PERS is in need of correction, but never having had any experience in that arena, you have no ideas on what that might entail.

'A charmed life', that's a laugh. While your dad was paying your tuition and fraternity dues I was thinking about the times I worked two jobs and drove a beater hoping to make it to graduation.

The answer, as always, is likely somewhere in the middle. What if - gasp - privatization of some jobs can be accomplished, while also tackling the issues at PERS? The issue is that republican leadership is more than willing to pursue the former, yet terrified to even discuss the latter.

Privatization to promote efficiency and decrease the state's surplus of jobs would be a good thing if shown that both can be sustainable and that there is an actual private market interested in taking those tasks on. I don't think keeping those two things around is worthwhile solely for "sustaining PERS".

PERS has problems, period. No ABC or State Parks jobs are going to save it or make a positive impact. But it is MORE than past time for "leadership" or what passes for it in this state to start having the conversations about what will fix PERS. They won't be easy, but they are better than the alternative of simply sticking our heads back into the sand.

In the real world; If PERS is broken you fix PERS.

In the world of politics and corruption that is MS; If PERS is broken you hire more state workers. You protect those agencies that are clearly mismanaged and inefficient. You push people to surrounding states to purchase liquor and wine because ABC is so outdated and poorly run.

I truly wonder how many of our elected officials would last a week in a "real" job that requires performance, hard work and tough decisions.

Hey 1:08pm..... I think you said you worked 25 years for the state?....must have been nice, and no - is not the real world - with the fat pension you now get - that probably only vested at 4 years, and that others will never see a dime of based on its current trajectory.

1. Vest at 5 years. Earlier withdrawal forgoes all state contribution.
2. 30 years of service to reach max benefit.
2. No benefits until 59 1/2.
3. Eliminate "best 4 years" and replace with time averaged career compensation for determining benefit payouts.
4. Eliminate 13th check guarantee.
5. Retired is retired. If you hire back after you retire you continue to contribute at the going rate.

2:29 - Try reading. 25 w/state plus 17 private sector, which, in combination is more than you've worked or probably ever will. I might have hired you and should have fired you. You sound like a union organizer.