Home / Homepage

Citizens Caution State Employees about Pensions

 

After a news release from the House of Representatives that an overhaul of the state’s pension systems would be a top priority, citizen’s comments on the Oklahoman website warned state employees to beware!

 

The news article by Sean Murphy of the Associated Press indicated that after a meeting with Republican House members on the budget situation, Representative Randy McDaniel would be tasked with the overhaul of the public pension systems.  To read the article click here.

 

According to the article, House Speaker-designate Kris Steele was quoted as saying, “We can no longer continue to do business as usual. We must address the growing unfunded liabilities of our pension plans and create a modern retirement system.”

 

Citizens responded on the blog saying:

 

Watch out Okla. State employees, the shysters are after commissions and rolling the dice with your future. Lanny from Tulsa


If I worked for the state, I would NOW be very concerned. Tony from Tulsa

 

Hey, how’s about they lead by example and reform their own pension plans first? Keven from OKC

 

Oh boy, here we go. It’s the old let those reliable folks on Wall Street take all our money and bet it at the dog track routine. Ken from Norman

 

OPEA has cautioned the legislature against rash decisions.

 

“For years, state employees have been told by leadership that our salaries are low because our benefits are good,” said OPEA Deputy Director Scott Barger. “It seems that the House has forgotten that state employees have not had a raise since 2006 and appear to be making a desperate grab for money to shore up the budget. State employees had better pay attention and get involved or you may be sitting on a street corner in your twilight years.”

 

OPEA has repeatedly warned legislators about the funding issues with the state pension systems.

 

“The pension systems, whether it’s the system for teachers, firefighters, police or public employees,” said Barger. “None of them have been funded properly. When there is a downturn, it’s a perfect opportunity to claim we need reform. It’s another way for state leaders to pass on paying the obligations to our state’s employees and retirees.”

 

OPEA urges all state employees to get involved in OPEA locally.

 

“The future of state employees hangs in the balance,” said Barger. “We can sit by and watch 35 years of work be taken away or state employees can rally together to stop the starvation of government and the wholesale grab at state employees’ benefits.”

Posted on Thu, September 16, 2010 by Trish Frazier

3 comments (Add your own)

1. Bob wrote:
With it applying to new employees to start with is good on one hand but on the other hand it will be nearly impossible to recruit new hires. I have 18 years in and the only reason I stayed was because of the pension. My friends in the private sector have lost their pensions and have to rely on a 401 which they say is making no money for them and they are worried. The difference is they make around 90,000. for doing the job I'm paid 40,000. for, and theres your sign folks!

Thu, September 16, 2010 @ 3:50 PM

2. Bobby wrote:
I chose to go to state service after getting a masters degree because of the retirement. I went years witout a raise because of the retirement. I put up with abusive, incompetent supervisors because of the retirement. I tolerated the terrible work hours because of the retirement. The main reason I continued was that I had too much time invested in my retirement to leave. I ended up staying 26 years. I foresee a revolving door employment situation with little incentive for seasoned staff to stay when they can go elsewhere and make more money and have the same retirement deal. The retirement system has been ignored for quite sometime and that is not the fault of state employees. Whatever changes come,they MUST apply to Judges and Legislators as well. Although the article states that current employees will not be effected, I would be very watchful of what happens behind closed doors next spring. If you are elligible for retirement, you need to carefully consider your options.

Thu, September 16, 2010 @ 5:57 PM

3. Lance wrote:
There was an article recently in the Oklahoman about other State retirements, and it's truly amazing the measures some States are taking. Mississippi is upping employee contributions to 9 percent! On the other hand Wyoming is going from zero percent contribution to 1.4 percent. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying an extra 1 or 2 percent if it would shore up OUR retirement and not fatten the pockets of the State. It would be nice if the State would also look at us as employees and pay us decent wages in bad times as well as good times, even though we didn't even get raises in good times.

Mon, September 20, 2010 @ 4:06 PM

Add a New Comment

Enter the code you see below:
code
 

Comment Guidelines: No HTML is allowed. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Thanks.