Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board, Aug. 10, 2018
It's one of those problems that are so big they're easy to ignore and nobody really wants to talk about them. But ignoring it and spinning out platitudes won't make it go away…
…People who don't work for government absolutely should not stand still for any suggestion that they need to ante up even more money for public employee retirements as they struggle to prepare for retirement themselves.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham offers no solution. Her spokesman says she opposes cuts to benefits, including reductions in annual inflation-related adjustments that retired state workers and teachers receive.
Her spokesman also says Lujan Grisham sees no reason to eliminate the defined benefit system. Of course, public employees are a key constituent group for Democrats, but keeping the current structure puts these pension programs on a path to bankruptcy – not exactly a good way to keep a promise to state employees and teachers.
Republican Steve Pearce is more grounded in reality. He correctly says the private sector has moved away from defined benefit pensions because they simply are not sustainable. And he says that while benefits must be preserved for employees in the system, particularly those nearing retirement, that at a minimum, new employees entering the public workforce should have a new system.
Read the full editorial here: https://www.abqjournal.com/1207244/state-pension-fix-should-be-front-and-center.html