The following letter was sent from Timothy Liegey to Governor Larry Hogan, U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, as well as members of the Maryland General Assembly. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
Dear Governor Hogan:
My name is Timothy Liegey and I am a school librarian with the Harford County Public School system. I am writing to you in regard to the Maryland State Pension System. As an employee who has contributed nearly 20 years into the state pension system, I have great concerns regarding the Maryland House of Delegate plan to reduce contributions to the state pension system.
The history of the pension system in Maryland has been extremely volatile to say the least. It started with former Governor Parris Glendening who intentionally underfunded the retirement system so he could spend more during his final years in office. During this period, the General Assembly adopted the Corridor Funding Method freezing state pension contributions at their levels unless the system fell below 90 percent of the funding it would need to meet its obligations. Furthermore, Nathan Chapman became a money manager for Maryland’s pension system under Gov. Glendening and in that role, was able to arrange public investment in his own companies, causing an estimated loss for the pension system of $6 million.
Next, former Governor Robert Ehrlich gave state teachers extra pension benefits (to gain political favor) which dragged the retirement programs deeper into unfunded pension obligations.
Finally former Governor Martin O’Malley pushed a series of pension reforms through the legislature that cut worker benefits and increased their current contributions. He pledged to reinvest some of the savings, $120 million in each of the first two years and then eventually as much as $300 million annually, back into the system, with the goal of restoring it to 80 percent funding by 2023 and to 100 percent funding about 15 years after that. Of course, that did not happen and eventually the state legislators “borrowed” $200 million out of the system.
This brings us to the present. I have just read that the House budget includes changing the state’s pension funding system, enabling the state to pay about $75 million less into it and slowing repayments to a local income tax reserve fund.
How long will these games with the Maryland State Pension System continue? This is not Monopoly money being manipulated here. It is the hard work, sweat, and earnings of teachers and state employees who have been paying into this system since the beginning of their careers with the promise that the money would be there for them when they retired. With this latest shell game being played in Annapolis, I am left to wonder if there will be a pension system when I and my colleagues retire in the decades ahead.
I suppose for me (and my fellow teachers) the most galling part about all of this is the fact that the legislators in Annapolis have left their separate pension system alone and have chosen to play all of these games with the people’s money. As a teacher, I have to work 30 years to be vested in a system that will guarantee me a maximum of 41% of my highest salary (assuming I choose a single annuity – 35% if I choose the double annuity). Meanwhile, the politicians in Annapolis only have to work 16 years to earn a maximum of 66% of their highest salary.
I have been a school librarian for nearly 20 years now. Under the legislative pension, I could have retired by now. Also, as an employee in the Harford County Public School system, my teacher contract has not been honored these past 6 years resulting in the loss of step increases promised to all teachers in the contracts we signed when hired on as teachers. The end result is that my future pension benefits have been reduced due to the loss of income in the present.
And if all that was not enough, during Gov. O’Malley’s administration, all teachers were forced to contribute an extra 2% into a pension fund that was underfunded by politicians, not teachers. In addition to the absurdity of superimposing this 2% “tax” on teachers, it is a fact that this extra money is not even going into the pension fund but instead to a general fund where the politicians in Annapolis can spend it any way they like. And on top of that, the legislators in Annapolis exempted themselves from the same increase! Really? I was under the impression that elected officials were supposed to serve the people not screw them.
Now I understand that both you and Comptroller Franchot are against this latest maneuver in the House budget to divert funds from the underfunded pension system. First, I would like to thank both of you for your stance. Second, I would like to implore you and the Comptroller to stand firm against both Speaker of the House Michael Busch and Senate President Mike Miller in their attempts to further devastate the pension fund. Their actions in Annapolis regarding this issue have shown that they are no friends to teachers and state employees.
You ran on a platform pledging to work on behalf of all citizens in Maryland. For the record, I am registered as an Independent and voted for you because I am sick and tired of partisan politics and felt you were the best candidate for the job. I do not believe the pension issue is a Democratic or Republican issue; nor is it a liberal or conservative issue. It is a people issue and there is an obligation on the part of all legislators in Annapolis to honor the wishes and promises made to those people who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the citizens of Maryland to do the peoples’ work and educate the children of all Marylanders.
Please, please, please, fight those who would renege on these promises and protect the pension system for those who have earned it and are entitled to it.
Sincerely,
Timothy Liegey
Harford County Public Schools
Well done. If only the rest of the state of Md. took the time to educate themselves on the crimes committed in Annapolis by the Democrats.
That’s right I said it, the Democrats. Trying to share the blame on both parties in your statement is laughable. It’s ok to name the criminals. Don’t be afraid.
The ultimate irony is that the teacher’s unions have pretty much been in the back pocket of the Dem Party for many years, all the while their wallets are being bled dry by the party they support.
Maryland is a great example of why you need a balanced 2 party structure where you have good debate and the inability to pass every. single. tax. and social program. you “feel” is best. I can not wait to move from this place.
I agree about the evils of one party government. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS IN HARFORD COUNTY!
Heading down to Florida very soon, non teaching Jon but same field of profession, going from 45,000 a year to $280,000.
Cheap real estate (compared to MD), no state income tax, and no A-Hole Maryland culture.
Win for me. Sorry for all the suckers who stick it out in this empty, Payless, go nowhere career that you row like a slave.
How much you think a 2000 square foot single family home on 10 acres sells for in central Florida? Your mind will be blown.
It is not just in Florida that real estate prices are much more reasonable. Just getting out of the Washington to Boston corridor can make a huge improvement in home prices. It pays to shop around to find states that are more friendly to your finances.
Maryland is NOT one of them.
This is a bipartisan screwing. Beside many conservatives think we should take the pension from them.
Not sure what is worse, the elected people in Annapolis doing this stuff,
or the PEOPLE who ELECT THEM………..
Most of the retirement money has been gambled away or stolen. The resolution for this will be that the workers will be absolved of your retirement benefits when bankruptcy is filed first on the city levels, followed by the county, and finally by the State levels. You will be offered a huge reduction in benefits during the bankruptcy process or be left with nothing. Detroit is already doing this and many parts of California are
doing this as well.
Promising you something is one thing…………..paying is another.
Those places don’t have AAA bond ratings! Taxes can always be raised for the citizens to pay for their contractual obligation. A court may be called on to order it!
Simple solution:
Cash out all the employees based upon their share of the fund balance by their contributions into the fund and convert to a 403b or other defined contribution plan. Then Annapolis wouldn’t be able to raid the fund.
get rid of pensions altogether
I would be absolutely ECSTATIC if the state would allow me to roll the value of my pension into my own 403B or 457. But then, that would defeat the purpose of having the fund to begin with, wouldn’t it? I mean, where would the pols “borrow” their money from?
MD passed a constitutional amendment to prevent raiding the transportation trust fund, maybe another is needed to prevent raiding the pension funds.
Including the state pickup that they got and was taxed!
This also could be solved by duplicating what is done in the private sector. Abolish the pension system for all new employees, including elected officials, and move them into a 401(k). This has the added benefit of moving the retirement benefits with the employee when they move onto a different job.
Of course, salaries would have to go up marginally to balance the loss of future retirement income.
If current state workers stop paying into the pension system, who will pay my pension benefit that I depend on to pay my bills? Are you going to propose that Marylanders pay even more taxes to cover the cost of my pension benefit? I’ve got at least another 20 years (probably more than 30!) owed to me from the pension and there are tens of thousands of people like me and more every day.
@ Retiree – These bozos on here could care less about you. They only care about themselves unless it’s election time and they need your vote for some politician that they support. Then it is still all about them. If politicians didn’t spend all the tax dollars on BS and raid pension funds to make it up, we wouldn’t have to listen to these clowns on here tell us how we need to throw retirees and seniors under the bus to fix it. We made a commitment that we should and can honor with some fiscal responsibility.
This will be fun to watch as time goes on. When the high paying private sector union jobs with pensions were being shipped out of the country, where were the teacher’s unions to to join the fight against it? Face it, they ran their noses in the air. And, most government employees had the same attitude. For educated people they failed to see that those jobs paid their salaries and supported their pensions.
Now, for the first time in our history, most workers in the country are part time with no benefits – certainly no pensions. So, where are you going to get the money to pay for an exclusive government pension. Answer is down the road you will not. Eventually, the courts will be forced to accept state bankruptcy because you cannot confiscate everything from part time workers. If you are under 50 and expect a state pension…. good luck.
Fun to watch the country fall apart as people struggle just to survive? Your are a real piece of …………..
Never said it was fun to have watched the country slide into this mess; but it will suffice a degree of hilarity to watch states like MD suffer what they ‘hath wrought’ others. Wheels have been set in motion where bankruptcy is the only ultimate conclusion. We are continuing the phoney baloney process with pensions while Hogan brags about no loss of state jobs. We have sunk pretty low to claim a success for not raising taxes and not shrinking government when we just got through years of taxes and bloated government. I mean, even Brown promised not raise taxes. Big deal.
So, go ahead and think I am low rent for finding fun in the scenario. To me, absurdity is always mirthful. Half the people who have a job in the private sector live paycheck to paycheck – no quality healthcare and no pension. They will grow old in poverty. Why should I not smile and shake my head when finally the same end will befall the government employees – especially when most of this is their fault.
Wow. You really have no idea how the pension system works, do you? It is a CONTRIBUTORY system; the TEACHERS are the ones that are funding their pensions, not workers from other jobs. The idea is, like any investment, to contribute money to it over a period of time, and let the interest compound; if market history holds true, there should be funds available to pay out to those who contributed when they retire.
The problem is that the politicians took a portion of the money they required by law that educators contribute, and put it in the General Fund, NOT the teachers pension fund. They can do anything they want with that money while in the meantime, if used, it is not collecting interest.
I recognize how desperately you want to blame teachers for the ruin of their own pension system, but it’s not going to work. Like many of us, we have our politicians to blame for subjecting us to rules and regulations that they would NEVER consider subjecting themselves to.
Oh Boy are you wrong. Do at least a modicum of research before you post such drivel. Teachers only contribute a small fraction…. and I mean a very small fraction against their pensions.
Just think for a moment okay…. like try and think. What the teachers contribute isn’t even a good 401k contribution. If you want any money at all in your 401k you need to contribute up to 10% of your gross salary into it. Then, when you get over 50 yrs old you would need to put in the maximum which is over $20k per year.
Get real. The teachers contribute virtually nothing. It is pocket lint regardless of what the state does with their piddling contribution.
Teachers contribute 7% of their salary to the pension system.
Teachers contribute 7% the local government kicks in 2% known as the State Pick Up! Who puts in most of the money? Additionally teachers put an extra 2% into the general fund!
You would have to contribute 10% until you could do the catch up at $20k to have almost anything in a 401K and then the return would be only what you put in. Teachers pensions are based on their highest paid last several years, not their ongoing contributions and it has a guarantee based on a minimum return of 8%. There is no way their return is based on their contribution.
Except that by the time they retire, teachers have been putting that chunk of their salary for over 30 years. Plus, the pension only covers about 41% of the final salary.
You might be the most ill informed poster I’ve seen on the Dagger. Not to mention, you completely missed the point, which is politicians putting teachet pension contributions into the general fund. This isn’t about teachers wanting more; it’s about them not wanting their pension money, the stuff they are made by law to contribute, to be used as a piggy bank by the clan in Annapolis.
Except – The contribution of 7% over 30 years still leaves you as a minimum $330k short if a female lives to a full normal life expectancy. Some better paid employees would leave the contribution $500k or more short.
And yes, I understand the contribution goes into the general fund, but so does the pension payment because the payout is still greater than if they would have set it aside.
Again, the real issue is that nobody else is getting pensions while at the same time reduced to part time jobs. The pensions are going away because the private sector cannot afford a separate class of citizens that have greater benefits than everybody else.
Please tell me how the private sector can no longer afford to pay the pensions of retired military, police officers, teachers and other government workers. Without them there would be no private sector. They sacrifice while your sorry ass reaps the benefits while at the same time you show total ignorance for what they have done for you. You are an ungrateful child. Your silly excuse of part-time workers having to foot the bill for pensions is completely irrelevant. Is there an increase in part-time work…sure…2% increase from 2013-2014…but it is insignificant to the overall effects on the revenue for federal and state governments. More than 70% of all taxes in this country are paid for by less than 10% of the population who are not working part-time. And it’s not that those 10%, including you, can’t afford to pay for the services the government provides including pensions…they just don’t want to. Keep on selling your anti-government talking points and I’m sure the services the government provides will be there when you need them.
Government employee – Thank you for your post. Now you know why this will be fun to watch. I particularly like how you figure to wrangle more money out of the 10% – which except for PG County fed/state employees, the wealthy have been fleeing MD in droves. You can tout your importance about how nobody would have anything without you. It changes nothing. BLS reports average hours worked per wk are 34 with no benefits. The money isn’t there. The way the state is juggling the pensions should tell you that.
Personally, I have gotten to the point that I could care less if you think folks “just don’t want to” pay for your benefits. Your you-didn’t-build-that attitude just makes the final outcome all that more enjoyable. I am still chuckling over how all government employees “sacrifice.” But since you feel you have sacrificial experience, it will be easy for you to adjust to living like everyone else.
Seriously? 300K-500K to cover the maximum pension shortfall of a police officer, soldier, teacher, etc.? Over the life of those individuals that is a pittance for the services they provide you! You should be thankful it costs so little! I think you might actually want to seek out these government workers that you so desperately despise and actually thank them for doing so much for so little.
Serious,
Of those people who actually have a private sector job, almost half live paycheck to paycheck. They will grow old in poverty. To a government employee all puffed up with self importance $300k – $500k is a pittance. I understand that.
In fact, I am glad you posted such an attitude. Folks can get a real clear picture of how little you care about how others have to live while you feel you deserve oh so much more.
Hey numbnuts, maybe you should read this article in Forbes, a real liberal publication.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2014/09/04/part-time-jobs-are-increasing-but-dont-blame-obamacare-yet/
Maybe your parents should have taught you manners and polite discourse!
I think your diatribe that the world is coming to an end is pure Tea Party nonsense. Pay your taxes and say thanks for the services provided. You may not need them all the time, but when you need it it will be there. Be it the court system, prisons, planning and zoning, or mane any other public service it is there for society to function. It is my job to provide it for a fee. Pay up and stop mooching on all other tax paying citizens.
Blue,
I pay every dime I owe. Perhaps you failed to read the article to which this thread is attached. The pension money isn’t fully there now and the state is once again playing games. So, if there is mooching going on…. it ain’t by me.
Maryland has had tax after tax and increased spending 9.1% in the last two years. And still the pension money isn’t there. Whether or not government employees face reality is beside the point. You can offer some slack-jawed, hackneyed tea party comment but it changes nothing.
Get over yourself.
A teacher contributing 7% of their annual salary will contribute an average of 4200 per year. Over 30 years, and an average rate of return of 8% will bring the balance of their pension to about 514,000.
When a teacher retires, they get roughly 41% of their final salary. Based on a 75k final salary, they would get about 30k per year.This would only last for about 17 years; however, the fund continues to collect interest. So after their first draw brings their balance down to 484k, a return of 8% would add around 38k to the fund. So it is conceivable that the fund could be earning interest at a faster rate than a retiree is allowed to draw.
You can verify my numbers by consulting the state pension system, HCPS payscales, amd a compound interest calculator.
Except – Except for the fact that the guaranteed 8% rate of return is not from some fund manager on Wall Street. The 8% is from the tax payers of Maryland. Sure, there has been some public investment, but historically it has been cronyism that results in a loss (note the article above). It also goes without saying that my fund manager doesn’t give me my average contribution times the number of years and simply cut me a check.
To really contribute to one’s retirement you would have to give about 10% of your income – earning a real return – up until you are over 50 yrs. old and then hit the max (about $24k now) for about 10 years.
I understand the consternation of teachers. But they have organized and voted for the people that put them in this situation. Even if the feds passed a law that each state had to have an equal proportion of private sector top 10% tax payers, Maryland could not dig out of its problem.
Financial advisers suggest that people earning approximately 75k at retirement (approximately what retiring teachers earn) should aim to replace about 76% of their income. The amount of savings you propose, 10% with a jump to the max after age 50, would most likely do that. So in that, you are correct (although starting off at about 6% and adding a percentage per year until you max is the much more recommended method). However, the state teacher pension is only aiming to replace approximately 41% of pre-retirement income, which is why the 7% is adequate to fund this financial goal.
On the Maryland State Teacher Pension website you can find a list showing all the funds in their investment portfolio, as well as the performance reports from the past 5 years. A very diverse portfolio, with funds through Fidelity and TIAA-CREF. I’m not sure what kind of cronyism is going on between the state of Maryland and those two companies, but I’d be glad to find out about it if you could provide the information. If you are referring to Nathan Chapman, then yes, you have a point. And so does Mr. Liegey. We need to keep crooks away from the public coffers. Or should I say, the politicians need to keep crooks away from the public coffers. Or should I say, the politicians should not do with the people’s money that they wouldn’t allow done with their own.
And I’m sorry, but blaming the teachers for the fraud that was committed against their pension fund, whether they endorsed the people who appointed the crooks or not, is ridiculous, and it rings of your joy in seeing innocent people getting screwed because you disagree with them politically. NO ONE deserves to have their money stolen by crooked people. Not you, not me, not anyone. And there are PLENTY of former politicians and bankers from both parties who are in or have been in jail.
Par time,
Maybe you should read the article. What a putz.
What about the fact that a teacher can draw a disability pension for being hurt even at home after 5 years of service is that true. I was able to verify that is true for other state workers. So for example a social worker who works for the state is home falls and breaks their hip and for some reason cannot return to work. They get a disability pension for the rest of their life. Must have 5 years of service and it DOES NOT have to occur at work.
What about that fact?
5 yars service time gives you the right to a real small benefit if disabled for a chronic medical condition non-work related. I don’t think a fall or braking some bones actually makes you disabled. A disabilitywork related can pay you more than just any other non-work related disability. Still the payment would be based on your service time and your salary.I looked at my yearly statement from pension fund and it would have paid me $345 after5 years of service time for non-work related and $457 for work-related. Hardly a benefit that anyone would want unless you are truly disabled..
Except – Nice gentlemanly post so I will answer in kind: the 7% contribution does not in reality net the teachers the 41% return, which is why the money isn’t there – the guarantee return of 8% is tax payer money that the state cannot produce in full. The state is juggling books and there is no resolve in sight. Maryland will go bankrupt before it reduces the bureaucracy or the number of bureaucrats.
I am sorry also, but the teachers are culpable in continuously supporting the same candidates that took their votes and proceeded to stab them in the back – both fed and state. The posts I read have the teachers wanting more money – and a fully funded pension – merely for putting up with a working environment they hate. I have yet to read anything about the teachers organizing to change their situation – they simply get in step with the politicians to blame everything on greedy tax payers, who by in large are so much worse off than any teacher. So, you understand my perspective to find the situation a little funny.
Teachers supported David Craig?????
You can insist all you want that things are the way you want them to be, but the mathmatics simply refute your claim, and as I stated in a previous post, a compound interest calculation based on average market return and average teacher contribution shows it. It is clear that you WANT the system to fail so that you justify your animosity. But your desire to believe a mathmatical falicy to justify a bias is irrelevant to the facts.
I will reiterate: nobody deserves to have their money fraudulently stolen, regardless of which political candidates they support. Nobody.
Except – It is really frustrating that you do not understand that there is no compound interest in the pension system. The state does not isolate the money and invest it in an actual fund that returns 8% compounded. Can you understand that? The 8% is only a guarantee from the tax payers…. get it. That is why we are in the mess we are in. The fund is short. It will always be short and getting worse.
And the state is getting worse. Maryland has the highest foreclosures in the country. We are around 1 in 500 houses is under foreclosure. Annapolis knows we are in trouble. It seems like everyone but the state employees realize we are in trouble. You cannot drive out private sector businesses at a record rate and survive.
Complete false and made up facts!Maryland pension system invests its portfolio in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. How much earns or loses is a the hands of those in charge and the market.The real issue is underfunding states portion on a yearly basis. Promising benefits– holding the carrot to employees and keeping full funding always at a minimum. Elected officials and judges fund is funded at 85% to 95% of promised benefits while contributory teachers and employees is at 69% and the state has borrowed from the fund interest free. Politics at work nothing less than highway robbery. In essense it is employees doing public work on an IOU.
blue – another person who cannot read, votes straight democrat and enjoys getting screwed from doing so.
I said the state “does not isolate the money and invest it in an actual fund that returns 8% compounded.” And you say “Complete false and made up facts.” You cannot read or you have a real capacity problem.
Let me repeat: there is no isolated fund that generates a guaranteed compound interest of 8% The 8% guarantee is from the tax payers of Maryland.
I also repeat: the pension system is short. It will always be short because there is never enough tax money to make it flush. Eventually the state will go bankrupt.
Fun job,
It is a question of priorities. I am not asking for higher taxes to fund anything. If law was changed to jncrease my contribution in exchange for a proimse of a mandsted payment by the state, i expectto fund it as promised. Politicians need to stop playing a shell game with our pension. If the state is short they should layoff people,reduce services but pay the promised benefits we work for. I also want anyone else that has a private pension to be funded, businesses just pay insurance and leave the federal govt and tax payer holdingthe private pension. Yet another shell game.. I think you tea baggers show a little too much glee with Hogan. He will be a 1 term governor. That happens in Maryland when democrats think any candidate can get elected. There isn’t any guarantee from the state to fund anything at any compounded rate, are you stupid or on drugs??
That’s strange, because when I called the state pension system the other day to ask where there funds were invested (they referred me to a published list), they clearly stated several times that the money in the fund accrues over the years due to compounds interest based on market performance, much in the same manner as an individual retirement account, 403b, 457, etc. Hmm…well, I guess either they were flat out lying to me, and the fund list and annual performance reports of those investments that are available from their website are complete fabrications, or you simply have no idea what you are talking about.
I’ll tell you what…if you can lead me to some solid information that states that the money in the pension system either isn’t invested in the Fidelity and TIAA-CREF funds as they claim, or is invested in such a way that it doesn’t earn compound interest, I’ll be grateful to educate myself. But if you can’t, well, I’m going to have to consider your claims to be completely invalid, and that you’re just making stuff up because it reinforces your bias.
Now then…where can I find out more about how the pension system investments are fake, or how they’ve figured out a way to invest in a huge stock/bond/mutual fund portfolio for many years, without allowing the interest earned to compound?
Except – What part of “does not isolate” and “guarantee is from the tax payers” do you not understand?
The pension system is nothing more than a slush fund scam for the state – and they are always needing to wet their beak. The state may project an 8% return – which is where the number came from – but it does not exist because all the money is never there. Get it. No, of course you don’t.
If the fund is not truly isolated – as in impervious to being robbed and always short of full contributions – it really isn’t a true pension fund earning 8%. The only guarantee is from the tax payers. Get it. No, of course you don’t.
When you post the following….
“I’m going to have to consider your claims to be completely invalid, and that you’re just making stuff up because it reinforces your bias,”… you look like a moron.
No, you look like a moron when you make claims for which you can provide no evidence, while refuting claims that do.
Tell me where I can read about your claim, provide evidence that the pension fund does not earn compound interest so I can learn.
Hey, by the way…the 8% figure that is often quoted as a rate of return is used because it is the average rate of return in the market between 1930 and present day. That’s why investors assume an 8% rate of return. It’s not because the taxpayers have to pay 8% into the pension fund.
Another fact you can look up.
Go to moneychip.com and use their compound annual growth rate (CAGR) calcuator. Type in 1930 for the start date, check adjusted for inflation and include dividends. You’ll find that the CAGR is 8.35%. That’s why 8% is used as a benchmark in the financial investment/advisory industry.
The republican party is only probusiness and doesn’t give a thought to workers issies. I don’t see why anyone middle class or working class would ever vote for them. Democrats have consistently side on worker issues. While both are somewhat driven by ideology, the reps wouldn’t ever pass anything that benefits society if the balance shifts to less profit in the least. Current softening of water runoff just polutes the bay and let’s polluters such as farming and chicken farms keep on crapping on the bay. Many other examples abound. Family leave act to allow employees unpaid time off was oppossed by reps but have no problem using it Noe that it is law. Heck I know a few conservatives applying for Obama Care because they now get favorable treatment because self employed are some of the biggest tax cheats…
Sided with the middle class by doing things like running up debt, legalizing millions of illegal immigrants to compete for jobs, increasing fuel costs by banning cheap sources for technology that doesn’t exist yet, piling on taxes and rewarding those that don’t contribute at the expense of those that do. Lets not forget voting against the civil rights act.
Only government employees and Wall Street benefit from Democrats…. And Iran, Isis and Russia.
blue – If touting the same ole political bias makes you feel better about the pension mess, go ahead. If complete denial that MD has been nothing but a democrat cesspool that has been robbing your pension, go ahead. If pretending that MD did not waste 250 million on an Obamacare website and that the program is anything but a failure makes you feel better, go ahead.
All of your pretending changes nothing. The small teacher contribution does not and never did pay for the pension payout. And whatever contributions were made became nothing more than a pool of dollars for the democrat state to spend elsewhere. The state employees bought into the lie at the beginning and remain delusional. I think the term is being a useful idiot.
I pay 7% of my income into a pension system that is supposed to pay me back a denifed benefit when I retire. It is the government who is getting me to work for less in exchange for a future benefit. State is to fund their portion to a level they agreed to do when they made changes to the contributory system. Prior to that employees weren’t contributing to the fund. The state owes me my pension which should be funded yearly to meet its minimum solvency level. Pay up!!! Yes they will… I don’t believe Hogan has proposed abolishing or stop paying into the fund. That’s how they get me to work for less than market value in exchange for my pension. You have your IRA or 401K and bonuses which we don’t ever get. If we have it so good, you can join us. Its a free market and I choose to work in govt. You are too stupid to know better.
Except – No sense in overly repeating myself. You are a complete and utter moron. What part of ” isolated” and ” guarantee from the tax payers” do you not understand? Are you that dense, thick and brain dead? You cannot earn compound interest on money that isn’t there! The fund is short, has been and always will be. I don’t need a lesson on compound interest. You need a lesson on the fact that you cannot meet pension obligations on money that isn’t there.
But, once your political party gets you to accept blatant lies they can get you to accept anything like… war on women, man-made climate change and the ever popular “If you like your doctor you can keep him.”
Yes, I understand “isolated” and “guaranteed from the taxpayers”. But those are simply claims that YOU are making. All I’m asking is that you tell me where you learned this information, where you learned that the pension fund does not receive interest from the investments it claims to have in published documents, such as the annual reports from Fidelity and TIAA-CREF that are available from the state pension fund website. As yet, you have stated that your claims are true because you say they are. You’ve been unable to provide any resources or documentation to substatiate your claim. I would be glad to agree with you if you could provide the source of information that led to your claims.
Not sure what you mean by “your political party”, because like many financial professionals, I tend to lean towards more economically conservative candidates.
Except – Okay. I get it. Nobody in there right mind can actually be as stupid as you are. And, I understand that you are obviously representative of a government employee… probably a teacher.
Everybody in their right mind knows that all… get it all… the contributions are not isolated in a fund earning compound interest because…. now get this numbskull… the state drains the money and fails to fully fund the pension. How can anybody… I mean anybody… be so stupid as to not understand that. The state publishes the information on every budget. What do you think the above article is about. Prove it to you? Good grief man.
Well, according to the December 2014 performance report, the pension fund contained 45.4 billion dollars, and had a return on investment of 14.37% for the fiscal year ending June 2014.
So are you telling me that this is all fabricated? There isn’t 45.4 billion in the fund because, well, there is no fund? And there is no return because there is no fund? And you know this is true but you can’t direct me to a single article or news report that exposes the fact that the people running this system are creating fraudulent documents showing billions of dollars worth of investments that don’t exist?
Dumb to watch and even worse to read,
Obviously Except keeps feeding the stray and can’t figure out why it just won’t go away. Take your last bite of kibbles and scram.
Unless “Except” does know why “fun to watch” won’t go away, and just finds it fun to watch him become more and more emphatic over a claim he obviously can’t prove, while simultaneously adding more and more tangible evidence to support his own.
Unless…. Except…. or whomever – Okay I get it. You all are as dumb as stumps or pretending to be such. Fine, then I agree. Every dime the teachers contribute goes into this lock box fund that is isolated from the budget. The state always makes it full contribution to this lock box and all the money is privately invested. Those investments earn compound interest and the state employees pension fund is fully funded. The state has never taken a dime and the pension is 100%.
Therefore the above article is a total lie. The state never robs the fund and every dime is safe and secure. There , you frickin’ morons. I agree with you. Happy frickin’ pension – and stray your ass.
Which brings me a full circle: it will be fun to watch when the state goes bankrupt. Assholes.
Unfortunately, the 2% of a teacher’s salary that the state contributes goes to the general fund instead of into the pension fund. So no, not all contributions go into the pension fund, contributing to a shortfall.
2% – Right you are about the state contributions, but overall it is worse than that. The documentation is everywhere. Here is a sample:
Mdpolicy.org/baltimoresun.com/sra.state.md.us/statebudgetsolutions.org
“A study by the Maryland Public Policy Institute found the state’s pension system faces a long-term shortfall of more than $19 billion, a 72 percent increase in its liabilities since 2008. The long-term shortfall for state retiree health care is estimated to be $9.4 billion.”
“According to the report, Maryland’s pension fund assets only cover 63.47 percent of the fund’s obligations, well below the recommended level of 80 percent.”
“The combined cost to fully meet state pension and OPEB benefits amounts to about $26 billion over the next 30 years, or slightly less than $1 billion a year on top of the existing shortfalls”
“Maryland’s Debt Bomb,” is ludicrous on the face of it”
“Fiscal YTD 12/31/2014 10 Years 5.61%”
Of the money that actually sits in the fund, it earned slightly over 5% in the last 10 yrs. But that is only the money that actually sits in the fund. The total contributions get robbed by the state along with the fact that the state never fully contributes its share. The money is never fully isolated and the only guarantee has been from the tax payers. The moronic deniers will say it ain’t so and that nobody can prove the money isn’t there – making it all the more fun to watch the house of cards collapse.
Pension underfunding is an womgoing issue for years. FYI, OPEB is funded from the general fund to meet its yearly obligation and can be reduced or increased year to year depending on total payouts from prior year. Employees pension has nothing to do with OPEB. But of course you can mix them together and includeall other pension commitments not related to the contributory system. The pension funds. Actually publish returns and funding levels and this information is public. Memo to you, it helps to reduce the liability number when taking account assets into consideration. But that wouldn’t serve your cause. The fact is the the state continually under funds its portion and cuts on its promised portion or passes the buck and makes the counties make extra money to fund their obligation. To your point,there may be implied guarantee to funded fully but mostly the are hoping future economic growth will balance the budget and magically add money over time. Each administration job is to funded some and hope it doesn’t crash during their term in office. Sadly that’s how we oorate and allow our government in both state and federal to operate. I would have more respect for a governor that would make drastic changes to either fully fund t r do away with it. Hogan has been quick to talk about cutting taxes and verynpro-buxiness. The pension, he will funded enough so the unions won’t be up his backside to keep it going but won’t change it much. He is already pssiing of environment folks, teachers and employees but cutting resides passed by Owe Mallet. He doesn’t have te gravitas to make other significant changes because he is already thinking about getting reelected. And if things go real well, he may even thave presidential naspirations. He appealdy to me because he seems even handed so far but only an improved economic upturn will help. That’s why fretting FBI here is a major goal. Sure he is for less spending by feds as long as MD doesn’t get cut? All politicians are the same but somehow his brand is honest and reasoned? I hope it isn’t all just politics and actually proposes ideas good for all Maryland not just business and the rich…
Mr. Liegey, Your union, the HCEA, continues to support the Democratic leadership in Annapolis and Washington, DC at every turn. They have raided the pension fund at will and have underfunded it annually. Your union has gotten what it has paid for. Wake up, man! They don’t care about you or your pension.
FYI
Board of Education of Harford County Reaches Agreement with HCEA
Since August of 2014, Superintendent of Schools Barbara P. Canavan and her staff have been working closely with the Board of Education of Harford County (the Board) and the school community to identify cost saving measures and reductions in order to implement salary improvements. Along with the $3.1 million dollars in funding proposed by the County Executive, the Superintendent and her staff identified $7.0 million in additional cuts to the FY16 proposed budget. These combined efforts resulted in the opportunity to offer a proposed compensation package for all employees.
In accordance with the Open Meetings Act, on April 21 and 22, the Superintendent and select members of her leadership team met with members of the Board to present options for employee compensation packages. Consequently, during closed session and prior to the public Board meeting on April 27, the Board voted on a compensation package to present to the Harford County Education Association (HCEA).
On April 29, 2015, negotiators for the Board presented this proposed compensation package to members of the HCEA negotiating team that translates to at least 90% of our teaching staff receiving as much as a 4.5% increase in pay. HCEA has tentatively agreed to the package and contract agreement.
This package provides all Harford County Public Schools teachers a 1.5% increase in pay to include a 1% COLA and a .5% base pay adjustment. The .5% pay adjustment is a direct result of the collaborative health insurance negotiations between the Board and all bargaining units that occurred earlier this year.
The package includes a step or longevity of approximately 3% for all eligible teachers.
“Harford County Public Schools remains committed to preserving an exemplary instructional program and a collaborative systemic culture. It is my belief that this proposed compensation package will serve as an initial step to improve the long overdue compensation adjustments for our workforce,” said Superintendent Canavan.
Board President Nancy Reynolds shared, “The collaboration with Superintendent Canavan and her staff over the last two years has shown our dedication to maintain the level of education the students of Harford County Public Schools deserve while recognizing the need to enhance employee compensation.”
The Board has now reached this same verbal or tentative contract agreement with all five bargaining units, including HCEA, the Harford County Education Services Council (HCESC), the Association of Public School Administrators and Supervisors of Harford County (APSASHC), the Association of Harford County Administrative, Technical and Supervisory Professionals (AHCATSP), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
http://www.daggerpress.com/2015/04/29/harford-county-board-of-education-reaches-agreement-with-hcea-up-to-4-5-raise-for-most-teachers/