Disclosing Pensions: Public Rights, Privacy, and Financial Fraud

There is no question that it makes for good headlines to declare who is making what dollar amount in pension payments. Certainly, watchdog groups have taken advantage of doing so, or conjectured pay-out amounts to stir controversy, like Taxpayers United likes to do at press conferences.

Their position is that any funding taxpayers support should be transparent. As Dr. Tony Fargo, Indiana University Associate Professor of Journalism, told a news investigation team:  “From a public access standpoint, anything that involves the use of public money and the word secret is problematic.”

The Cost of Pensions

On a nationwide basis, pension costs for state and local governments are roughly three percent of total spending.  According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, pension costs since 1980 have been reliably stable, averaging from around four to three percent.

Public Pension Plans: Laboratories of Democracy

The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects states’ prerogative to design and implement public policies that address each state’s unique demographics, political culture, and fiscal constructs.

In the area of retirement benefits for employees of state and local government, the Tenth Amendment also applies to state governments seeking to meet the unique needs and objectives of their stakeholders–the governmental bodies and the public employees within that state.