Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
Oklahoma Lawmakers Grant Retirees Much-Needed Relief
This week, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a budget that properly funds pension systems and provides inflation relief to tens of thousands of retired public employees.
Public outcry following the Senate’s original spending proposal, which included a funding cap on the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), prompted hundreds of educators to contact their representatives, forcing lawmakers to reconsider the proposal’s possible consequences for the system and retirees. Coalition advocacy led to a swift turnaround legislatively.
Keep Oklahoma’s Promises released a press release detailing the key pension improvements, which will now become law:
- Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs): Providing adjustments for many retirees across multiple systems, including teachers, police, firefighters, judges, and public employees—structured to maintain the financial integrity of each system.
- Protection of Dedicated TRS Funding: Maintaining Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) dedicated revenue, a key factor in the system’s continued progress toward full funding, and reinforcing Oklahoma’s commitment to responsible pension management.
- Targeted Support for ‘Tweener’ Retirees (Police and Firefighters): Addressing a long-standing gap affecting a specific group of police officers and firefighters who fall between prior plan structures and have not benefited from past enhancements.
“Strong pension systems and supporting retirees are not competing priorities—they go hand in hand,” said Debra Wojtek, Executive Director of Keep Oklahoma’s Promises. “This session reflects a thoughtful approach to both.”
New York Mayor Floats Risky Pension Funding Plan
Facing a $5.4 billion budget deficit that he has called a “generational fiscal crisis,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, like the previous Mayor, is now considering delaying pension contributions to address the city’s fiscal needs.
The Mayor’s potential plan is nothing new–state and local government officials across the country have historically viewed pension contributions as options for other budgetary needs–but that doesn’t make it any less troublesome. Studies have shown that delaying employers’ contributions can impose decades-long consequences on the system’s overall health.
While resetting the amortization on pension obligations is a common practice, watchdogs urge caution as it would push fiscal responsibility onto future lawmakers, employees, and taxpayers. Properly funded public pension systems drive the economy and promote shared prosperity, keeping public servants in their jobs and in their communities.
Representatives from the impacted unions have yet to weigh in on the proposal.
Michigan Prison Woes Sink to New Low
Staggering vacancy rates in Michigan’s Department of Corrections have been wreaking havoc on the state’s ability to properly manage its incarcerated population for years–and now the crisis is reaching a boiling point.
Nick Marco, a former corrections officer in the Upper Peninsula who left his position after being stabbed by an inmate, spoke with Interlochen Public Radio about conditions in Michigan’s prisons:
“If you’re assaulted, you almost always have zero backup for a very long time,” he said. “At that point, to be frank, it’s animalistic. Kill or be killed, essentially. Not a career, not public service, no rules or honor.”
While corrections staffing shortages have been plaguing states especially hard since the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of proper benefits, including a defined benefit pension, has made it especially difficult for Michigan prisons to retain safe staffing levels. The Great Lakes State eliminated its pension for state employees in 1997 and has suffered a continuous decline in applications and employee retention.
Marco spoke on this, saying, “No reasonable person would subject themselves to the strains of high-security prison work, in a not-supportive political climate for law enforcement, for $25 to $34 an hour with no pension if they have other alternatives,” he
said. “It’s just not worth it.”
Michigan Department of Corrections Victor Deihl Jr. told CBS Detroit, “We’ve been told that there’s been a bill sitting on Governor Whitmer’s desk for two years now [expanding the pension to Correctional workers], and all she has to do is sign it, and we’re still waiting,” Deihl said.
Be sure to check back next Friday for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement! For now, sign up for NPPC News Clips to receive daily pension news from across the country directly to your inbox.