Broadly speaking, policies enacted by [Texan] cities, counties, and school districts tend to favor government-centric solutions that often corrode individual liberty and economic freedom.
Once local pension control has been restored, then Texans in each of the affected communities, including Houston, can have a candid conversation about the best way to fix the problem.
When evaluating the financial health and well-being of Texas’ public pension systems, the Pension Review Board (PRB), the state agency charged with overseeing state and local retirement systems, considers a plan’s amortization period to be best measure.
Over the last few decades, a majority of private sector employers have abandoned defined benefit (DB) pension plans, which guarantee beneficiaries a lifetime of monthly benefits irrespective of the fund’s fiscal health, in favor of defined contribution (DC) plans, which are individual accounts that employers and employees can make contributions into.
With the City of Houston facing such large and growing problems, now is the time to make bold and lasting reforms.
Enshrined within the founding documents of both the United States and Texas is the belief that government derives its power from the consent of the governed.
In the last six months, unfunded liabilities for all state and local retirement systems have grown by nearly $500 million, or about $40 million every month.
Reagan conservatives need not wonder about that. The former President made it abundantly clear that he thought that less government is the best government.
Houston’s fiscal fortunes aren’t as rosy as you might imagine, according to a new report from Moody’s Investor Services, one of the nation’s top three credit ratings agencies.
Most Austinites, and certainly a majority of Texans, probably would agree that city government ought to be focused on fixing potholes and providing for public safety, not coming up with schemes to 'alter the behavior' of residents.
Some concerning new figures have just been released by the Pension Review Board (PRB) that shine a poor light on Texas’ state and local retirement systems.
City governments shouldn’t be able to trample on Texans’ private property rights through forced annexation.