Non-Government Entities in Public Pensions?

Abstract:     
There has been some shock that non-government employees can participate in public pensions designed for government employees. While most of the press has been on union related officials and government association lobbyists in plans, in Kentucky the practice is much deeper and pervasive. Since most taxpayer pension benefits are secret it is hard to tell how pervasive this practice is around the country. As a trustee for Kentucky the deeper I looked the more disturbing I found the additional risks involved with allowing non-government entities into government pensions.

I have heard from other public plans that the IRS is starting to survey the prevalence of non-profits in government plans. Public Pension plans across the country need to increase their transparency and inventory the riskier non-profits in their plans.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 4

Keywords: state, pension, retirement, public, lobbyists, union, benefits

JEL Classification: G23, G38, G28

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