(First in an occasional series) The most frequently asked questions about the financial fiasco in Oregon’s public pension system are: What happened? Why did it happen? Who created this mess? Public employee unions like to blame the Wall Street bankers who helped trigger the 2008 global financial crisis. The resulting stock market meltdown cleaved 27…
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Ted Sickinger | The Oregonian/OregonLive John Thomas, a Eugene financial consultant who has chaired the board of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System for the past six years, ran his last meeting this month. It’s an obscure, unpaid and somewhat thankless position. But the PERS Board has enormous influence over the administration of the state’s…
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The Portland Tribune – Steve Buckstein Legislature should move all public employees, including teachers, to 401(k)-style defined-contribution retirement plans What do Pac-Man and public pensions have in common? An intriguing 2016 national study of pension debt and teacher salaries recently answered this question. Depending on what economic assumptions are made, it’s likely that unfunded public pension…
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Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment of Platforms 2018, a series on the policy positions and records of Oregon’s two leading gubernatorial candidates. Hillary Borrud | The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon’s government never seems to have enough money. Even with the economy purring in 2017, top lawmakers from both parties warned that the state was headed…
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The Oregonian – Ted Sickinger Gov. Kate Brown has settled on a retired tech executive to be the next board chair for Oregon’s complicated, underfunded and controversial Public Employees Retirement System, despite the nominee’s apparent reluctance to immediately lead the body. Sadhana Shenoy is the right choice to lead the board because “she’s extremely bright”…
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The Oregonian – Helen Jung As campaign promises often are, Gov. Kate Brown’s seven-point education strategy is long on aspiration and short on specifics. Brown doesn’t say how she would fund the teacher hiring spree that would be required by her proposal to reduce class sizes in grades K-3 across the state. She doesn’t mention…
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The Argus Observer – Larry Meyer ONTARIO — Although there had been talk several months earlier about him running for governor of Oregon, Knute Buehler said he didn’t decide until later in the summer of 2017 to throw his hat in the ring. He won the Republican nomination in the May Primary to be on…
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Hillary Borrud | The Oregonian/OregonLive State economists delivered mixed news for Oregonians on Wednesday, confirming that taxpayers will likely receive a “kicker” rebate in two years while warning it could coincide with a recession. “These are always really the things that are so difficult for economic forecasters to get ahold of, when times are changing,”…
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Portland Tribune – Paris Achen At 77 percent, Oregon has one of the worst on-time graduation rates in the nation and one of the shortest school years, according to federal statistics. PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP – Gov. Kate Brown Gov. Kate Brown released her seven-step education policy agenda Monday, Aug. 27, components of which will be included in her…
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Curry Coastal Pilot – Jane Stebbins Curry County Commissioner Tom Huxley wrote in an email Tuesday he didn’t approve of the new contract forged with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) employees because the cost to the county is just too high. “The citizens of Curry County simply cannot afford the exorbitant benefits provided to county…
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OPB – Rob Manning Benefits for current and retired teachers get a bigger share of education spending in Oregon than they do almost anywhere else, according to a new analysis by Bellwether Education, a national think tank. The Bellwether study found Oregon’s spending on health insurance and pensions for teachers has risen much more quickly than…
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Cottage Grove Sentinel – Caitlyn May The League of Oregon Cities has announced its legislative priorities for the 2019 legislative session. The annoucement comes weeks after the league asked cities throughout the state to weigh-in with the Cottage Grove City Council compiling a list detailing what issues the city preferred lobbying efforts focused on. The…
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