SEIU is partnering with organizations across the country to find solutions that will deliver retirement security to more people, not force them into poverty. The economic crisis and the elimination of pension funds in the private sector threaten to send millions of retirees into poverty, a problem that would only be exacerbated by a proposed plan in Congress to gut Medicare.

California

In California, SEIU members have been pushing to expand retirement security to more Californians even as they work to ensure that public pension funds remain sustainable, safe, and secure for generations to come.

SEIU members testified at hearings of the Joint Legislative Committee on Pension Reform that was considering Governor Brown's pension reform proposals. SEIU has consistently supported efforts to ban spiking and curb excessive executive retirement payouts, but pointed out that pension reforms are best achieved through the collective bargaining process. The legislature passed Gov. Brown's pension bill which will increase employee contributions, limit spiking and double-dipping, and cap pensions. Under the new law, new employees' full retirement age will increase to age 67.

Gov. Jerry Brown also signed into law a bill to create the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program, the nation's first state-administered retirement savings program for private-sector workers. Secure Choice is a voluntary retirement plan with modest guaranteed benefits for workers who don't have access to an employer-sponsored plan. This plan will act as a supplement to Social Security and will be professionally managed and portable so workers can take their retirement savings from job to job.

SEIU members from locals 1000, 521, 721, 1021, and 99 lobbied key members of the California Assembly Appropriations Committee and the California Assembly Speaker to ask their legislative representatives to support this ground-breaking legislation.

Florida

In March, a Florida judge ruled that contribution increases for public employees were a breach of contract with the 560,000 members of the Florida Retirement System. The judge ruled that the pension changes were "an unconstitutional impairment of plaintiff's contract with the State of Florida, an unconstitutional taking of private property without full compensation, and an abridgement of the rights of public employees to collectively bargain over conditions of employment."

The state has appealed this ruling; the appeal is now pending before the State Supreme Court.

Illinois

In late April 2012, Governor Quinn released a proposal to reduce retirement benefits for current employees (hired before Jan. 1, 2011) in the state's three largest pension plans (TRS, SERS, and SURS). The Governor wants to raise the retirement age to 67, reduce the annual cost-of-living increase, and require public employees to contribute an additional 3% toward their pensions.

The coalition of public sector unions (We Are One Illinois) has made the case that Quinn's proposed changes put the entire burden of paying down the state's unfunded liability onto public employees who have made their required contributions every year while the state has often failed to do so.

We Are One Illinois is advocating that retirement reforms must be constitutional and must be negotiated with all stakeholders at the table.

Kansas

The state legislature passed a law that creates a cash balance plan for state employees hired on or after January 1, 2015.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Republican-led House and Senate proposed a slew of major cuts to public employees' pension plans. Public employees, who do not receive Social Security, actively opposed the measures which would impoverish retired workers.

The final legislation creates a cash balance plan for new hires among state employees and higher education employees. This plan threatens to reduce retired public employees to poverty-level incomes upon retirement.

Michigan

The state Senate voted for an immediate conversion to a DC plan for members of the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System (MPSERS). However, given an actuarial report that indicated that such a shift would add $10 billion to the school districts' liability, both houses authorized a study of the proposal to close the existing school employees' plan (a hybrid) to new hires in lieu of a DC plan.

The Segal Company is conducting the study and is due to present its findings to the legislature by November 15, 2012.

The legislature also passed a bill which enacts the following cuts for school employees: increased employee contributions, increased cost of retiree health care, and the elimination of retiree health care coverage for new hires. Implementation of the law has been stopped by the state court pending a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. The next court hearing will be held in late November of 2012.

New Hampshire

During the 2012 legislative session, the House passed a bill which would move all new hires into a 401(k)-type defined contribution plan. However, the actuarial report on the House's proposal concluded that such a move would immediately increase the retirement system's unfunded liability by $1.2 billion. The actuaries further reported that the DC bill would cost cities, towns, and school districts $222 million dollars over the next two years.

Rather than agree to this huge increase in liability, the Senate passed a bill which would create a commission to study defined contribution pensions. The House refused to pass the Senate's bill, but a House committee is undertaking its own DC study and plans to push for DC conversion again in 2013.

SEIU L. 1984 leaders are working closely with the New Hampshire Retirement Security Coalition. They advocate that all stakeholders should be brought to the table to make a sustainable plan for the future of the NHRS.

New York

In March, the legislature (working with Gov. Cuomo) passed a pension bill that will increase employee contributions and decrease benefits for new employees. Unions and allies successfully fought the worst of the proposals, including a 401(k) plan (instead of a pension) for public employees.

Ohio

The state legislature passed (and the Governor signed) pension reform bills for each of the five statewide plans. These proposals were proposed by the retirement systems themselves. The new laws will increase employee contribution rates and retirement ages for some current and all future employees. COLAs for future retirees will also be reduced.

Public employees in Ohio worked hard to preserve the defined benefit pensions that are the most cost-effective route to retirement security.

Oregon

In January, SEIU members took part in a legislative hearing highlighting the collapse of secure retirements in the private sector. Doug Hall, Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network, testified about a report his group did about the economic insecurity of many retired Oregonians. Former Wall Street Journal reporter Ellen Schultz testified about the information contained in her book Retirement Heist, which examines the ways in which corporations have destroyed their workers' pension plans and greatly expanded executive pension packages. AARP member Daniel Rodriguez and SEIU Homecare worker Kit Good also testified.

As a part of an effort to raise the profile of retirement security issues, SEIU also demonstrated across the state on March 15th, the day at which the top 1% of all income earners stop paying their Social Security taxes.

Pennsylvania

In 2010, public sector unions worked with the legislature and the governor to make the public pension plans more sustainable. However, Gov. Corbett and legislative leaders have now proposed converting both statewide pension plans (state employees and school employees) to a defined contribution plan in 2013.

Rhode Island

In late 2011, Rhode Island created a hybrid plan (with some elements of a defined benefit plan and some elements of a defined contribution plan) for most current workers, increased the normal retirement age, and froze COLAs. Public employees have filed a lawsuit arguing that the changes to accrued benefits violate state law.

Wisconsin

Despite the fact that the Wisconsin Retirement System is considered one of the best in the country, Gov. Walker and his legislative allies inserted a provision into the 2011 budget bill which created a study committee to explore a defined contribution plan for public workers. SEIU worked with other public sector unions to hold information sessions throughout the state highlighting issues related to the Wisconsin Retirement System and the important role it has in the state. In the summer of 2012, the study committee praised the WRS as a model state retirement system and indicated a DC option is unnecessary.

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