US Census Bureau Releases Annual Survey of Public Pensions |
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In 2020, assets (cash and investments) for state- and local-administered defined-benefit public pensions systems totaled $4.6 trillion, an increase from the 2019 level of $4.4 trillion, according to an annual survey of public pensions released by the U.S. Census Bureau in July 2021.
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Pensions Committee Vice-chair to Leave House Post to Seek Senate Seat |
Texas Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, announced that he is not seeking re-election to his District 63 seat. Instead, he is running to replace Sen. Jane Nelson, who is vacating Senate District 12, an area that went through some shifting due to redistricting.
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How Will COVID-19 Affect Pensions for Noncovered Workers? |
Federal law allows certain state and local government employees to be excluded from Social Security if they are covered by an employer pension of sufficient generosity. As a result, approximately one-quarter of state and local workers are not covered by Social Security on their current job. Before COVID-19, these “FICA replacement plans” all satisfied the letter of the law in terms of providing benefits of sufficient generosity. This study has three aims. The first is to document the immediate impact of COVID-19 on the financial status of FICA replacement plans. The second is to investigate whether COVID-19 has led to cuts in benefit promises among plans, as well as the likelihood of future cuts. The third is to investigate the likelihood that FICA replacement plans will exhaust their trust fund assets and default on benefit promises.
The paper found that:
- Given the minimal impact of COVID-19 on public plans, benefit cuts due to the pandemic have been virtually nonexistent. And recent pre-COVID trends suggest that benefit cut activity will continue to be infrequent.
- A projection of future assets levels for noncovered plans over the next decade suggests only one of 57 plans analyzed faces any real risk of exhausting its assets.
The policy implications are:
- While COVID has had little impact on noncovered plans, these plans – like other public plans – still face the same underlying financial challenges that they did before COVID.
- At the same time, though, virtually all of the noncovered plans analyzed are expected to be able to continue paying benefits over the projection period.
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How severe has the impact of COVID-19 been on your noncovered public pension plan?
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We do not operate a noncovered public pension plan.
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In our October 2021 TEXPERS Outlook newsletter, we polled our members asking, "Have you ever been the victim of a cyberattack, e.g. ID theft, malware, ransomware, etc.?" In the unscientific survey, of the 31 respondents, a majority, 38.7%, indicated, "Yes." Another 32.3% indicated "I'm not sure," and 29% marked, "No." |
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Sponsoring TEXPERS' Conference Helps Pension Fund Trustees and Administrators Gain Valuable Public Retirement Industry Insight |
Sponsorship opportunities are available for TEXPERS' Associate Advisor, Associate, Consultant, Actuary, and Vendor members at our 2022 Annual Conference, April 3-6 in Fort Worth, Texas. Please join us as we empower our local public retirement system members from across the state with the tools and industry insights to manage and govern their retirement funds.
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Rural America at a Glance: 2021 Edition
USDA Economic Research Service
Virtual | Noon CT, Nov. 18, 2021
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Diversity and Race Data: What Census Changes
Mean for Policymakers
National Conference of State Legislatures
Virtual | 1 p.m. CT, Nov. 19, 2021
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National Public Pension Plans
Economics & Investments
Studies & Reports
Legislative/Government Updates
Retirement
Public Employees
*Some links to sites may require registration to access articles.
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TEXPERS Pension Observer
Vol. 4, 2021
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You should be receive the final edition of TEXPERS Pension Observer for 2021 in the mail this month. If you haven't received it already, while you wait for it to arrive in your mailbox, you can access the digital edition by clicking the cover to the left.
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Want to Advertise in TEXPERS'
Membership Magazine? Here's How!
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TEXPERS' quarterly publication Pension Observer offers its Advisor, Associate, Consultant, Actuarial, and Vendor members advertising packages to help you get the word out about your organizations. Click here to access our association's 2022 Rate Sheet.
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about our newsletter supporters
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About Us
The Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS) is a statewide voluntary nonprofit association that provides education and legislative advisory services to the trustees, administrators, professional service providers and employee groups that manage the retirement money of police, firefighters, municipal and district employees in cities across Texas.
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