New Interactive Map Shows Governments That Have Negotiated Pension Plan Changes

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for State and Local Government Excellence has created an interactive map showing a sample of state and local governments that have negotiated changes in pension plans. While there are other sources of information that show yearly changes or that organize reforms by type, the creation of this map allows the cases to be viewed dynamically, in one place, and will continue to be updated by the Center.

View the map here: http://tinyurl.com/pensionreformsmap

The map has information on 20 states, six counties, and 19 cities. Of the 45 locations posted, 32 have links to source information.

The locations were chosen because they have made substantive changes to their public pension plans over the past decade, which include:

• changes to employee/employer contribution rates
• creation of hybrid pension plans
• raising the retirement age
• decreasing formula multipliers. 

In November-December 2009, a Center survey of members of two groups of government human resource professionals found that 21 percent of respondents reported that their governments had changed their retirement plans. Among the governments that had made changes in retirement plans,

• 73 percent say the changes did not affect current workers.
• 60 percent say the changes did not affect new hires.

The changes included

• older retirement without penalty; decreased benefits across the board; formula changes
• higher employee contribution
• increased years required to vest in pension
• replacing a defined benefit plan with a defined contribution plan.

If the changes did affect current workers, they included

• decreased employer contribution to deferred compensation pension plans
• requiring workers to contribute more to their pension plan
• increased the employer contribution to pension plan.

About the Center for State and Local Government Excellence

The Center for State and Local Government Excellence helps state and local governments become knowledgeable and competitive employers so they can attract and retain a talented and committed workforce. The Center identifies best practices and conducts research on competitive employment practices, workforce development, pensions, retiree health security, and financial planning. The Center also brings state and local leaders together with respected researchers and features the latest demographic data on the aging workforce, research studies, and news on health care, recruitment, and succession planning on its website, www.slge.org.

SOURCE Center for State and Local Government Excellence