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The Public Employees' & Retirees' Benefit Sustainability Commission has recommended a number of reforms to help solve large-scale unfunded liabilities in Maryland’s pension and health benefit system for state workers.[1] They include some sweeping changes to worker eligibility for retiree health care and pension payments and cost-of-living adjustments.
For example, The Baltimore Sun reports that the panel recommended requiring 15 years of service, instead of the current five, before state workers are eligible to participate in the retiree health care program.[2] Also, employees would need to work 25 years, instead of 16 years, to receive the maximum retiree health care premium subsidy, and work 10 years instead of 5 to become vested in the state employee pension plan. The commission also voted to support shifting some of the cost of teacher pensions to local school boards.
Teachers unions and the Maryland chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have all come out against the recommendations claiming the changes would inhibit the state’s ability to recruit and retain workers and increase class room sizes. The commission has made it clear that they do not have lawmaking authority. There proposals are mere recommendations which they expect to present to Gov. Martin O'Malley and state lawmakers next month.
The Menard Correctional Facility in Illinois is a maximum security prison dating back to 1878. It does not have electric locks so prison guards need to use keys and cranks to open and close rows of cells. As a result of repetitive actions, workers have received combined compensation to the tune of $1.5 million for injuries to their hands, wrists and elbows. Guards at the facility say they suffer from numb hands and arms.
A Pantagraph.com article cites the The Belleville News-Democrat which reviewed public records from the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission that show the taxpayer-funded settlements are between nearly $22,000 and $120,000.[3] In addition, 27 other Menard prison guards have filed compensation claims for non-repetitive injuries including slipping and heavy lifting. Of those, 12 have been paid out totaling more than $282,000.
Some lawmakers, including Republican state Sen. Kyle McCarter, are concerned about the claims. He believes the abuses and fraud in the compensation system are adding huge unknown costs to Illinois taxpayers. Any waste or fraud in the system should be taken seriously, considering Illinois currently faces one of the nation’s largest pension shortfalls and a looming budget deficit.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has proposed some changes to the state’s hiring and firing procedures for state employees. Her hope is to motivate and retain good employees while having the ability to remove those who “are not upholding the public will and trust.”
While the proposal is still in the development stages, the Arizona Capital Times reports that it would make changes to the state’s so-called merit system. Currently, the majority of state workers have appeal rights and other job protections in the event of layoff.[4] The article suggests the administration is proposing to eliminate these provisions to make firing poor performing employees easier.
Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman cites a report from the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute which concludes that appeal rights and other protections make it costly and time-consuming to discipline and terminate public employees in Arizona. Firing workers due to blatant misconduct, like sleeping on duty, threatening co-workers, falsifying documents or sexual harassment is still very difficult and costly because of the amount of paperwork involved.[5]
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