Putting Bills in the Drawer
So with all the transportation plans being discussed, there has been some talk about net job growth. Well, here’s a little something to consider when looking at the number of government jobs being created by the Senate and the Governor according to the Beacon Hill Institute analysis of their respective plans.
Governor: 4,362 new government jobs by 2010
Senate: 10,382 new government jobs by 2010
House: 2 (TWO) net new government jobs by 2010.
Well, new jobs are good, right? But not so fast. The Kiplinger Letter (March 24, 2006) reports that while 45 of 50 states are currently running budget surpluses, "huge pension obligations" will "pinch" states "just over the horizon."
So while all those new government jobs might look good initially on paper, what kind of fiscal trouble are they creating for us long-term? We already know that state retirement plans, such as VRS here in the Commonwealth, are starting to feel the pinch as baby-boomers look towards retirement. Is continuing to create more government jobs really going to help the situation?
As it is now, by the end of the decade, state and local governments will be facing a 44% increase in pay to retirees over what they paid in 2004—totaling more than $170 Billion a year!
Remember: “We have always done it this way” + “Bills in the drawer” = “We have ALWAYS put bills in the drawer!”
The Senate says they are worried about burdening “our children” with future debts to pay if we take out very low interest bonds to pay for road construction to pay for roads that those same children will utilize. Yet, they somehow seem to not be phased by the future burden they’re placing on “our children” by adding to an already strained retirement system.
Doesn’t sound like fiscal responsibility to me.
~whitney
Governor: 4,362 new government jobs by 2010
Senate: 10,382 new government jobs by 2010
House: 2 (TWO) net new government jobs by 2010.
Well, new jobs are good, right? But not so fast. The Kiplinger Letter (March 24, 2006) reports that while 45 of 50 states are currently running budget surpluses, "huge pension obligations" will "pinch" states "just over the horizon."
So while all those new government jobs might look good initially on paper, what kind of fiscal trouble are they creating for us long-term? We already know that state retirement plans, such as VRS here in the Commonwealth, are starting to feel the pinch as baby-boomers look towards retirement. Is continuing to create more government jobs really going to help the situation?
As it is now, by the end of the decade, state and local governments will be facing a 44% increase in pay to retirees over what they paid in 2004—totaling more than $170 Billion a year!
Remember: “We have always done it this way” + “Bills in the drawer” = “We have ALWAYS put bills in the drawer!”
The Senate says they are worried about burdening “our children” with future debts to pay if we take out very low interest bonds to pay for road construction to pay for roads that those same children will utilize. Yet, they somehow seem to not be phased by the future burden they’re placing on “our children” by adding to an already strained retirement system.
Doesn’t sound like fiscal responsibility to me.
~whitney
posted by AFPVA at
4:28 PM
1 Comments:
According to the JLARC report on aging workforce, there is no impending doom of government employees retiring in droves. They can't afford to because of health care costs, which will ultimately cause even higher health costs. It appears to me that the pension issue may be overblown while the state employees will be taking on more of the health care costs.
By
Lucy Jones, at 4/21/2006 1:13 PM
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