Retirement system changes to be sought by Nixon
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has called a news conference for 1 p.m. Tuesday to talk about his ideas for “reforms” at the state government retirement system.
Nixon was surprised when the Post-Dispatch reported that the Missouri State Employees Retirement System’s investment staff received $300,000 and operations staff received $160,000 in bonuses for 2008.
The system is funded entirely from investment income and taxpayer money.
Nixon said the bonuses lacked transparency and were inappropriate given the retirement system’s $1.8 billion stock market loss last year. He also questioned treating MOSERS employees differently from other state employees, who are getting no raises in the coming budget year.
(Nixon proposed a 3 percent across-the-board raise for state workers but the Legislature has jettisoned the idea because of declining tax revenue.)
Retirement administrators have defended their “incentive pay” system, saying it helps them retain top-notch administrators. Though the MOSERS portfolio lost 23.9 percent of its value in 2008, it beat a benchmark composed of comparable assets over the last five years. MOSERS says this saved the state $600 million.
To see a fuller explanation of MOSERS’ viewpoint, you can go to the MOSERS site and watch a video, posted Friday, of Executive Director Gary Findlay responding to the Post-Dispatch articles.
The only thing ‘top-notch’ about administrators that give themselves bonuses and use hard-earned tax dollars to do it, is they’re top-notch thieves. They have no conception of or plainly don’t care about anyone but themselves. It’s hard to imagine anyone trying to make excuses for this sort of theft of public funds with a straight face.
…………”Nixon was surprised when….”
Captain Renault: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here”
Croupier: “Your winnings sir”
Captain Renault: “Oh, thank you very much…..everyone out at once”!
If anyone ever bothered to read the entire article instead of just the headline the bonuses were based on a 5 year performance not just 2008. Over the 5 years the fund increased in value 3+% while the overall market increased 1+%.
Let’s thank Virginia Young for bringing this to light and then thank Governor Nixon for taking quick action.
Gary Findlay is just a fast talking salesman - spins a good yarn to justify the bonuses. “Me thinks he doth protest too much.”