Leonard Gilroy
Vice President, Government Reform, Reason Foundation
Leonard Gilroy is vice president of government reform at Reason Foundation and senior managing director of Reason's Pension Integrity Project.
Under Gilroy's leadership, the Pension Integrity Project at Reason Foundation assists policymakers and other stakeholders in designing, analyzing and implementing public sector pension reforms. The project aims to promote solvent, sustainable retirement systems that provide retirement security for government workers while reducing taxpayer and pension system exposure to financial risk and reducing long-term costs for employers/taxpayers and employees. The project team provides education, reform policy options, and actuarial analysis for policymakers and stakeholders to help them design reform proposals that are practical and viable.
Gilroy and the Pension Integrity Project have provided technical assistance to several successful pension reform efforts in recent years in Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, South Carolina and other states aimed at tackling persistent pension solvency challenges.
In his role as vice president, Gilroy also leads Reason's government reform efforts, with over 18 years of experience researching fiscal management, government operations, infrastructure public-private partnerships, government contracting, and urban policy topics. He also regularly consults with federal, state and local officials on ways to improve government performance and efficiency.
Gilroy has a diversified background in policy research and implementation, with particular emphasis on competition, government efficiency, transparency, accountability, and government performance. Gilroy has testified before Congress on several occasions and has testified on pension reform before the Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and Texas legislatures. Gilroy works closely with state and local elected officials across the country in efforts to design and implement market-based policy approaches, improve government performance, enhance accountability in government programs, and reduce government spending.
Gilroy's articles have been featured in such leading publications as The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The Weekly Standard, Washington Times, Houston Chronicle, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Arizona Republic, San Francisco Examiner, San Diego Union-Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sacramento Bee, and The Salt Lake Tribune. He has also appeared on CNN, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, CNBC, National Public Radio and other media outlets.
Prior to joining Reason, Gilroy was a senior planner at a Louisiana-based urban planning consulting firm. He also worked as a research assistant at the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech. Gilroy earned a B.A. and M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech.
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Webinar: ESG trends and impacts on public pensions
How environmental, social, governance (ESG) strategies and trends are impacting public pension systems and taxpayers.
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How to maximize Arizona’s water investment
Arizona has set aside millions for water conservation and augmentation projects, but the state needs private partners to deliver this needed infrastructure.
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Alaska avoids attempt to roll back 2005 pension reform
Instead of unraveling pension progress, policymakers should seek to bolster the policies that brought resiliency and reliability.
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Alaska pension bill would bring major financial risk and unfunded liability growth
House Bill 55 would commit Alaska to unpredictable long-term costs for public safety workers' pensions so it is crucial to consider the costs over decades, not just a few years.
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Testimony: Recommendations for the FRS Investment Plan
Adjustments to Florida's public defined contribution retirement plan could better serve employees and taxpayers.
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Leasing city airport could help Phoenix pay down pension debt
Sky Harbor airport could generate between $1.5 billion to $2.9 billion in net proceeds to the city.
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Three reasons why public pensions still need reform
Despite realizing excellent investment returns in 2021, public pension plans are still in need of reforms to prevent future debt and ensure they can pay out promised benefits.
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The Teacher Retirement System of Texas Is in Need of Serious Reform
After prudent reforms to the Employee Retirement System, the Texas legislature is considering bills that ignore the need to reform the Teacher Retirement System.
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These States Are Leading the Way on Pension Reform
State and local leaders seeking to make lasting improvements to government finances should look to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Michigan.