Mariana Trujillo
Policy Analyst, Pension Integrity Project, Reason Foundation
Mariana Trujillo is a policy analyst with Reason Foundation's Pension Integrity Project. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from George Mason University. Before joining Reason Foundation, she worked in Treasury Market Risk at JP Morgan, the Mercatus Center, and the Cato Institute.
Trujillo’s research has examined the efficacy of common practices in public pensions. In a recent commentary, “Public pension reforms aren’t impacting public employee turnover rates,” she explored the impact on public employee recruitment and retention of moving new employees to a defined contribution plan, which was presented at the Alaska House of Representatives. In other writings, she has explored the consequences of low pension funding, discussing how Mississippi’s faulty contributions have led to credit downgrades and writing discouraging the issuance of pension obligation bonds by the city of Dallas, which was featured in The Bond Buyer. Trujillo previously moderated an expert panel on how pensions impact the recruitment and retention of public employees.
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California’s state and local government debt is over $500 billion
The state of California has over $270 billion in debt and local entities have over $230 billion in debt.
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Webinar: Best practices in optional defined contribution plans for public workers
For those looking to implement or improve an optional defined contribution plan to go alongside an existing pension, several key policy decisions are important.
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Annual pension solvency and performance report
At the end of the 2023 fiscal year, the nation's public pension systems had $1.59 trillion in total unfunded liabilities.
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How Connecticut pensions can save $7 billion in interest costs over the next 30 years
The Connecticut Pensions Dashboard explores various economic scenarios that could impact the state's public pension debt.
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The case for Connecticut’s fiscal guardrails
The “fiscal guardrails” have saved Connecticut more than $170 million and could save $7 billion over the next 25 years.
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Why defined benefit plans fail the majority of public workers
A review of 12 pension systems finds only 38% of public workers are expected to stay in their jobs long enough to meet the pension system’s vesting requirements.
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Most public employees leave jobs before they vest in pension systems
An examination of 12 public pension plans finds 62% of public workers leave before vesting in their pensions.
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Webinar: How pensions impact the recruitment and retention of public employees
In this webinar, pension experts discuss the modern challenges of recruiting and retaining talent in the public sector, focusing on the role public pensions.
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How the US Treasury shaped a new era of Swiss monetary policy
The United States Department of the Treasury classified Switzerland as a currency manipulator during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Mississippi’s low pension contributions cause S&P Global to downgrade its credit outlook
With unfunded pension liabilities doubling and pension contributions failing to keep up with public employee benefit increases, S&P lowers Mississippi's state credit rating outlook.
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Public pension reforms aren’t impacting public employee turnover rates
Turnover rates seem to have little to do with retirement plan structure and more to do with employee compensation and the changing reality of American labor markets.
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West Virginia improved teacher retirement funding through increased spending, not better plan design
West Virginia simply started dedicating enough money to pay for the public pension promises it was making.
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How high interest rates impact public pension systems
Higher interest rates and pension systems' investment strategies risks burdening workers and taxpayers with even larger unfunded liabilities.
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Dallas should not bet on pension obligation bonds to save pension system
The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System has $3 billion in unfunded liabilities. But pension obligation bonds do not refinance pension debt, they leverage it.
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The way Michigan’s pension reform tackles public pension debt is a model for other states
Rather than simply paying off public pension debt, Michigan created a mechanism to push local pension systems toward solvency.
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Why public pension systems invest in private equity, even when they shouldn’t
Public pension funds are under pressure to reduce the accumulating debt as much as possible and present an actual rate of return that matches estimates.
