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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Debt trends for state and local governments 2020-2022
This tool provides debt and spending insights for the 100 largest municipalities, counties and school districts in America and all 50 states for fiscal years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
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Health care retirement debt surpasses state and local government pension debt
In 2022, state and local government other post-employment benefits (OPEB) liabilities reached $789 billion, surpassing $753 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
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Webinar: 2024 Public pension solvency and performance report
Discussing the 2024 Pension Solvency and Performance Report's findings on public pension debt, investment return trends and more.
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Connecticut’s fiscal guardrails are a solution, not the problem
Public pension contributions made through the fiscal guardrails have freed up approximately $738 million in Connecticut's yearly budget.
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Pension fund size doesn’t matter: Large public pension systems don’t have better investment returns
Asset size is not meaningfully related to investment performance.
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How a public pension fund’s fiscal year-end month impacts investment returns
Changes in fiscal year dates significantly influence a public pension fund's reported investment performance.
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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.
