Rod Crane
Senior Fellow, Reason Foundation
Roderick Crane is a senior fellow at Reason Foundation's Pension Integrity Project.
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Flexible benefits as an alternative path to stable pension funding: Lessons from South Dakota and Wisconsin
South Dakota and Wisconsin show how flexible pension benefits can stabilize contributions and keep pension plans at or near full funding.
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Depoliticizing public employee pension plans: Building robust legal and structural guardrails for sustainability
Many political vulnerabilities that threaten sound design and funding of public pensions can be addressed with apolitical guardrails.
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Illinois: Don’t let Social Security safe harbor compliance become a blank check for Tier 2 benefit expansion
Illinois’ five major state pension systems remain the most underfunded in the nation, carrying roughly $144.6 billion in unfunded liabilities.
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Improving public sector defined contribution plans to help provide secure, adequate retirement income
A framework for policymakers and fiduciaries to evaluate lifetime retirement income options in public sector defined contribution plans, mitigate longevity risk, and improve participant outcomes.
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Public pension debt should be scrutinized like other types of government debt
Without comprehensive pension debt reform, states face continued financial pressures and diminished flexibility for future budgets.
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Public pension reform does not increase inequality
Well-designed pension reform is essential to safeguarding public services, protecting taxpayers, and ensuring sustainable retirement security.
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Important public pension reforms are under threat in several states
Policymakers seem ready to repeat pension errors that would increase debt and costs for taxpayers and state and local governments.
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Sharing defined benefit pension costs: A survey of public sector practices
Policymakers should design pension plans that balance financial sustainability with retirement security.
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Pennsylvania’s proposed public pension increases would be costly to taxpayers
Pennsylvania's proposed increase in public pension benefits would add about $1.19 billion in unfunded liabilities.
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Claims that public pension reforms lead to negative impacts are unfounded
Here's why public policymakers should not be swayed by common misleading claims about public pension reform.
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Nearly half of public employees in defined benefit pension plans will never receive a payout
Defined contribution and cash balance plans can do a better job of providing retirement benefits to more employees.
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How Oklahoma’s public pension reforms led the state employees’ plan to full funding
The Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, which was only 66% funded in 2010, now has more than 100% of the funds needed to pay for promised pension benefits.
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Congress should remove IRS rules restricting public pension reforms for current employees
There is no good public policy reason why only new hires can benefit from retirement plan modernization.
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Public pension plans should not get into the private retirement annuity business
Creating new, complex, government-run enterprises in each state would not improve retirement security for private sector workers.
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Pennsylvania’s proposed pension bills don’t meet best practices for cost-of-living adjustments
The result would be another level of unfunded liabilities that must be paid for by Pennsylvania taxpayers.
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Public sector unions continue to advocate for pension plans that don’t benefit most members
The workforce has changed and policymakers should focus on retirement plan options that offer long-term financial security for the broadest cohort of public employees.
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Comparing the Ohio PERS defined contribution plan to gold standards
The Ohio Public Employee Retirement System's Member Directed Plan meets several best practices but needs improvement in other key areas.
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Comparing the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System’s offerings to gold standards in retirement plan design
Ohio STRS is a national leader in offering flexibility and choice to workers but can make improvements.
