Pension Reform: Lessons from Four Case Studies

Drawing from the four state case studies (Utah, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Illinois), Patrick McGuinn at the Brookings Institution provides a number of important lessons and recommendations for policymakers to navigate the challenges of pension reform:

• States should make their complete annual actuarial payment
• Need a credible and visible reform champion
• Gather and disseminate the hard data
• Communicate and educate
• Build a diverse coalition and a statewide advocacy campaign
• Avoid turning pension reform into an ideological issue
• Demonstrate pensions’ impact on taxes and other state spending priorities
• Sell the benefits of pension reform to state workers and school reformers

To read the full article, go here.