In this episode of WichitaLiberty.TV: Co-host Karl Peterjohn joins Bob Weeks to discuss the fight on blight and property rights, guns on campus, availability of testimony in the Kansas Legislature, and KPERS, our state’s retirement system. View below, or click here to view at YouTube. Episode 137, broadcast February 5, 2017. Shownotes Article: In Kansas, the war on blight continues Article: Availability of testimony in the Kansas Legislature Article: Again, KPERS shows why public pension reform is essential
Proposals in the Kansas budget for fiscal year 2018 are more evidence of why defined-benefit pension plans are incompatible with the public sector. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has proposed delays in funding KPERS, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. The delays are in both directions. The state intends to break a past promise to pay, and also to skip some future payments. A memo from KPERS summarizes recent history and the proposed changes: "Last fiscal year, the State delayed its fourth quarter payment for School employer contributions with a promise to pay it in Fiscal Year 2018 with interest. The…
No one is stealing from KPERS, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. But there are related problems. You don't have to look for long on Facebook before you'll find comments like these regarding KPERS, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System: "This is BS. Stupid Brownback robbed our pension plan; we have no real confidence that it will ever be paid back. Why don't we have some kind of safety measure in place to prevent governors like him from stealing from us?" "If the governor would keep his greedy hands off of the KPERS money that is there, we might not…
A new report details the way state pension funds harm workers and taxpayers through cronyism. Updated to accurately reflect the time period of the targeted investments. American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has released a report detailing the various ways state employee pension funds are harmed by cronyism. The report may be read at Keeping the Promise: Getting Politics Out of Pensions. The problem, ALEC reports, is: "Unfortunately, many lawmakers and pension plan officials have other priorities besides doing what is best for workers. They see the billions of pension fund dollars they manage as an opportunity to advance their own…
The writing of Duane Goossen, a former Kansas budget director, requires decoding and explanation. This time, his vehicle is "Rise Up, Kansas." Duane Goossen was Kansas budget director from 1998 to 2010.[11. Goossen, Duane. Kansas Budget Blog. http://www.kansasbudget.com/.] He is critical of the administration of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and recent sessions of the Kansas Legislature. It's useful to examine his writings so that Kansans may become aware of the ramifications of his recommendations, and how during his years as budget director he was unable to adhere to the principles he now advocates. Following, some language from his recent article…
There is a claim that a recent change in the handling of KPERS payments falsely inflates school spending. The Kansas State Department of Education says otherwise. View below, or click here to view at YouTube. Click here for more about this topic.
There is a claim that a recent change in the handling of KPERS payments falsely inflates school spending. The Kansas State Department of Education says otherwise. A member of the Kansas State Board of Education has written an article that has received widespread attention. But the member, Jim Porter, is wrong on several accounts. In his article, Porter stated that a recent change in the handling of Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) contributions falsely inflates school spending.[1. "Deception #2 – Until recently the state contribution to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) was sent directly to KPERS. Now…
The State of Kansas was ordered to take remedial action to correct material omissions in the state's financial statements prepared under the leadership of Duane Goossen. During the administration of Governor Mark Parkinson, the State of Kansas issued eight series of bonds raising $273 million. Regarding these, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has determined that the state failed to adequately inform investors of significant, material, negative information. In a nutshell, according to the SEC: The Kansas Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS) was in terrible financial condition compared to other states, and Kansas did not adequately disclose that to potential…
Actions considered by the Kansas Legislature demonstrate -- again -- that governments are not capable of managing defined-benefit pension plans. The Kansas Legislature is considering a bill that will allow Governor Sam Brownback to defer making payments to KPERS, the state's defined-benefit pension system for public employees. The deferred payments would be made up in future years, although there is really no mechanism to enforce this. Also, the bill considers eliminating the requirement that when the state sells surplus property, that 80 percent must be used to reduce the unfunded actuarial pension liability of KPERS. There is also a moratorium…
