QUOTE OF THE DAY
Wonklbog: Why more companies want pensions off their books
Verizon has done it. General Motors has done it. And so have Ford and, recently, ketchup kingpin Heinz.
These brand-name companies have all moved part of their pension obligations off their books and into annuities run by insurance companies.
The move, called de-risking, requires companies to pay a lump sum to purchase a group annuity from an insurance company. The insurer then takes over the retirement payments, wiping troubling and erratic pension obligations off the books of the purchaser.
Detroit News: Official vote tally shows big support for Detroit debt-cutting plan
Detroit’s bankruptcy cleared a major hurdle Monday as the city announced its retired and current workers have officially approved modest reductions in their pensions — a feat that seemed inconceivable a year ago when Detroit took shelter from creditors in bankruptcy court.
About 82 percent of retired and active Detroit police and firefighters who voted overwhelmingly approved the city’s plan to reduce their inflationary increases but preserve their base pensions, according to balloting results filed late Monday night in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Members of the General Retirement System approved the city’s plan on a margin of approximately 73 percent yes, 27 percent no during a historic 60-day vote that ended July 11, the results show. Detroit’s plan calls for base pension cuts for GRS members of 4.5 percent.
Real Time Economics: Recent College Graduates Have Seen Especially Sluggish Wage Growth
Recent college graduates are paying a price for entering the workforce in the shadow of a deep recession: Their wages are growing far more slowly than the U.S. average.
“The wage growth gap points to continued weakness in the overall labor market,” wroteSan Francisco Fed economists Bart Hobijn and Leila Bengali in an Economic Letterreleased Monday by the regional reserve bank.
College graduates typically earn more and enjoy more job security than workers without a degree. The unemployment rate in June for workers over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 3.3%, compared with 5% for all workers 25 years and older and 6.1% for all workers 16 and older, according to the Labor Department.
Crain’s: These 15 companies plan to add more than 650 jobs by the end of 2014
Crain’s asked companies that have been staffing up consistently over the past three years to tell us what they did right and how they plan to keep the momentum going. We’ve also noted which companies are continuing to hire, and, to save you time, included links where you can apply. For our methodology, click here. Happy hunting!
Chicago Tribune: Aldermen to call for watchdog probe, possibly red light refunds
A group of Chicago aldermen is planning to call on City Hall’s top watchdog to launch an audit of the city’s red light camera system with an eye toward issuing refunds to anyone who has been wrongly ticketed.
Today, Ald. Scott Waguespack said he and several colleagues want Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to begin an exhaustive review of the citywide network of red light cameras in response to a Tribune investigation showing evidence that wild swings in the number of tickets issued at dozens of intersections since 2007 were caused by faulty equipment, human tinkering or both.
The 32nd Ward alderman said City Council colleagues also will call on the Chicago Department of Transportation to get a handle on what’s happened with the cameras.
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Health insurance campaigns face new obstacles with a tighter budget
Learning from the stumbles and success of the first open enrollment period for insurance, Illinois and Missouri campaigns are taking different approaches to not only gain new customers this fall but also to keep their previous ones.
Every state has a unique strategy, given its population and political stance. Missouri and Illinois are no exception. The Show-Me state has a smaller, more rural population and a history of opposing the Affordable Care Act. For this reason, the nonprofit organization Missouri Foundation for Health took on the responsibility of creating an enrollment campaign without the state’s help.
And in the Land of Lincoln, where Barack Obama got his start in politics, the state has embraced the president’s signature health care law and runs its own campaign, while partnering with the federal government for its online marketplace.
Chicago Sun Times: Progressive movement that thrived in NYC coming to Chicago
When it comes to New York City comparisons, Chicagoans defensively side with their own city.
We love Chicago-style pizza, we’ll take our losing sports teams over the Yankees any day and our architecture is second to none, thank you very much.
But if you’re really in love with Chicago politics, brace yourselves.
A new progressive movement that’s swept through New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Jersey City, New Jersey; Oregon; and Seattle has arrived in Chicago.
The village of Island Lake isn’t the only municipality that has used pension funds to pay its bills.
The Illinois Supreme Court recently handed down a decision involving the village of Riverdale in the southern suburbs of Chicago. Riverdale, like Island Lake, used money originally levied for the police pension fund to pay its bills.
Island Lake officials have agreed to pay back the nearly $400,000 owed to its police pension and have earmarked $150,000 for this fiscal year.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
