Author: Mary Pat Campbell

COVID relief bill could save distressed union pensions

Mary Pat Campbell
COVID relief bill could save distressed union pensions

Excerpt:

Congress is working on a lengthy bill for further COVID relief. One small portion of it is modeled on the union-backed Butch Lewis Act, which passed the U.S. House in 2019 but not the U.S. Senate. Butch Lewis would provide loans cash grants to union-sponsored multiemployer pension plans that are otherwise headed toward insolvency.

About one in 10 multi-employer pension plans are in that situation thanks to stock market losses and declining numbers of active employees in the plans, and the wellbeing of up to 1.3 million union members and spouses is at stake. Butch Lewis would shore up declining pensions and restore benefits that were cut by some pensions in an effort to forestall insolvency.

If Congress does nothing, the Central States Teamster Pension is expected to run out of money in 2025. That would lead the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) itself to become insolvent. PBGC is a government insurance agency that guarantees pension benefits.

Publication Date: 17 February 2021

Publication Site: nwLaborPress

COVID-19: New Study Reveals Danger To Younger Americans, Who Are Dying At Historic Rate

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/northsalem/news/covid-19-new-study-reveals-danger-to-younger-americans-who-are-dying-at-historic-rate/799940/

Excerpt:

Contrary to popular belief, COVID-19 is taking its toll on younger Americans, who are dying at a historic rate, according to a new study.

Research published this week in the Journal of American Medical Association found that Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 have died at a rate that has never been seen in history.

During the study, a total of 76,088 deaths were reported in adults between those ages, which was 11,899 more than the expected 64,189 fatalities during that stretch.

Author(s): Zak Failla

Publication Date: 19 December 2020

Publication Site: Daily Voice

Your Credit Score Should Be Based on Your Web History, IMF Says

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://gizmodo.com/your-credit-score-should-be-based-on-your-web-history-1845912592

Excerpt:

In a new blog post for the International Monetary Fund, four researchers presented their findings from a working paper that examines the current relationship between finance and tech as well as its potential future. Gazing into their crystal ball, the researchers see the possibility of using the data from your browsing, search, and purchase history to create a more accurate mechanism for determining the credit rating of an individual or business. They believe that this approach could result in greater lending to borrowers who would potentially be denied by traditional financial institutions.

At its heart, the paper is trying to wrestle with the dawning notion that the institutional banking system is facing a serious threat from tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple. The researchers identify two key areas in which this is true: Tech companies have greater access to soft-information, and messaging platforms can take the place of the physical locations that banks rely on for meeting with customers.

Author(s): Rhett Jones

Publication Date: 18 December 2020

Publication Site: Gizmodo

699 people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last year compared to 235 from COVID-19

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/drug-overdose-data-report-San-Francisco-fentanyl-15873680.php

Excerpt:

A record 699 people died of overdoses from January through December in 2020, according to a new report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. This number may seem surprising amid the global COVID-19 pandemic when San Francisco has shuttered schools and businesses to prevent deaths. In S.F., 235 people passed away from complications of the coronavirus in 2020.

Author(s): Amy Graff

Publication Date: 15 January 2021

Publication Site: SFGate

Wall Street Charging Bull sculptor Arturo Di Modica ‘dies aged 80’

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56137600

Excerpt:

The sculptor behind Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull statue has died aged 80, reports say.

Friends of Arturo Di Modica told Italian media that the sculptor died in his home town of Vittoria, Sicily. He had been fighting cancer for many years, La Repubblica reported.

The bull was originally installed in New York in 1989 without permission.

It was designed to represent the “strength and power of the American people” after the 1987 market crash.

Publication Date: 20 February 2021

Publication Site: BBC

States of Growth and Decline

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/states-of-growth-and-decline-11609460276

Excerpt:

Sixteen mostly coastal and Rust Belt states lost population from July 2019 to July 2020, according to the Census Bureau’s annual population survey, and Illinois, West Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Mississippi and Vermont have shrunk since 2010. At the same time, many low-tax Sun Belt states have continued to attract newcomers.

The pandemic may have contributed to population losses in some states as city dwellers with means escaped to rental and vacation homes. Foreign immigration also fell after President Trump suspended new green cards in April. Some states, especially in the Northeast, experienced thousands of more deaths than usual due to Covid.

But the bureau’s annual population estimate captures only the first few months of the pandemic when migration generally declined as most people hunkered down. Geographic mobility increased over the summer and fall, and the pandemic seems to have accelerated migration flows that have been occurring for years. States such as New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and California have counted on foreign immigration offsetting net out-migration. That didn’t happen this year, so many states lost population for the first time in decades.

Author(s): Editorial board

Publication Date: 31 December 2020

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Errors in covid data reveal unreliable tracking system for nursing homes

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/errors-in-covid-data-reveal-unreliable-tracking-system-for-nursing-homes/

Graphic:

Excerpt:

Case and death counts on the Department of Health’s website often mismatch what facilities report independently, or what is reported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sometimes, the number of cases or deaths reported in a facility exceeds the number of residents altogether. Occasionally, the cumulative totals will fluctuate up and down from week to week, as if deceased residents are coming back to life. Often, the fields show “no data” at all.

“It’s not getting any better,” said Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Healthcare Association. “We’ve lost faith, unfortunately, as an industry, in much of the data that’s been collected, reproduced and distributed on a state or federal website. We just don’t trust it at this point.”

While facilities are inundated with information, the state Department of Health also is struggling with an overload of covid-19 data, a health department spokesman said. The workload is compounded by an understaffed team of workers who all have other responsibilities. But at the end of the day, he said, the data is provided for the public’s benefit.

Author(s): Teghan Simonton

Publication Date: 3 January 2021

Publication Site: Trib Live

Early retirement offer to Massachusetts teachers wins legislative sponsors

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2021/02/early-retirement-offer-to-massachusetts-teachers-wins-legislative-sponsors.html

Excerpt:

A bill that would allow teachers who are eligible to retire to purchase up to five years of service, age or a combination of the two in order to make room for new teachers has been backed by state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, and state Rep. Carol Doherty, D-Taunton.

If approved, the bill known as “An Act to provide a retirement enhancement opportunity to members of the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement System,” would be voted on by each city or town’s School Committee before teachers in those communities would be eligible.

Author(s): Elizabeth Román

Publication Date: 18 February 2021

Publication Site: MassLive

‘Pension Spiking’ For D-86 Teachers Under New Pact

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://patch.com/illinois/hinsdale/pension-spiking-d-86-teachers-under-new-pact

Excerpt:

The Hinsdale High School District 86 board on Thursday approved a two-year agreement with the teachers union, including a “pension spiking” provision and relatively small pay raises.

The agreement is retroactive to the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Over the two years, teachers are expected to see base salary increases amounting to 2.2 percent.

Under the agreement, the teachers will now get 6 percent annual increases in the last four years of their careers, up from the current 3 percent.

Author(s): David Giuliani

Publication Date: 29 January 2021

Publication Site: Patch

Kentucky House passes bill creating hybrid pension plan for future teachers

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wdrb.com/in-depth/kentucky-house-passes-bill-creating-hybrid-pension-plan-for-future-teachers/article_6f67bd66-671f-11eb-b8c4-7b02927c8a98.html

Excerpt:

A bill creating a new pension tier for future teachers that will require them to pay more toward their retirement and work longer before they can earn full benefits passed the House Thursday.

House Bill 258, sponsored by Rep. C. Ed Massey, moved to the House floor on a 14-4 vote and cleared the lower chamber hours later on a 68-28 vote. The measure, if passed, would put teachers and others covered by the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System hired after Jan. 1, 2022, into a new hybrid pension plan that includes foundational and supplemental benefits.

Massey, R-Hebron, said the proposal would keep future hires from joining “an already burdened and overtaxed” defined-benefit pension system at KTRS, which actuaries expect will have unfunded pension liabilities totaling $14.8 billion and have 58.4% of the money needed to cover pension costs for current retirees and workers by fiscal year 2023.

Author(s): Kevin Wheatley

Publication Date: 4 February 2021

Publication Site: WDRB

Senate bill would end Florida’s state pension option for new employees

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/02/05/senate-bill-would-end-floridas-state-pension-option-for-new-employees/

Excerpt:

After years of discussions about the tricky issue of overhauling Florida’s retirement system for government employees, a Senate committee this week approved a proposal that would shut future workers out of a traditional pension plan.

The proposal, sponsored by Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Chairman Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, would require new employees as of July 1, 2022, to enroll in a 401(k)-style “investment” plan. Employees currently are allowed to choose whether to take part in the pension plan or the investment plan.

Rodrigues, whose Republican-controlled committee approved the bill (SB 84) in a party-line vote, said lawmakers have to make “difficult decisions” to maintain the long-term solvency of the pension fund. He pointed, in part, to a $36 billion unfunded actuarial liability, which is essentially a measurement of whether the fund is projected to have enough money to meet its future obligations.

Author(s): Jim Saunders

Publication Date: 5 February 2021

Publication Site: Tampa Bay Times