KANSAS CITY, KS— Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today revealed government employee wages and pension estimates for Kansas City and Lawrence, and Wyandotte and Douglas Counties. Kansas’ government employees are not only receiving generous salaries, but when retired, many will become pension millionaires. Kansas officials refused to release pension figures, so the pension payouts are close estimates* for this report.
“Why are Kansas lawmakers hiding their pension information? Are they more concerned with protecting abusers, than reforming a system that holds taxpayers hostage?” asked Christina Tobin, TUA Vice President.
Click the links below to view the estimated pensions and the letter to the governor and legislature:
Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United for America, is quoted in the following story from WREX 13 NBC.
By Andrew Thomason | Illinois Statehouse News
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ distressed prepaid tuition program could receive a cash infusion from taxpayers, even though it is not backed by the state.
State Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, is backing legislation that would require the General Assembly to cover salaries and benefits for employees of College Illinois!, which is facing a deficit of $559.9 million.
The $3.2 million in annual salaries and benefits for those employees for fiscal 2011 are paid out of the returns on the 12-year-old fund’s investments.
That figure could drop substantially if the General Assembly picks up the tab. Some employees of Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers College Illinois!, only spend part of their time working on prepaid tuition fund, according to Durkin’s office.
Durkin also is asking the state to cover the fund’s annual management and administrative expenses of $3.7 million, which also are paid out of the returns on the investments.
“They are state employees and the (contract holders) should not be paying for salary and benefits of people who administer College Illinois!,” Durkin said. “I also believe the administrative and marketing fees fall under that category.”
John Samuels, a spokesman for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, said Durkin’s legislation is under review.
“We haven’t had time to fully analyze what impact it might have on the program. We appreciate Rep. Durkin’s sincere commitment to the College Illinois! program and its contract holders and will continue to work with him and other stakeholders,” Samuels said.
The $1.1 billion fund allows residents to purchase tuition at a university or college for a child at the current rate. College Illinois! then invests that money with the hope that by the time the child is college-bound, the original investment and profits realized from the investment will cover the cost of tuition.
Questionable investments, the Great Recession and spiking tuition costs have created an unfunded liability in the fund of 30 percent, or $559.9 million.
Part of the uproar over College Illinois! is that investors said it was marketed as being backed by the state, meaning that even if the investments tanked, the state would rescue the fund.
In reality, College Illinois! is not backed by the state. The fund can ask the state for a bailout, but the Legislature doesn’t have an obligation to say yes.
Durkin said his legislation is the first of many steps needed to revive the program, but insisted that it isn’t the start of a much larger taxpayer bailout.
“There may be a time and a place down the road where we will have that discussion. I’m hoping to avoid that. I think that we can put our collective thoughts and our talent together to revise the program,” Durkin said.
Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America, a taxpayer watchdog group, called giving any taxpayer money to the ailing fund “dumb.”
The fund “shouldn’t be bailed out. It’ll just encourage more … improper investment decisions. It’s best for folks to save their money in the private sector, almost anywhere but with the government,” Tobin said.
Ginnie Flynn and her husband, Dan, bought two semesters for their oldest daughter. Ginnie Flynn said she appreciates the efforts to fix the fund, but she has realistic expectations about its future.
“My hope is the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I don’t think the state is going to 100 percent fix this. I don’t think investors are going to come out 100 percent unscathed,” Flynn said.
College Illinois! has enough assets to fund the program for the next decade. However, the last contract will expire in 2029, long after the fund runs dry if nothing changes.
Another solution to the fund’s crisis is for the state’s universities to give tuition discounts to College Illinois! students.
Colleges and universities, which are owed $880 million by the state already, have been lukewarm to that idea.
“We have lots and lots of needs so it would be difficult to give the College Illinois! students’ special” treatment, Rita Cheng, chancellor for Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. “We’d have to look at it on a case by case basis.”
Jan Dennis, a spokesman for the University of Illinois, the state’s largest university system, said the university knows of the idea of discounts but doesn’t have a position yet.
OHIO – Taxpayers United of America has released the top pension estimates for Ohio government teachers and employees. “We are shedding light at last, on the problems with Ohio’s government pension system,” said Christina Tobin, Vice President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA), and founder and President of ‘Free and Equal Elections.’ “Minimal reform has occurred in Ohio. Much more pressure is needed from taxpayers,” she said.
“Ohio’s government pension system desperately needs reform. Releasing the specific names and pension amounts would show who’s really benefiting,” said Tobin. “But Ohio refuses to release actual individual pension payments. Why won’t the Governor let Ohioans see the facts?”
“There is no fair representation of taxpayers. This is a nationwide problem that burdens the Left and Right alike, and has fueled the financial crisis facing taxpayers and retirees. The urgency of this crisis is illustrated by the extensive press coverage that our government pension reports have received throughout Ohio.”
Tobin, who toured through Ohio towns revealing top government pension estimates to the public, was covered by The Lima News, WTOL 11 TV , WKBN 27 TV, Columbus Dispatch, Toledo Blade, 89.7 NPR News, WFMJ NBC, and The Republic (AP).
TUA will be exploring all options to get the information still being withheld by the government bureaucrats of Ohio, released. “I have written letters to Governor Kasich and the members of the Ohio General Assembly, asking for transparency. As long as taxpayers feel the pain of the hefty bill for these pensions, those payments should be available for public review.” Tobin plans to work with legislators but does not exclude the possibility of filing a lawsuit to obtain the information.
TUA will be revealing more States’ pensions across the nation, including those of Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Arizona in the coming weeks.
Click here to view full release as a PDF
