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Oregon's budget for retired state employees: $100 Billion I tried to find the same for California, but it seems they do a better job of hiding it. My point is

by 34679 7y ago

Oregon's budget for retired state employees: $100 Billion I tried to find the same for California, but it seems they do a better job of hiding it. My point is that we are spending a tremendous amount of money on former government employees, so they can have nice homes, good healthcare, and a quality education for their children. But in the process, we're neglecting a large portion of the population that those people were supposed to be serving.

jandrese 7y ago
If I'm looking for money to help the poor I'm not going to start by raiding pensions. That would be self destructive.
mattkrause 7y ago
What would you do instead? It takes good, motivated staff to run an effective government department. Those same people have a lot of options, so the government has to compete for them somehow. We’re unwilling to pay them high salaries (take a look at the federal pay scales: GS-12, which is usually a scientist with a grad degree, starts at $66k). Benefits seem a little more politically palatable, so the government competes on those instead: we won’t pay you a lot, but you can earn a (slightly) better retirement instead. Without either, who’s going to work for the government? Do you really want a government full of people who can’t land any other job?
- 34679 7y ago
  What would I do? Reduce the number of state employees. And I'd do it without firing anyone. See: Gary Johnson, New Mexico. When an existing employee retires or otherwise ends their employment with the state, don't hire a replacement unless that job is critical to the operation of the government.
pjc50 7y ago
That's obviously not the correct number; perhaps that's the total liability for all future pensions? It's not clear what the actual pensions number is, but the total budget for absolutely everything for the two years 2019-21 for Oregon appears to be $82bn from Schedule VI of https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Documents/2019-21_gb.pdf https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Documents/2019-21_gb.pd...
mnm1 7y ago
Yes, how terrible that we are fulfilling our contractual obligations to people who have worked for decades in our government. It's a travesty indeed! Should we just exterminate them in camps now that they are of no use to us? Or what would you propose?

by 34679 7y ago

jandrese 7y ago

If I'm looking for money to help the poor I'm not going to start by raiding pensions. That would be self destructive.

mattkrause 7y ago

What would you do instead? It takes good, motivated staff to run an effective government department. Those same people have a lot of options, so the government has to compete for them somehow. We’re unwilling to pay them high salaries (take a look at the federal pay scales: GS-12, which is usually a scientist with a grad degree, starts at $66k). Benefits seem a little more politically palatable, so the government competes on those instead: we won’t pay you a lot, but you can earn a (slightly) better retirement instead. Without either, who’s going to work for the government? Do you really want a government full of people who can’t land any other job?

34679 7y ago
What would I do? Reduce the number of state employees. And I'd do it without firing anyone. See: Gary Johnson, New Mexico. When an existing employee retires or otherwise ends their employment with the state, don't hire a replacement unless that job is critical to the operation of the government.

pjc50 7y ago

That's obviously not the correct number; perhaps that's the total liability for all future pensions? It's not clear what the actual pensions number is, but the total budget for absolutely everything for the two years 2019-21 for Oregon appears to be $82bn from Schedule VI of https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Documents/2019-21_gb.pdf https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Documents/2019-21_gb.pd...

mnm1 7y ago

Yes, how terrible that we are fulfilling our contractual obligations to people who have worked for decades in our government. It's a travesty indeed! Should we just exterminate them in camps now that they are of no use to us? Or what would you propose?