Pension measure was ‘head start’ on broader overhaul

State lawmakers who focus on pension issues are faced with the thankless task of trying to predict the financial future as they weigh the health of the state’s public pension plans.

The omnibus pension bill that’s beginning its path through the Legislature puts the state’s ailing pension funds for police and firefighters back on the path to solvency.

After several years spent patching up the state’s ailing public pensions, lawmakers have another pension fund bailout to weigh, as underfunding threatens long-range stability for 9,000-plus.

A highly anticipated report ordered by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature and released Monday recommended no changes to Wisconsin’s $77 billion pension system.

For much of the past decade, state lawmakers have reacted with alarm as volatile financial markets opened up multibillion-dollar shortfalls in the long-term outlook for the state’s pension system.

State lawmakers are mulling a significant change to the state’s pension policy as they prepare for the 2012 legislative session.

A policy debate over the financial assumptions for the state’s public pension funds is brewing at the state Capitol.

The paltry pension benefit that Michael Struck's widow will receive from the state is generating concerns at the Capitol. Lawmakers might consider pension changes in response to the tragedy.

Attorneys will argue in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul on Tuesday about whether last year's omnibus pension bill violates the U.S. and Minnesota Constitutions.