March 22 Community Conversation Luncheon: TENSION ABOUT PENSIONS: GOOD PUBLIC POLICY OR OBSOLETE EXTRAVAGANCE?
The latest Community Conversation of the Good Government Initiative held at the University of Miami BankUnited Center dealt with a hot topic: pensions and whether or not they’re sustainable in the public sector. The panelists included: Richard Weiss, Founding partner, Weiss Serota Helfman; Fred Frost, former Director, South Florida AFL-CIO; and Ken Harrison, labor attorney, Sugarman and Susskind. It was moderated by GGI CEO Katy Sorenson.
Citizens, government officials and union leaders were on hand to debate the merits but no solutions were forthcoming. Richard Weiss argued that governments, like business, should pay as little as possible for the goods and services they provide to the tax-paying public, while Fred Frost and Ken Harrison thought that governments owed their workers a living wage and the benefits they’ve come to rely upon.
The debate will continue. Regardless of views on the matter, participants were left with more actuarial knowledge than they ever expected to have, along with the realization that these are not easy problems to solve. Serious, good-faith negotiations have to take place.
