Pension reform in Maryland: The first step in a marathon journey

Del. Bill Frank is planning to sponsor a much-needed bill to reform pensions for state employees and legislators in Maryland.

I am working on a bill that would bring some significant reform to the pension plan for the Maryland legislators, including me. . .

Mayor Sheila Dixon’s $85,000 annual pension is outrageous, as is the lifetime pension payments for retiring Baltimore County Council members, who receive full annual pensions of $54,000 adjusted for inflation for life after serving just 20 years in an essentially part-time position!. . .

[I propose to] convert this defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, where legislators would be encouraged to fund their own 401(k) plans with a modest match from the State. In the end, this approach would save the State significant dollars.

This is a huge problem and it's about time someone took the lead on this in the Maryland General Assembly.

Kudos to Delegate Frank for getting it started.

Realistically though, most of the hard work is ahead of us.