Do Democrats Really Believe Their Own Bunkum?

Some articles that really shine light on the hypocrisy of the national Democratic machine.

For those who think capitalists are dirty, profit seeking junkies that are detrimental to those who don't have look where public employees are putting their pension money to create wealth.


Public Pensions Increase Private-Equity Investments

Large public pension plans are pouring more money into private-equity funds, deepening ties between government workers and an industry currently under the harsh glare of U.S. presidential politics.

Big public-employee pensions had about $220 billion invested in private equity in September, or 11% of their assets, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service, which tracks the holdings of pensions, foundations and endowments.


AFSCME blasts Romney About Bain Past

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or Afscme, one of the nation’s biggest public-workers unions, has members with billions of dollars invested in about 150 pension funds, some of which is invested in private-equity funds, WSJ reports Thursday.

That wouldn’t be that surprising, given the union’s pension fund is meant to make its members money, and PE firms can do pretty well in that whole money making job.

But, the WSJ story is about the fact that Afscme and other pension funds for public workers have made quite a lot of noise about Mitt Romney’s work at private-equity giant Bain Capital.



They emulate what they blast Romney for.  Romney shouldn't duck questions about his wealth.  He should remind the American people how successful he is and that is what we need as a President.  Last election the majority put an amateur in there and look what we got.

Look at unemployment during the Bush years and Obama's term.

You will see this chart chopped for those who want to skew the data. 

Putting the Numbers into Perspective

President Bush’s overall record continues to look far better than President Obama’s to date. Over President Bush’s presidency, the private sector created a net 141,000 jobs. Surprisingly, this number includes the 3.78 million private sector jobs lost in 2008.  In contrast, under President Obama’s administration, the private sector has still lost a net 2.91 million private sector jobs. If I blame Bush and Clinton for the January 2009 and January 2001 numbers, respectively, the private sector would still have lost 2.07 million private sector jobs under the Obama administration.

Legislature Pay Raise- Same Old Issue With A New Twist

Recent artilces and reports by the media told us that more Pennsylvania legislators and the governor are forgoing the pay raise slated for next year. Andrew Seder of the Times Leader penned this story on the topic.

The real problem for Pennsylvania taxpayers is the fact that their elected official are still taking the money from the Commonwealth's Treasury. I believe that is an important point for newly elected officials to consider. I know that their intentions are good but feel they need to look at the greater picture.

The last two elections were turning points in political history. The people want government to change. If they don't get it from one party they are fickle as hell. They will jump ship faster than greased lightning.

Consider the following:

1. Taking the COLA in any form still means legislators are taking it from the taxpayers in a time when Pennsylvania is facing a $5 billion deficit.

2. Forget the argument that it is a small, insignificant amount and won't make a difference in the Treasury. Leaders must lead by example regardless of the maginitude of the impact. At the very least the COLA amount for this year in its entirety between both chambers of our bicameral legislture is over $330,000.00. Last time I checked to the average voter that is a huge amount.

3. There are many Consumer Price Indexes(CPI). Price indexes are available for the U.S., the four Census regions, size of city, cross-classifications of regions and size-classes, and for 26 local areas. Due to differences in the CPI picked for calculating solons' raises(CPI for mid Atlantic states) our legislators received $7,751.16 more per seat since 2003 more than if the same CPI determinator used for seniors receiving Social Security was applied over the same time period. As a result, since 2003, the legislature received a total increase of $1,961,043.48. Leadership figures will bump that calculation slightly higher but safe to say over $2 million dollars. That's not chump change by any standard.

4. Taxpayers know that Legislators accepting the raise and donating it to charity still means the dollar amount used will go towards calculation of their pension.

5. Taxpayers know that the pension also has a COLA attached to it compounding the benefit of accepting a COLA and donating it to charity.

6. Taxpayers know that Legislators are getting the credit for donations to charities by those organizations rather than the taxpayers receiving the credit for their hard earned money.

It is time to turn off the COLA process for the next few years until their pay balances out with what it would have been using the CPI multiplier used by seniors. Next, unless they repeal the COLA, they should change the CPI used for calculating their COLA to the one seniors are forced to accept by the federal legislators.

Lastly they should always be mindful that California is a five hour flight but you can be there through the internet in 0.4 seconds. The new twist I am making is that it very easy to see what legislators in other states are making. The National Conference of State Legislatures complied this list of salaries and per diems for state lawmakers. Only California and New York surpass Pennsylvania in annual pay.

The Waccama Times reports on pension benefits for state legislators. Nine states – Alabama, California, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming – no longer provide pensions to state legislators, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington, D.C.

In South Carolina, retired legislators earn an annual average of $19,605 in gross retirement benefits, based on July figures from the state retirement system. Newly retired Keith McCall could receive a benefit near $90,000.00 according to the Post Gazette. Prior to retirement his salary was $122,254 as Speaker of the House.

With information like that Governor-elect Tom Corbett will have plenty of ammunition to support his campaign platform of reducing the size of Pennsylvania's legisalture as part of government reform.

Reducing the Size & Cost of Government – The size and cost of state government has grown out of control, and it is time to bring fiscal responsibility and accountability back to Pennsylvania. We must continue the forward momentum on streamlining state government by reducing the cost of how state government does business. Through technology upgrades, centralizing communications between agencies and lowering the overall administrative costs associated with running state government, we can return millions of dollars to Pennsylvanians. Tom Corbett has called for a 10 percent reduction in government administrative operations in all branches of government.

Ed Mitchell is lying to you. Again- From The Barletta Campaign

I received the following release from the Lou Barletta For Congress Communications Coordinator Shawn Kelly.

Once again, the Kanjorski campaign is stretching the facts in a desperate bid to stay in power.

Kanjorski spokesman Ed Mitchell lied to you about the City of Hazleton’s pension fund. Mitchell said Tuesday: "Other cities have pension problems, but like the jobless rate, Hazleton's is the worst.”

Completely false.

Here’s what the Scranton Times published today:
“Scranton, compared to cities of similar size, has one of the most poorly funded pension plans in the state, the report states, while 55 percent of pension systems in the region are in some form of distressed status. … Scranton has $64.3 million in its pension fund, but obligations of twice that, $138 million, for a funding ratio of 47 percent. Any funding ratio under 50 percent is deemed severely distressed by the Public Employee Retirement Commission.” (“State: 55 percent of NEPA municipal pensions distressed,” Scranton Times, July 28, 2010)

Hazleton’s funding ratio, for comparison, is 52 percent, and the city is considered “moderately distressed” by the state. (“Pa.: 28 pension plans distressed,” Times Leader, July 27, 2010)

And once again, Mitchell lied about Hazleton’s unemployment rate.

According to the Citizens’ Voice, William Sholly, industry and business analyst for the Pa. Center for Workforce Information & Analysis (the center that published the unemployment rate Kanjorski and his spokesman tout), Hazleton’s high unemployment rate is misleading: “There were fewer employed people in the city of Hazleton since last year, but more people are in the labor force and so the rate can increase quite a bit, based on the numbers." (“Hazleton’s unemployment highest in Pa.,” Citizens’ Voice, July 7, 2010)

Mitchell continues to lie on behalf of his desperate boss, and reporters continue to report their bogus claims as fact.

I know it’s easy to get drawn in by the lies of Kanjorski and his spokesman. Kanjorski and his Mitchell-led spin machine are getting incredibly desperate.

Look at the facts:
• Kanjorski has represented this region for 26 years.
• Kanjorski took more than $4.2 million in campaign contributions from the financial services industry – the very industry he is supposed to oversee (Source: Center for Responsive Politics).
• Kanjorski’s failure to exert proper oversight led to the biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression.
• That collapse knocked billions of dollars out of pension funds, 401(k)s, and other retirement portfolios.
• More than half – 55 percent – of pension systems in Northeastern Pennsylvania are in some form of distressed status.

And Kanjorski blames Lou Barletta for Hazleton’s pension fund? How does he explain the pension fund situation in Scranton? Or Roaring Brook Township? Or Dunmore? Or Hanover Township? Or the dozen other municipalities with
similar or worse pension fund issues?

Kanjorski and Mitchell are trying to shift the blame away from Kanjorski’s failed policies and failed leadership – and they’re doing it by lying and stretching the facts about Lou Barletta’s record. They’re blaming Lou Barletta for problems that exist on a national and statewide level.
This isn’t the first time Mitchell lied to you, either. He lied about Hazleton being unique in balancing its budget and claimed that no other municipalities had to raise taxes or cut services. Think of your own coverage area – possibly even your own neighborhood – and you know that’s not true. More than that, it’s demonstrably not true.

We fully expect Kanjorski and Mitchell to continue their desperate attacks. I strongly encourage you to factcheck every single claim Mitchell makes, as he clearly cannot distinguish fact from fantasy. This is a very important race, and the entire Kanjorski/Mitchell strategy is to lie, to mislead, and to get media outlets to publish blurbs that can be used in television ads.

If you have any questions, please contact me.
Thanks.


Shawn

Pennsylvania Grand Jury Recommends Sweeping Government Overhauls

In this report out of Pennlive.com the Associated Press announces sweeping findings from the Grand Jury empaneled to investigate the misuse of taxpayer money commonly known as Bonusgate.

Despite dissemination of this report Todd Eachus's state site contains no mention of it.

A grand jury that investigated the state legislative corruption scandal known as Bonusgate wants the General Assembly to make sweeping changes, from how it hires and supervises employees to how it provides constituent services and even the way it debates passage of the annual budget.

A 34-page report obtained Monday by The Associated Press describes the Legislature as bloated with unnecessary staff and living in a time warp that reflects practices other states outlawed decades ago.

“This grand jury concludes, without any hesitation, that the current operational structure and ingrained procedures of the Pennsylvania House Democratic and Republican caucuses are irretrievably broken and in desperate need of systemic change,” the jury wrote.


“In the eyes of this grand jury, it is beyond dispute that numerous legislative employees have for years spent an enormous amount of time working on political campaigns when they were supposed to be performing their legislative duties,” the grand jury wrote. “All campaign work on legislative time must be eliminated and this will result in a surplus of legislative work unless rapid, meaningful change occurs.”

The 2,800 legislative employees amount to nine for each representative and 17 for each senator, the jury said.

“Despite the best efforts of numerous witnesses before the grand jury, nobody was able to justify such a large number of employees for this body,” the jurors wrote.

Among other reforms, the grand jury said the Legislature should:
— Eliminate, or at least make more transparent, the special leadership accounts that give House leaders millions of dollars in discretionary spending to control.
— Stop per diem payments to lawmakers, or at least tie them to actual expenses.
— Convert the General Assembly to a part-time body, impose term limits and give House members four-year terms.
— Combine the House Democratic and Republican print shops, information technology departments and personnel offices. Hire based on “standardized, published job descriptions.”
— Cease constituent service work related to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, described as a giveaway to businesses and a wasteful means of currying favor with voters at taxpayers’ expense.
— Impose tougher ethics practices, halt all payments and benefits to staffers on leave to campaign and ban compensatory time. Keep legislative employees from entering campaign offices during work hours.
— Prohibit using the same vendor for legislative and campaign purposes.
— Revamp the state budget process, making line items more descriptive and halting per diems if the budget is not passed by June 30.
— Eliminate taxpayer-funded political caucuses.

The report also called for a limited constitutional convention, saying it was concerned that the General Assembly “will remain in its ’time warp’ and meddle with, obfuscate, ignore or kill every recommendation.

Let's see if Eachus knows what the term leadership really means. Let's see if he rises to the occasion or serves us more slight of hand. Let's see if Brett Marcy can spin his words more.

Just today the AFL-CIO was demanding that there be no more cuts to Pennsylvania to preserve their member jobs which include doing campaign work on legislative time according to the Grand Jury.

This post is the facts..get ready for the fiction.

AFL-CIO Wants You To Pay More Taxes

In a bold statement the AFL-CIO, part of the newly formed Coalition for Labor Engagement and Accountable Revenue, representing 1.1 million Pennsylvanians wants us to pay more in taxes to protect their lucrative jobs and retirement. In this report from Jan Murphy of the Patriot News the unions position is very clear.

Labor unions representing Pennsylvania state and school employees are banding together to urge the state Legislature to look at raising revenue to balance next year’s budget instead of cutting employees and services. “We think the cuts have gone far,” said Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President-elect Rick Bloomingdale.

They make the outlandish claim that Rendell's budget would eliminate half the government workforce. Not even close.

Auditor General Drops Erie Pension Issue

The Associated Press is reporting today that Auditor General Jack Wagner has decided to drop his court battle with the City of Erie over a pension issue.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner is dropping his long-standing challenge to a deferred retirement program for Erie's police and firefighters.

The Commonwealth Court rejected Wagner's challenge and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court earlier this month refused to hear Wagner's appeal.

That's why Wagner told city officials on Tuesday that he's ending his court fight, even though he still disagrees with the plan.

Hazleton has a court case ongoing with the Auditor General. With the passing of HB 1828 the issue will probably be resolved. But it just goes to prove that those detractors of Mayor Barletta who were waving the Auditor General's findings as proof of improper activities failed to realize that his findings had to stand up to a court test in order to be found correct. Todd Eachus was using words like "illegal" yet he failed to wait for a court case to back up his personal attack.

Pension Reform Doesn't Reform Anything

The issue of pension funding in Hazleton and cities around the state was addressed in legislation recently passed. However, there is good news and bad news.

First, let's straighten out a political slant to an article that appeared in Saturday's Hazleton Standard Speaker. Here are some quotes that need clarification.

The law signed Friday by Gov. Ed Rendell says that cities "may no longer" use pension tax revenues for any purpose other than to defray pension costs.

By using that language, the law recognizes retroactively that Hazleton had diverted pension tax revenues to other purposes for a number of years, but that practice will no longer be legal in the future, said House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-116, Hazleton, on Friday

With the new law taking effect immediately, Wagner can legally release the city from having to make the repayment, said Eachus.

Eachus said he plans to contact Wagner about the matter now that the law is on the books.

Attorneys in the auditor general's office were briefed on the pension bill's provisions as it moved through the House and Senate in recent weeks.

"My hope is Mr. Wagner will consider the relief to taxpayers immediately," added Eachus.

The law makes new use of "asset smoothing" which involves spreading out pension fund gains and losses over a time. This is designed to avoid wide fluctuation in annual employer contribution requirements stemming from volatile investment markets.

This will save Hazleton more than $600,000 annually on its pension obligation.


Those portions are some of the most disingenous statements on record. Mr. Eachus had nothing to do with the language highlighted that helped Hazleton. That language was added on the Senate side, not the House. He sat silent during a House Fianance Committee hearing held August 18,2008 when the merits of Senate Bill 961 were discussed.

Now lets move onto the real reason for this post and part of it will address the supposed "savings" for the City of Hazleton.

Over at the Commonwealth Foundation Nathan Benefield provides a great analysis of HB 1828 that was passed and is the subject of the article discussed above. Essentially this bill allows municiplaties with under funded pensions to delay payments which will mean that future taxpayers will have to foot the bill. It will lead to increased taxes.

The savings Eachus talks about with Hazleton has to do with a provision that payments are deferred for 5 years. How is that a "savings"?

What he doesn't say is that there is an 8.25% interest penalty on that deferrment. If cities like Hazleton cannot afford their pensions now how is deferring going to help them in the future? It further points to higher taxes. But it doesn't stop there.

Of course, municipalities present only part of Pennsylvania's pension woes. In 2012, state and school property taxpayers will experience significant increases in pension contributions -- from less than 5 percent of salary to upward of 30 percent -- because of similar politically motivated manipulations for public school teachers and state workers in 2001 and 2003.

This bill is no longer a missed opportunity for pension reform, but only serves to exacerbate the crisis facing Pennsylvania cities. Not only is it a vote to raise taxes now, but the deferment of payments pushes costs onto future taxpayers, and will likely mean more tax increases in the future.

Again Eachus Fails To Put Hazleton First!

If Ronald Reagan were alive today his classic idiom would be aimed at Todd Eachus, "There he goes again." It is unbelievable the extent to which Eachus ignores his district.

Those of you following the saga on the pension issue facing the City of Hazleton may be unaware of the pension problems facing Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. House Bill 1828 was introduced to help out both cities but Pittsburgh doesn't like the idea of a Commonwealth takeover of its pension funds. So it is trying to amend the bill for an exemption. In the meantime Philadelphia needs the provision in HB 1828 for a 1% increase in its sales tax to curb its pension woes.

A reporter asking about this situation received the following comments from Brett Marcy, spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus.

"We know the bill is important to both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as to other cities with pension problems, but we need to get this bill right,'' and so have delayed the House vote for at least two days, said Brett Marcy, an aide to House Majority Leader Todd Eachus.

Did anyone see Eachus's heedfulness for Hazleton in his spokesperson's comment? Once again Eachus's prime concern belies his efforts to convince voters in his district that they really matter.

Todd Eachus- Define Constitutional

From Steve Mocarksy's article that appeared in the Times Leader on June 25, 2009.

"Something must be done to get the city out of this bind, but I want to make it clear that any solution must be within the confines of the state law and the state Constitution- Todd Eachus on Hazleton's Pension Fund Issue

Here is a link to Senate Bill 961 of 2007 that was introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate as a solution for Hazleton's pension issue.

Here is a link to the Senate Appropriations Committee vote which was unanimous. Note that Senators Musto and Mellow voted YES.

Here is a link to the Senate Finance Committee vote which was unanimous.

Here is a link to the Senate vote on Senate Bill 961. The vote 49-0.

The bill was referred to the House Finance Committee on June 26, 2007. The bill was not considered by the House Finance Committee until 8-18-2008. As you can see it was never reported out of the House Finance Committee.

According to the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Government Relations Committee Senate Bill 961 would allow the City of Hazelton to increase its earned income taxation rate up to an additional five-tenths percent beyond the maximum rate provided by law, provided that the proceeds are used solely to reduce any taxes assessed and collected under the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act from and after Jan. 1, 2003.

State Representative John Yudichak on the issue in the Times Leader by Bill O'Boyle:

State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, said he remembers Barletta coming to Harrisburg in 2007 to try to work out a legislative solution to the issue.

“I thought we had one,” Yudichak said. “It passed the Senate 49-0. I offered a discharge resolution in the House to get it out of committee and I was told that a solution was being worked on with Mayor Barletta and Rep. Eachus to resolve the issue. Now here we are two years later and the problem continues to threaten the health and welfare of the residents of Hazleton City.”

Todd Eachus wants people to believe Senate Bill 961 was unconstitutional. Forty nine Senators voted Yes. It was considered by the House Finance Committee where it died. Representative Yudichak authored a discharge resolution to get it out of committee but a hissy fit was had by Mr. Eachus. Don't you think those elected officials consulted with legislative attorneys before voting on this bill?

Mr. Eachus, why did it take over a year for a committee to consider a bill for your legislative district? Why didn't the bill move out of the House Finance committee? Why did it take so long to hear from you on this issue? You were elected to represent us.

There is a saying-"Just because you can doesn't mean you should". Just because you can hold Lou Barletta hostage doesn't mean that you should hold all of the residents and businesses of Hazleton hostage. Cut the crap, swallow some pride, reintroduce SB 961 and get it passed.

Deep Impact Auditor General and City Of Hazleton About To Collide

Yesterday Mark Guydish of the Times Leader wrote an Opinion piece concerning the pension situation facing Hazleton. His assessment came on the heels of an article written by Steve Mocarsky after Todd Eachus wrote a letter critical of Mayor Lou Barletta's financial moves concerning the pension funds in Hazleton.

Let's take a step back from all the rhetoric spewed in this episode of Guydish's Taxpayer Victim's Unit. A little homework usually provides the necessary education to make an informed decision.

There is a law called the Third Class City Code. If we go back to the Depression era we will find that the code was created in 1931. It is found in Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes more commonly known in the legal circles as Title 53 Municipal and Quasi-Municipal Corporations.

In looking at 53 P.S. §895.102 one will find definitions relating to pensions. A "Pension Fund" is defined as "the entity which is the repository for the assets amassed by a pension plan as reserved for present and future periodic retirement payments and benefits of active and retired members of the pension plan". A "Pension plan or system" is defined as "the various aspects of the relationship between a municipality and its employees wtih respect to retirement coverage provided by a municipality to its employees". A "Plan document" is defined as the law, ordinance, resolution, or related documents which governs the various aspects of the retirement coverage provided by a municipality to its employees, including periodic retirement payments and benefits, administration, and funding".

Do you see a pattern in the definitions? Pension payments are not only the monthly stipend provided by the plan according to the barganning agreement but also explicitly includes "BENEFITS."

The issue at hand is whether the City of Hazleton used money provided for by law, specifically Act 205, to be collected for pension payments to also be used for benefit payments. Auditor General Jack Wagner has ruled against the City of Hazleton and the Mayor believes his ruling to be incorrect according to the language of the law written above.

From the press release on the Auditor General's website. Auditor General Jack Wagner said today that an audit of the City of Hazleton’s police and firefighter pension plans found that the city improperly spent more than $1.5 million of special municipal pension tax revenues to pay for retirees’ health-care benefits....

Act 205 of 1984, the state law authorizing collection of the tax, requires that revenue from the tax be used exclusively to fund a municipality’s pension plans. Neither Act 205 nor any other state law permits using the tax revenue to pay for post-retirement health-care benefits or to buy back unused leave.

Wagner noted that Hazleton had properly exercised its right to pay retirees’ health-care benefits from general funds before 2003.

If the definition of a Pension Fund is the entity which is the repository for the assets amassed by a pension plan as reserved for present and future periodic retirement payments and benefits of active and retired members of the pension plan" how does Wagner find solid legal ground for his determination?

In the Auditor General's determination he opines that the City erred by using Act 205 money to fund retiree's health benefits. AG Wagner believes that the money can solely be used to defray the additional costs which are directly related to the pension plans of the municipality. If we go back to the definition of the "Pension plan or system" the defining words are too broad to limit retirement coverage solely to the monthly stipend.

The trouble with AG Wagner enforcing his determination lies in the travesty to the citizens of Hazleton. At this point there is no expense to the citizens of Hazleton nor the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the solution Lou Barletta found for his vexing pension issue. AG Wagner could force Hazleton into bankruptcy because its taxing ability is limited to 30 mills at the present time. The other option is for the Mayor and City Council to implement layoffs in the fire and police department to make up for the deficit that would be created by a payback.

If a law were passed it would have zero-impact on city residents and employees. If it isn't passed everyone would face a "Deep Impact."

If the Public Employee Retirement Commission(PERC) does not have a problem with Barletta's solution why does Todd Eachus? If the Senate voted 49-0 to support a legal remedy why is it that Todd Eachus has a problem?

From Steve Mocarsky's article: Eachus said he’s busy working to try to balance the state budget, which he said is “facing the largest deficit since the Great Depression” – $3.2 billion – and trying to find a fix for the city’s problem right now is impractical. Uhhh Todd, who got us into the largest deficit since the Great Depression? You and Governor Rendell. And are really too busy to help the people in your district?

PA State Pension Grab- Taxpayers Bear The Burden

Pennsylvania taxpayers will soon be facing a tax burden of insurmontable proportions. Mark Scolforo of the Associated Press writes a column about the great pension grab of 2001 and its impending impact on all of us in the very near future.

Depending on what happens in the stock market, taxpayers could soon find themselves stuck paying more than $5 billion in additional annual payments.

The figure is a moving target. But in a March presentation to a state House panel, the state's two large public-sector pension plans estimated that the $821 million a year they currently get in "employer contributions" _ the vast majority of it from taxpayers _ will need to grow to $5.7 billion a year by 2012.


There is plenty of blame to go around for this potential slow-motion train wreck, not the least being state lawmakers' unwillingness to face up to the consequences of their 2001 vote to increase their own pensions by 50 percent.

It was part of legislation that also increased pensions for about 300,000 teachers and state government workers by 25 percent. And in the following year, lawmakers pushed through a cost-of-living adjustment for retirees.

All those fresh obligations triggered a sudden need for massive taxpayer support, so in 2003 the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell _ then in his first year _ struck a deal to rejigger the financial structure of the pensions to delay the problem for a decade.

The Legislature and Rendell could have eased the pain by making larger contributions into the pension systems, but chose not to.

As recently as last June, then-Budget Secretary Michael Masch called for higher payments into the systems, warning that failing to act would likely result in a crisis in 2012-13. The budget that passed a few weeks later did not address the pension shortfalls, and the current budget debate centers on how to fill a $2.3 billion hole _ not on spending that might make it larger.