Although I have subtitled my Blog “Working for Positive Change in Ourselves and Government Bureaucracy. Working for the Public in the Public Sector.” I have addressed most of my posts to the topic of personal change. Today I want to address a much more controversial topic – government employee benefits.
Taxpayers and government workers have every right to be concerned about the future of benefits such as pensions, healthcare and particularly medical benefits for retirees. Our representatives have let us down, by not confronting the hard financial realities and settling for expedient short-term solutions.
The taxpayers representatives are legislators who have no need to find solutions that extend past the next election cycle. The government workers representatives are the unions who continually accept the legislators promises, even when previous promises have been ignored and distorted and were mathematically unworkable from the start. Legislators and unions play a political game and the taxpayers and workers suffer. Legislators and unions are openly distrustful and antagonistic, that’s politics. If ever there was a time for bipartisanship, this is it. Taxpayers and workers need to understand that this game cannot last forever, it’s time to do the math.
Benefits are just that, benefits, not entitlements. Benefit programs were started as perks to attract workers. Benefits are needed to bring workers into the government, however government workers can not expect taxpayers to fund benefits far in excess of what they receive in the private sector. Government benefits are still based on a 50 year old model developed by big manufacturers. Those companies, even the ones that are still unionized, are radically changing their programs. And 21st Century companies have adopted totally different models. How can government workers expect taxpayers to continue to finance outdated plans that do not account for current financial realities. Both sides need to work together. The taxpayer has a vested interest in bringing good people into government service and compensating them fairly. And the government employee (who is also a taxpayer) has to accept reality that health care costs skyrocket and underfunded pensions will have to be addressed soon. Fair compromise is necessary but that will probably only happen if legislators and union leaders can stop playing politics long enough to do the long-term math and accept that major changes are necessary.
I am not an economist but the most reasonable solutions I have seen come from Girard Miller. His suggestions will probably upset both sides. He writes for the bureaucrats in charge, who have the unenviable task of being in the middle of the legislators and unions, all the while trying to preserve their own fiefdoms. Check out:
A Taxpayer’s Benefits Bill of Rights
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