Pension reform

The long-term, unfunded liabilities for the state's public employee pension and retiree health care plans amount to about $10 billion. In layman's terms, that means governments have promised their workers $10 billion worth of pension benefits and retirement health care subsidies without having the revenue to pay for them.

The deficit is staggering.

But state lawmakers have steadfastly refused to enact reforms that would make public employee compensation and retirement plans sustainable and more closely mirror what's typically offered in the private sector.

Two years ago, Gov. Kenny Guinn proposed eliminating the retirement health-care subsidy for future government hires, grandfathering those already employed by the state. That idea went nowhere. This year, Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, has suggested forcing public employees to work longer to collect full retirement benefits.

In fact, the only viable way for lawmakers to rid taxpayers of the $10 billion unfunded liability is to completely scrap the current system for all future hires and force them into a defined-contribution retirement savings plan.

However, on Thursday, taxpayers were reminded of why such a sensible reform hasn't occurred -- and why the current Legislature maintains the status quo.

Prior to a Thursday vote on a bill affecting the Public Employees Retirement System, members of the Assembly were required to disclose whether they or their spouses are in line to receive benefits. Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, then read into the record the names of 19 of the 42 members of the Assembly, including his own.

Nearly half of the lower house of the Legislature has a vested interest in protecting their taxpayer-funded golden parachutes.

If ever there were an example of why public employees should be prohibited from serving in the Legislature, this is it. How can they possibly be expected to look out for the interests of taxpayers when they're afforded the power to feather their own nests?

Unfortunately, nobody seems much interested in enforcing the Nevada Constitution's separation of powers clause, which expressly prohibits members of the executive branch -- university professors, for instance -- from also serving in the Legislature.

The 2007 Legislature cannot be counted on to reform public employee retirement benefits. And if the electorate does not make the issue a higher policy priority, make no mistake, they'll pay dearly in the years ahead.