The Fortress Around Public Pensions

In more than a dozen states — including Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — the public is kept in the dark about public pensions. Individual data are confidential under state law, and taxpayers can't find out what retirees get from systems that are funded, in large part, by tax dollars. Public employee unions, in league with compliant state officials, have built a fortress around their pension systems. In some states, constitutional amendments protect even the most outrageous pensions.