Policy Options for Vermont Pension and Health Care Retirement Systems

(South Burlington, Vt.)  Today, Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable (Roundtable) and Mark Crow, President of Tenth Crow Creative and Chair of the Pension Reform and Health Benefits Task Force, announced the release of its latest policy paper entitled, “Policy Options for Vermont State Employee and Teacher Pension and Health Care Retirement Systems.” Click here for report.

Said Task Force Chair, Mark Crow, “Vermont has failed to meaningfully address its more than $2.4 billion in unfunded pension and $2.3 billion in retiree healthcare obligations that it owes to state employees and teachers.  This liability is equal to $7,100 for every citizen in our state.  Avoidance of this issue will only exacerbate our state’s problems.  We cannot continue to ignore this growing economic burden.”

“The weight of prior decisions to not fully fund our obligations has been built over decades. Maintaining the status quo is no longer a viable or sustainable option. This report offers lawmakers a series of policy recommendations that the Task Force believes are in the best long-term interest of Vermont’s fiscal stability, and that are accountable to future generations of public employees and taxpayers,” said Roundtable President Lisa Ventriss.

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The Vermont Business Roundtable (Roundtable) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of chief executive officers of Vermont’s leading private and nonprofit employers, representing geographic diversity and all major sectors of the Vermont economy. The Roundtable is committed to sustaining a sound economy an preserving Vermont’s unique quality of life by studding and making recommendations on statewide public policy issues.