Houston city council’s plan to create a super committee of elected officials, community leaders, union representatives and pension experts to tackle the city’s pension funding issues doesn’t go far enough, according to John W. Diamond, the Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance at the Baker Institute.
In an op-ed coauthored with two other professors, Diamond argues that what’s needed is a committee that is focused on sustainable fiscal structure. He believes the pension funding issues represent a serious risk to Houston’s financial future.
“The committee should be composed of respected citizens from the business, government and academic communities who are knowledgeable about the problem and can achieve consensus on realistic solutions. This committee needs to represent the taxpayers who are being presented with this tab, not the people who already decided to saddle the city with this financial burden.”
Read the entire Aug. 28, 2011, Houston Chronicle op-ed, “Pension panel lacks credibility,” and tell us what you think.
Does the city’s pension panel lack credibility?