A pension reform bill working through the Alaska Legislature has put a spotlight on a quiet crisis facing Petersburg’s teachers, police officers and public workers —many of whom are staring down a retirement they say they cannot afford to live on.
Molly Taiber recently returned from Juneau, where she spent several days this legislative session doing what she has done every year for the past six years: sitting across from state legislators making the case that Alaska’s public employees are heading toward a retirement they will not be able to live on.
For most of Alaska’s history as a state, a career in public service came with one of the better retirement packages in the country — a guaranteed pension that rewarded workers for building careers in Alaska. That system was dismantled in 2006. What replaced it, advocates say, has left teache...
Reader Comments(0)