Puerto Rico to overhaul public pension system

Published April 04, 2013

Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –  Senators in Puerto Rico have approved a bill to overhaul the island's crumbling pension system as hundreds of irate public employees protested outside the seaside Capitol building.

The House of Representatives was expected to approve the bill late Thursday, and Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla was expected to sign it as well.

The bill calls for a higher retirement age, a nearly 2 percent increase in worker contributions and reduced benefits and monthly pensions for certain employees. It also would transfer the bulk of employees from a defined-benefit plan to a hybrid plan that includes a defined contribution component.

The current pension system faces a more than $37 billion unfunded liability, one of the highest compared with any U.S. state. The liability is almost four times the island's annual government budget.

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Puerto Rico teachers protest changing pension plan

Published March 15, 2013

Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –  Dozens of teachers in Puerto Rico are protesting a proposal to cut retirement benefits and increase employee contributions to help save the island's crumbling public pension system.

The teachers gathered Friday afternoon in front of the governor's mansion in colonial Old San Juan.

Union leader Maria Lara Fontanez says teachers met with Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla last week to talk about their concerns but says they did not receive any guarantee the pension system wouldn't be changed.

Economists have said the teachers' pension plan is slightly healthier than a plan that covers other government employees in the U.S. territory.

The protest comes two days after a similar protest by hundreds of police officers.

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