Judge finds stopping pension plan hikes unconstitutional
June 6, 2012 8:33 am Leave your thoughts
All company owners and other individuals in the United States are required to follow the U.S. constitution as well as the laws and regulations of their individual states. If a business owner commits an error or violates a law established in a state constitution, he or she may need to partner with a small business attorney. For instance, in Arizona, a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge ruled that state Legislature committed a violation of the Arizona constitution when passing a bill that overtook the region's pension system.
The problem that the bill addressed is whether judges and other elected officials' pensions are entitled to annual cost-of-living increases. The increases went up by as much as 4 percent per year and the passed bill was aimed at securing the state pension fund.
However, retired judges and other political officials filed a lawsuit against Arizona's Elected Officials’ Retirement Plan, claiming that the state constitution guarantees that public retirement funds cannot be altered. The pension plans of judges in Maricopa and Pima counties are part of the overall plans of elected state officials even though these positions do not get chosen to hold office.
"Under terms of that plan, they are allowed to retire after 20 years of service and then receive 80 percent of their salaries," Tuscon Citizen reported. "Currently, the fund has enough money to fund 62 percent of its future liabilities. A public-pension fund is considered healthy when its so-called funding ratio is 80 percent or higher. When the ratio level is high, fewer contributions by members are needed."
Former Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields is lead plaintiff in this case.
Other companies and SMBs that are attempting to follow laws and regulations within their state constitution may need the expertise of small business lawyers who have a good grasp of the corporate world such as pension and retirement funds.
Categorised in: Uncategorized
This post was written by