Chamber lobbies for pension reform
Adds voice to call for change as union says butt out!
Decorated with a clock hovering over a piggy bank, the opening frame of the presentation has a simple slogan: “A Fair System for All.”
It’s about pension reform. In 17 slides, it argues that the city of Memphis should move from its current defined-benefit plan to a defined-contribution plan more commonly found in the private sector. But the presentation is not authored by Mayor A C Wharton, who has proposed such a move.
It’s from the Greater Memphis Chamber, shareable for all from the chamber’s website under an encouragement from visitors to sign up for weekly updates on the pension topic.
The chamber is hardly the first business organization to lobby a government; it won’t be the last. And the chamber is hardly the only group that will lobby the City Council in the coming weeks on what many in support of reform believe is a defining issue in the city’s history. But largely through its group of about 100 top business leaders called the Chair- man’s Circle, the chamber is mobilizing this spring on pension reform, reflecting the importance the city’s business establishment has placed on the issue.
“Our job is to be the voice of business,” said Dexter Muller, the chamber’s interim president. “Wherever that leads us, and the importance of the topic, determines the magnitude. … I do believe that this is a defining moment. It is an important issue that, if we address this, it sends a really positive signal not just to people in Memphis, but to people across the United States.”
Its presence is being felt at City Hall. Council chairman Jim Strickland said he’s already had a couple of meetings with chamberaffiliated representatives on the topic, as well as those opposing reform.
“For my six years on the council, the chamber has really taken no position on the council that I can think of, so this is definitely a change,” Strickland said.
Wharton formally proposed to the City Council this month that it approve sweeping changes to retirement plans for city employees, the most significant being ending the pension plan for new employees and those with 10 or fewer years of experience.
Municipal employee union leaders say this would be detrimental to the quality of the workforce, and one union, the Fire Fighters Association, hired a consultant that as- serts the city’s unfunded pension liability is much less than the approximately $700 million the city administration’s actuaries claim.
The pension plan is expected to be a hot topic through the next two-plus months as the city heads toward approving a 201415 budget.
An e-mail sent to Chairman’s Circle members last week detailed the group’s efforts to affect that decision. It is hosting training sessions to help distill the topic and provide talking points, and is encouraging members to schedule meetings with City Council members.
To Thomas Malone, the president of the Fire Fighters Association, the chamber’s involvement isn’t welcome.
“I really don’t think that they should be in this game,” Malone said. “Their job is to bring businesses to the city, not to try to reduce the employees’ benefits.” Malone also called into question the chamber’s
I really don’t think that they should be in this game. Their job is to bring businesses to the city, not to try to reduce the employees’ benefits.” Thomas Malone, president of
the Fire Fighters Association
relationship with the city. It received $1.35 million in funding from the city last fiscal year, but chamber spokeswoman Christina Meek said the chamber doesn’t have plans to ask for funding in the 2014-15 budget.
The $1.35 million line item is included in the budget proposal Wharton made this month, though.
Council member Harold Collins said he has only had one meeting with the chamber, and it was a while back. If the business community does lobby him going forward, though, he’s open to their suggestions.
“My argument to them will be: It has to be balanced with working within the city to provide oppor- tunities for repaving the streets, ensuring that our parks are workable, that community centers are open, libraries are open, young people have an opportunity to do something constructive in the summertime,” Collins said.
The Chairman’s Circle even has its own pension reform committee dedicated to researching the complicated subject.
“Committee members contacted a number of City Council members to determine positions toward pension reform and potential timing,” the committee’s description reads, in part, on the chamber website.
“I think while we will come out there with what as business leaders we be- lieve is the right approach, we’ll do so after a really thorough examination of all those numbers,” chamber board chairwoman Leigh Shockey said in an interview last week. “And when we first came out with a statement, last week, I think we reserved the right that we might change our opinion a bit based on what the final numbers come out to.
“But we do want to support Mayor Wharton and his approach: Let’s not push this aside; let’s address it. And let’s address it in a serious way.”
The chamber has recently amped up its attempts at political influencing, including the creation of Jobs PAC, a political action committee.
“We are supporting candidates that we believe are addressing the city’s issues in a way that promotes economic development and growth in the city,” Shockey said.
In an interview last week, Wharton sought to draw a distinction between his efforts and the chamber’s.
“That’s a real critical point there, because I don’t want to give the impression that the city of Memphis is doing this because the business community said ‘Hey, we think this is what you ought to do’,” Wharton said.
Said chamber interim president Muller: “We applaud the effort of the mayor for taking leadership on the issue. He’s done that. (But,) we are more principally driven than individual-driven.”
Local lawyer Bob Craddock, who chaired the pension reform committee, said his group’s efforts were about educating the public on the importance of the issue.
“The Chairman’s Circle is focusing on issues that are important to the city,” he said. “I hope we’re doing it in a better way than it’s been done before. I suppose we’ll see.” Staff reporter Thomas Bailey Jr. contributed to this story.