Let The Walls Come Down

In the past few days our favorite non-politician (Phil Kiesling) has released an updated version of his "meditations" on the PERS system. You can read Phil's latest draft here. I have to give Kiesling credit for picking up and correcting many of the mistakes that littered his previous versions of this document. Nevertheless, Phil's objective seems to be to provoke a serious discussion about PERS' future with legislators, the executive branch, the unions, all the various public employers. I strongly suggest that you read this updated version for it lays out some of the areas where PERS members might be facing some changes. Phil treats everything in the PERS contract that isn't legally nailed down by court decisions as subject to potential negotiation and/or legislation. Even if you don't want to wade through the lengthy text (this draft is nearly 20 pages longer than the first draft), please do not miss the APPENDIX. It is here where Phil lays out ideas for discussion. I do not want to discuss the document here, but I would suggest that readers who wish to discuss this come to our PERS Discussion Group (POD), which you can get to by clicking on the first link at the left. Please pose your questions there, although you are free to comment here, as always.