THIS MORNING TPPF Hosts Summit on Texas’ Public Pension Plans

11:00 a.m.
Panel I: Learning from Others: Pension Reform Efforts from Around the U.S.
An examination of pension reform efforts from around the nation to learn from the example of others.

• Leonard Gilroy, Reason Foundation
• Jonathan Small, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs 
• Ted Dabrowski, Illinois Policy Institute
• Marcia Fritz, President and founding board member, California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility
• James Hohnman, Mackinac Center for Public Policy
• Moderated by Pete Constant, former San Jose Councilmember and current Executive Director of the Retirement Security Initiative

 
12:15 p.m.
Keynote Lunch with The Honorable Chuck Reed, former mayor of San Jose
 
2:15 p.m.
Panel II: Are Pension Problems Brewing in the Lone Star State?
An in-depth look into the policy landscape in Texas to determine what problems exist, if any, and the ideal solution(s) to put forward in the next legislative session.

• Representative Jim Murphy
• John Diamond, Rice University Kelly Fellow in Public Finance
• Tim Lee, Texas Retired Teachers Association
• Max Patterson, TEXPERS
• Moderated by Bill Hammond, Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Association of Business

 
3:45 p.m.
Panel III: Keeping the Promise: Is it Time to Modernize Texas’ Pension Systems?
An exploration of the efforts to modernize Texas’ state and local retirement systems through transitioning from defined benefit system to a defined contribution model.

• Senator Paul Bettencourt
• Bill King, former Houston mayoral candidate
• Ronnie Jung, Texans for Secure Retirement
• Joe Arnall, former member of the Florida House of Representatives
• Keith Brainard, National Association of State Retirement Administrators
• Moderated by James Quintero, TPPF