Position Statements

ALEC on pension reform, Medicare and Social Security

Pension Reform:

  • As municipalities and states across the nation face funding challenges related to underfunded public employee pensions, ALEC and its members seek creative solutions to pension reform
  • ALEC believes Defined Contribution (401-k-type) retirement plans are better suited to the challenges in pension funding than are Defined Benefit plans
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 91 percent of American workers have access to Defined Contribution plans indicating that the ALEC position is completely consistent with national policy and retirement funding conversations

Medicare Funding:

  • ALEC believes that Medicare funding should be offered in block grants to the states so state governments ca determine how best to meet the needs of the elderly
  • ALEC has not called for an end to Medicare
  • Consistent with its focus on local decision making, ALEC and its members believe that legislators who are closer to the people can more effectively create community-based solutions and programs

Social Security:

  • ALEC maintains no model policy related to terminating Social Security

Resources:

Pension Reform Model Policy

Medicare Model Policy 

Keeping the Promise: State Solutions for Pension Reform 

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Benefit Data