The first in a six-part series on the state of pensions in Michigan

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Today is Groundhog Day. Everyone’s favorite groundhog- Punxsutawney Phil- will stick his head out of the ground and look for his shadow. Legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow, we’ll have six more weeks of winter. Many of you may also remember a film called Groundhog Day, which stars Bill Murray as a man who repeats February 2 over and over and over again. If you’ve been keeping up with pension news and policy, you may feel a lot like Bill Murray. Every year, we see the same attacks on pensions repeated over and over and over again.

Last year in Lincoln, Nebraska, Chuck Reed, the president of the anti-pension Retirement Security Initiative, testified before the Pension Review Committee and encouraged them to switch from a defined benefit pension to a 401(k)-style plan. Lincoln rejected this idea. So this year, John Arnold is funnelling money through the Retirement Security Initiative to hire a $10,000 per month lobbyist to persuade the Nebraska state legislature to force Omaha and Lincoln to abandon their pensions for firefighters and police officers. Lawmakers in Lincoln must feel like they’re reliving 2016 all over again.

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