Prudent Investors: The Asset Allocation of Public Pension Plans

After 2000, the vast majority of defined benefit (DB) pension plans encountered a decrease in their funding ratios, largely due to a drop in asset prices. It is possible that public sector pension plans may have acted imprudently by chasing returns, once they encountered underfunding. We identify four indicators for DB plans’ imprudent investment behavior: no portfolio rebalancing, employer conflicts of interest, trustee conflicts of interest, and failure to implement best investment practices. To see if public sector pension plans rebalance their portfolios, we use data from the Federal Reserve’s Flow of Funds, dating from 1952 to 2007. To test for the remaining three hypotheses, we use data from the Census’ State and Local Government Employee Retirement Systems data base, where consistent data for state and local government plans are available from 1993 to 2005. Our results suggest that there is no evidence that public sector plans systematically engaged in imprudent investment behavior and that this did not systematically differ after 2000 from the earlier period.

105th Congress

The 105th Congress has debated the decennial census sampling issue mainly in the appropriations process, beginning with FY1997 supplemental appropriations legislation for disaster relief. In FY1998 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies (CJS), the Senate (S. 1022) instructed the Bureau of the Census not to make “irreversible” Census 2000 sampling plans, while the House (H.R. 2267) sought a moratorium on these plans, pending expedited judicial review of their constitutionality and legality

2000 Census: Lessons Learned for Planning a More Cost-Effective 2010 Census

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the funding of 2000 Census planning and development efforts and the impact it had on census operations. Total funding for the 2000 Census, referred to as the life cycle cost, covers a 13-year period from fiscal year 1991 through fiscal year 2003 and is expected to total $6.5 billion adjusted to 2000 year dollars. This amount was almost double the reported life cycle cost of the 1990 Census of$3.3 billion adjusted to 2000 year dollars. Considering these escalating costs, the experience of the U.S. Census Bureau in preparing for the 2000 Census offers valuable insights for the planning and development efforts now occurring for the 2010 Census. Thorough and comprehensive planning and development efforts are crucial to the ultimate efficiency and success of any large, long-term project, particularly one with the scope, magnitude, and the deadlines of the U.S. decennial census. For fiscal years 1991 through 1997, $269 million was requested in the President's Budgets for 2000 Census planning and development and the program received funding of$224 million by Congress, or 83 percent of the amount requested. According to U.S. Census Bureau records, the bulk of the $86 million in funding received through the end of fiscal year 1995 was obligated for program development and evaluation methodologies, testing and dress rehearsals, and planning for the acquisition of automated data processing and telecommunications support. The U.S. Census Bureau was responsible for carrying out its mission within the budget provided and bureau management determined the specific areas in which available resources were invested. GAO could not determine what effect, if any, that higher funding levels might have had on bureau operations as this is dependent upon actual implementation and the results of management decisions that may or may not have occurred. According to bureau officials, early planning and development efforts for the 2000 Census were adversely affected by lower funding than requested for fiscal years 1993 through 1997. They identified 10 areas where additional funding could have been beneficial. These included difficulties in retaining knowledgeable staff, scaled back plans for testing and evaluating 1990 Census data, delays in implementing a planning database, and limited resources to update address databases. The bureau's experience in preparing for the 2000 Census underscores the importance of solid, upfront planning and adequate funding levels to carry out those plans.

Census 2000: The Sampling Debate

Plans by the Bureau of the Census to incorporate data from two new sample surveys into the 2000 decennial census count have had a mixed congressional reception. Three sampling bills in the 105th Congress (H.R. 1220, H.R. 1178, and H.R. 776) have been referred to committee, without further action. Sampling has been debated chiefly in the appropriations process (H.R. 1469, H.R. 1871 [P.L. 105-18; 111 Stat. 158], and H.R. 2267/S. 1022 [P.L. 105-119; 111 Stat. 2440]). The bureau now is a defendant in two anti-sampling suits brought under P.L. 105-119. The law also established a Census Monitoring Board and directed the bureau to prepare for a traditional headcount in 2000, not just to continue with its sampling plans

Subsidies to Employee Health Insurance Premiums and the Health Insurance Market

One approach to covering the uninsured that is frequently advocated by policy makers is subsidizing the employee portion of employer-provided health insurance premiums. But, since the vast majority of those offered employer-provided health insurance already take it up, such an approach is only appealing if there is a very high takeup elasticity among those who are offered and uninsured. Moreover, if plan choice decisions are price elastic, then such subsidies can at the same time increase health care costs by inducing selection of more expensive plans. We study an excellent example of such subsidies: the introduction of pre-tax premiums for postal employees in 1994, and then for the remaining federal employees in 2000. We do so using a census of personnel records for all federal employees from 1991 through 2002. We find that there is a very small elasticity of insurance takeup with respect to its after-tax price, and a modest elasticity of plan choice. Our results suggest that the federal government did little to improve insurance coverage, but much to increase health care expenditures, through this policy change.

Ranch Homes: Then and Now

This purpose of this project was to compare ranch homes in Overland Park built in the 1950’s and 60’s, to ranch homes built in the 2000’s. Research ranged from census and demographic information, to research of typical ranch home plans from the 50’s and 60’s through today. Current real estate listing information was used to find square footage of home and lot sizes, number and sizes of bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, kitchen, dining, other living areas, and amenities. It was interesting to note that homes listed for sale in the 2000’s were mainly new construction and not resale. From the information I was able to determine typical house and room sizes to create floor plans in Computer Aided Design (CAD) for the 1950’s ranch homes, and current ranch homes. Exterior elevations were then drawn from the floor plans. The most significant changes between rooms of ranch homes built in the different time periods have been in the number of bathrooms, and the size of the master bathroom. Detailed CAD drawings were created of the floor plans and elevations from each time period. Other research included the influences that caused ranch homes to be built in the 1950’s compared to the 2000’s, the differences in the style of ranch homes in the different time periods as well as the growth of Overland Park since the 1950’s. This research lead to information regarding the future housing needs due to population growth and the changes in household type, size, and the aging population. Honors project mentor: Margaret Davis, Professor, Draftin

Interim Assessment of 2010 Census Operations & Outreach to Asian Americans

From June to December 2009, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) undertook a focused six-month monitoring project, evaluating the Census Bureau's outreach plans to the Asian American community. As the Bureau did in 2000, significant efforts were made to educate racial, ethnic, and language minorities to increase participation in the 2010 census. While the Bureau has generally been responsive to the needs of Asian Americans, AALDEF's assessment identified some deficiencies. Widespread problems included the following: insufficient support from some Partnership Specialists, limited or no opportunity to preview draft advertisements, misinformation about key programs like the Questionnaire Assistance Centers and Be Counted sites, mistranslations of census materials, and persistent concerns about the confidentiality of census information. AALDEF worked with more than 100 Asian American community-based organizations (CBOs) in fifteen states: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana, Washington, and California. Members of the National Asian American Census Task Force included OCA National, South Asian Americans Leading Together, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Asian Law Caucus, and Asian American Federation of New York. Through personal interviews, conference calls, and an online survey, community leaders provided feedback and insight on their experiences with the Bureau's programs, particularly the Partnership Program, Language Assistance, and Other Operations

ERISA Regulation of Health Plans: Fact Sheet

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA, P.L. 93-406) places the regulation of employee benefit plans (including health plans) primarily under federal jurisdiction for about 124 million people. ERISA’s treatment of health plans is both complicated and confusing. ERISA has been interpreted as dividing health plans into two groups regulated differently under the law: about 54 million people are covered by self-insured plans for which the employer, rather than an insurer, assumes the risk for paying for covered services and about 70 million people are covered by purchased insurance (according to 2000 information from the Census Bureau and the Department of Labor)

ERISA Regulation of Health Plans: Fact Sheet

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA, P.L. 93-406) places the regulation of employee benefit plans (including health plans) primarily under federal jurisdiction for about 124 million people. ERISA’s treatment of health plans is both complicated and confusing. ERISA has been interpreted as dividing health plans into two groups regulated differently under the law: about 54 million people are covered by self-insured plans for which the employer, rather than an insurer, assumes the risk for paying for covered services and about 70 million people are covered by purchased insurance (according to 2000 information from the Census Bureau and the Department of Labor)

The Implications of Nesting in California Redistricting

Evaluates the process of nesting -- aggregating or dividing assembly and senate districts -- on redistricting outcomes, including compactness, minimizing city and county divisions, and the creation of majority minority seats