Public pensions—and the employees who receive them—are being attacked by the press and politicians who blame them for whopping state and local budget deficits. Before the short-term budget cycle leads to long-term consequences for middle-class retirement, Common Cause and SCEPA are joining to host an open discussion with the stakeholders in the debate.

By removing the discussion of public pensions from a polarized environment—defined by the recession, big-number budget holes, and the decline of private-sector retirement plans—the forum counters ideology and misinformation with education, analysis, and dialogue.

Representatives from government, business, labor, and academia participate in a panel investigating the history and purpose of public pensions, their costs and benefits, and the social and economic impact of their deterioration. Errol Louis of NY1 News leads a discussion considering both the public policy goals of retirement security and the need for reform at all levels.

With: Richard Ravitch, Ravitch, Rice, & Co. LLC, former lieutenant governor of New York State Eugene Keilin, senior advisor and co-founder, KPS Capital Partners Lillian Roberts, executive director of District Council 37 Teresa Ghilarducci, SCEPA director and Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Chair in Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research Susan Lerner, executive director, Common Cause

Moderator: Errol Louis, NY1 News political anchor, host of Inside City Hall, and adjunct professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate Center

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About the sponsors: Common Cause is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization working to provide a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest. SCEPA, led by nationally recognized retirement expert Teresa Ghilarducci, is a policy research center within The New School working to focus the public economics debate on the role government can and should play in the real productive economy—that of business, management, and labor.