Editorials from across South Carolina: Fix Retirement System, release police videos, register to vote
S.C. Retirement System
The (S.C.) pension system has received poor returns on its investments in recent years.
On top of that, the pension fund’s financial planning assumes investments will earn a whopping 7.5 percent. Its 2015 return was 1.6 percent, and its 10-year average is 5 percent. The recommended standard set by pension experts is 3.1 percent.
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SC lawmakers to tackle troubled state retirement system
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Further, the investment fees South Carolina pays are extraordinarily high — a fact even more troubling given the poor returns to the retirement system.
The state pays dearly for the TERI program, which has allowed public-sector workers who have taken early retirement to continue to work at their same salary, thus drawing both a salary and a pension.
In 2012, legislators increased the amount of money state employees must contribute to their pensions. It is now 8.66 percent of their salaries — well above the 5.98 percent national median.
Clearly, the system must be adjusted if not changed altogether.
In the non-government business world, employers are moving away from the kind of pension system South Carolina uses to promise specific benefits. Instead they are opting for plans that depend on voluntary employee contributions. One example is a 401(k) plan whereby workers control their own funds and employers know ahead of time what their costs will be.…
Only one thing is sure at this point:
Something must change.
Police videos
Hours of police video from this past summer’s Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Greenville provides a gritty, unfiltered picture of what happened on a hot July night when tensions flared here and around the country.…
(D)ash cameras and body cameras are immensely valuable to the public. Greenville News photographers were live on the scene, and provided coverage as it unfolded. But none of our initial video came close to providing the sort of audio and video detail available in the dash cams and body cams. Law enforcement officers work for the public. Dash cameras and body cameras give taxpayers an unfiltered, unbiased means to hold officers accountable.
Video of the protests showed no egregious activity by officers or the public. But had anyone acted in a way that demanded disciplinary action, it would have been preserved for the public to see. This video is more evidence in the ever-stronger argument in favor of having all law enforcement officers wear body cameras while on duty.
Registration deadline
The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 8.…
Even if you decide as a form of civil protest not to vote for a presidential candidate, there is an entire ballot sheet of ways to make your voice heard.
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New laws and rulings could cause Election Day confusion in several states
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It can be called a cliche, for sure, that every vote counts, but it is true, especially on the local level. One vote can, and has, decided an election.
There is still time, but you know how time flies when you’re having fun — too fast, when you don’t want it to, and it will be Oct. 9 before you know it.
As Americans, we have the right not to vote as much as we have the right to vote, but still, we need to get out and vote.
If you want change from the status quo, vote.
If not, vote also.
The Aiken County Board of Voter Registration & Elections is located at the Aiken County Government Center, 1930 University Parkway in Aiken. For more information or for a list of filed candidates, visit scvotes.org or call 803-642-2028.
Good, bad or ugly, we are where we are right now because we voted it that way. The results of the Nov. 8 election will set U.S. policy for the next four years.
You can be curiously apathetic, or apathetically curious about politics, but you still need to get out and vote.
So, please.
Get out and register.