Vermont Business MagazineKathleen Kennedy Townsend, as well as members of the American Council for Life Insurers and others, will speak to the Vermont Public Retirement Study Committee about issues concerning retirement security in the private sector. Townsend is the founder of the Center for Retirement Initiatives at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, where she is the Faculty Director. The initial focus of the center is to help states plan and implement policies and programs that would make it easier for people who do not have easy access to a pension plan to save for their senior years in an efficient and cost-effective manner -- utilizing pooled, professional asset management. The center both studies and facilitates efforts to expand retirement options. Townsend also has served as the State of Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States. She is an honors graduate of Harvard University. She earned her law degree from the University of New Mexico, where she was a member of the law review.
The center’s mission is to help states implement savings programs by: 1) compiling existing research on the most effective retirement options; 2) conducting original research; 3) developing methods to facilitate public debate, including analysis of messaging and conducting polls and focus groups; 4) becoming a resource for information; and 5) outreach through participation in conferences, hearings, papers, press, and the channels of social media.
Background:
The Public Retirement Study Committee is a seven-member committee chaired by StateTreasurerBeth Pearce. The committee began meeting in November, 2014, to collect and evaluate data to examine the need for a state-wide public retirement plan. The Vermont State Legislature directed the creation of the committee in the 2014 session. In the 2015 session, State Legislators approved Act 58, which renewed the committee charge untilJanuary 15, 2016. The committee will continue its work to examine the feasibility of establishing a public retirement plan and will issue a report in January. TheNovember 16meeting is a part of the committee’s fact-finding activities.
For more information on the Public Retirement Study Committee, visit the committee web page at:www.vermonttreasurer.gov/retirement/Public-Retirement-Study-Committee.
Public Meeting:10:30 a.m.,Monday, November 16, Room 10, Vermont State House, Montpelier.
Meeting Agenda:
• Opening Remarks
• Presentation by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University
• Presentation by Dan Bryant and John Mangan, American Council for Life Insurers
• Comments from Vermont businesses
• Open discussion and comments from members of the public