© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

McNary Criticizes Zweifel's Handling Of Pensions

Missouri state Rep. Cole McNary, R-Chesterfield.
via Flickr/KOMU News
Missouri state Rep. Cole McNary, R-Chesterfield.

State Representative Cole McNary criticized the State Treasurer's handling of Missouri's pensions Tuesday. McNary is the Republican candidate for the office that is currently held by Democrat Clint Zweifel.

McNary outlined problems he sees with the Missouri State Employees Retirement System: He says there are underfunded pensions, naively optimistic forecasts for returns and a debt that will be a burden on taxpayers.

Although McNary was quick to detail the problems, he did not share a specific plan.

"What I'm saying is that we don't know enough now to make a judgment on what should be done," he told press after his speech.

McNary blames that on a lack of transparency in the Zweifel administration. The candidate says that if he is elected, he'll release a specific plan within 60 days of taking the office.

Zweifel released this statement in response: “Since day one, I committed to serving Missouri as a responsible steward of taxpayer money. On the MOSERS board, I asked the tough questions of MOSERS staff and consistently pushed for more transparent policies that both protect taxpayer money and keep our promises to state employees.”

Follow Chris McDaniel on Twitter@csmcdaniel

  • See more stories on issues and elections from St. Louis Public Radio, the St. Louis Beacon and Nine Network of Public Media at BeyondNovember.org.