Public pension plans for state and local employees across the nation now hold an estimated $3.8 trillion in total assets. Unfortunately, some public officials view the billions of pension fund dollars they manage as an opportunity to advance their own agendas, threatening the retirement security of Americans in the process. This pension fund cronyism further harms the condition of state pensions, which already are underfunded by a staggering $5.6 trillion.

Rather than investing to earn the best returns for workers, some pension managers and politicians use pension funds in a misguided attempt to boost their local economies, rewarding industries they like, punishing those they don’t, providing kickbacks to their political supporters, bullying corporations into silence, and behaving as they see fit.