Leonard Gilroy
Vice President, Government Reform, Reason Foundation
Leonard Gilroy is vice president of government reform at Reason Foundation and senior managing director of Reason's Pension Integrity Project.
Under Gilroy's leadership, the Pension Integrity Project at Reason Foundation assists policymakers and other stakeholders in designing, analyzing and implementing public sector pension reforms. The project aims to promote solvent, sustainable retirement systems that provide retirement security for government workers while reducing taxpayer and pension system exposure to financial risk and reducing long-term costs for employers/taxpayers and employees. The project team provides education, reform policy options, and actuarial analysis for policymakers and stakeholders to help them design reform proposals that are practical and viable.
Gilroy and the Pension Integrity Project have provided technical assistance to several successful pension reform efforts in recent years in Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, South Carolina and other states aimed at tackling persistent pension solvency challenges.
In his role as vice president, Gilroy also leads Reason's government reform efforts, with over 18 years of experience researching fiscal management, government operations, infrastructure public-private partnerships, government contracting, and urban policy topics. He also regularly consults with federal, state and local officials on ways to improve government performance and efficiency.
Gilroy has a diversified background in policy research and implementation, with particular emphasis on competition, government efficiency, transparency, accountability, and government performance. Gilroy has testified before Congress on several occasions and has testified on pension reform before the Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and Texas legislatures. Gilroy works closely with state and local elected officials across the country in efforts to design and implement market-based policy approaches, improve government performance, enhance accountability in government programs, and reduce government spending.
Gilroy's articles have been featured in such leading publications as The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The Weekly Standard, Washington Times, Houston Chronicle, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Arizona Republic, San Francisco Examiner, San Diego Union-Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sacramento Bee, and The Salt Lake Tribune. He has also appeared on CNN, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, CNBC, National Public Radio and other media outlets.
Prior to joining Reason, Gilroy was a senior planner at a Louisiana-based urban planning consulting firm. He also worked as a research assistant at the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech. Gilroy earned a B.A. and M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech.
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New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Pension Solvency Analysis
New Mexico's Educational Retirement Board has $7.9 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
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Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS) Pension Solvency Analysis
The Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System has only 64 percent of the assets needed to fully fund the pension system.
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Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana Pension Solvency Analysis
The latest, official numbers reveal that the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana now has over $10 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
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Teacher Retirement System of Texas Solvency Analysis
Investment returns failing to meet unrealistic expectations have been the largest contributor to the public pension plan's unfunded liabilities, adding over $30 billion in debt since 2001.
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Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System Solvency Analysis
Recent reforms to the public safety personnel public pension system are showing significant savings and increased retirement security for employees.
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North Carolina Teachers & State Employees Retirement System Solvency Analysis
Investment performance falling short of return assumptions has been the largest contributor to the public pension plan's growing debt, adding $7.6 billion in unfunded liabilities since 2008.
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New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association Solvency Analysis
PERA administrators and stakeholders are likely to face persistent challenges made more pronounced by ongoing market and revenue volatility.
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Mississippi Public Employees’ Retirement System Solvency Analysis
Underperforming investment returns have been the biggest contributor to the growing unfunded liability, adding $6.8 billion in debt to the system since 2001.
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Arkansas Teacher Retirement System Pension Solvency Analysis
Investment returns failing to meet unrealistic expectations has been the single largest contributor to unfunded liability growth, adding $1.9 billion in debt to ATRS since 2000.