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Why Equable?

Equable was created because we have seen first-hand how bipartisan, collaborative processes can build lasting change for state and municipal governments.

At the same time, we have all seen how a lack of clear information and partisan politics can lead to unnecessary fights that have threatened the solvency of pension plans, required cuts to public services, or made funding retirement benefits more expensive by delaying necessary changes. It is not enough just to have votes from more than one party, the path from identifying the source of existing problems to a solution is also an important conversation to have collaboratively from the start.

We’ve purposely built Equable with a bipartisan board and staff to reflect the broad political spectrum of this country.

As a result, our board members generally don’t agree on every public policy issue, but they all agree that we should come together to create sustainable retirement plans for public and private sector workers, that these benefits should be affordable and considered as part of total compensation, and that the plans should be designed with the worker in mind so that everyone has a clear path to retirement income security. We know you are tired of the unnecessarily partisan and petty politics that have dominated this issue in so many places. So are we.

Our Board

Dan Liljenquist

Dan Liljenquist

R, former state senator

Dan is the Chief Strategy Officer at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, and is the architect of Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug company established to reduce chronic generic drug shortages and price gouging. He served in the Utah State Senate (2009-2011), where he championed an effort to save the statewide retirement system from fiscal collapse following the financial crisis.

“As a former legislator in Utah, I was able to see up close and personal what state and local governments face, as they try to balance the need to fairly compensate employees while managing a budget. Costs are much higher than anyone had anticipated because many pension plans have relied on overly optimistic financial assumptions without long-term sustainability in mind. The resulting debt has put extraordinary pressure on state and local governments around the country. That's a big issue.”
Dan Liljenquist

Dan Liljenquist

R, former state senator

Dan is the Chief Strategy Officer at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, and is the architect of Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug company established to reduce chronic generic drug shortages and price gouging. He served in the Utah State Senate (2009-2011), where he championed an effort to save the statewide retirement system from fiscal collapse following the financial crisis.

“As a former legislator in Utah, I was able to see up close and personal what state and local governments face, as they try to balance the need to fairly compensate employees while managing a budget. Costs are much higher than anyone had anticipated because many pension plans have relied on overly optimistic financial assumptions without long-term sustainability in mind. The resulting debt has put extraordinary pressure on state and local governments around the country. That's a big issue.”
Lois Scott

Lois Scott

D, former city Chief Financial Officer

Lois serves on the boards of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Center for Municipal Finance (University of Chicago), and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, among others. An entrepreneur and civic leader, she served as Chief Financial Officer for the city of Chicago (2011-15), where she worked to improve the city’s finances that were being overwhelmed by pension debt costs.

“The public pension crisis is a weight that sits on top of every public policy goal. Unless and until we wrestle with that crisis, we cannot make progress on the issues that will make life better. Want better schools and better paid teachers? Fix the pension crisis so we can fund schools. Want a cleaner environment? Free up funding to make that happen. Think that we need more affordable housing? Focus on pensions first.”
Lois Scott

Lois Scott

D, former city Chief Financial Officer

Lois serves on the boards of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Center for Municipal Finance (University of Chicago), and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, among others. An entrepreneur and civic leader, she served as Chief Financial Officer for the city of Chicago (2011-15), where she worked to improve the city’s finances that were being overwhelmed by pension debt costs.

“The public pension crisis is a weight that sits on top of every public policy goal. Unless and until we wrestle with that crisis, we cannot make progress on the issues that will make life better. Want better schools and better paid teachers? Fix the pension crisis so we can fund schools. Want a cleaner environment? Free up funding to make that happen. Think that we need more affordable housing? Focus on pensions first.”
Pete Constant

Pete Constant

R, former police officer and city councilman

Pete is chief executive officer of Retirement Security Initiative, an advocacy organization focused on protecting and ensuring the fairness and sustainability of public sector retirement plans. He served the city of San Jose as a police officer (1987-2000) and then councilman (2007-2014). While on the city council he was a trustee for both the civilian and public safety retirement systems, and worked with the mayor to push forward efforts to improve the financial sustainability of the troubled pension plans.

“The only way to make lasting change to these complex systems is through bipartisan and stakeholder-wide solutions being developed. Equable is uniquely suited to facilitate these improvements.”
Pete Constant

Pete Constant

R, former police officer and city councilman

Pete is chief executive officer of Retirement Security Initiative, an advocacy organization focused on protecting and ensuring the fairness and sustainability of public sector retirement plans. He served the city of San Jose as a police officer (1987-2000) and then councilman (2007-2014). While on the city council he was a trustee for both the civilian and public safety retirement systems, and worked with the mayor to push forward efforts to improve the financial sustainability of the troubled pension plans.

“The only way to make lasting change to these complex systems is through bipartisan and stakeholder-wide solutions being developed. Equable is uniquely suited to facilitate these improvements.”
Richard Ravitch

Richard Ravitch

D, former Lt. Governor

Dick has a storied career in public finance, serving the New York City in a range of capacities that included helping to prevent bond defaults in the 1970s from turning into bankruptcy, building out thousands of units of public housing, and serving as the chairman of the MTA (1979-1983). He served as Lt. Governor of New York State (2009-2010), and has been an advisor in the recent efforts to salvage the finances of Detroit and Puerto Rico.

“People generally assume that a state's pension promises to its retirees are contracts that bind the state no matter how much fiscal distress it may cause to fulfill them. But as the burdens of these promises increase, so will the challenges to the strength of the guarantees."
Richard Ravitch

Richard Ravitch

D, former Lt. Governor

Dick has a storied career in public finance, serving the New York City in a range of capacities that included helping to prevent bond defaults in the 1970s from turning into bankruptcy, building out thousands of units of public housing, and serving as the chairman of the MTA (1979-1983). He served as Lt. Governor of New York State (2009-2010), and has been an advisor in the recent efforts to salvage the finances of Detroit and Puerto Rico.

“People generally assume that a state's pension promises to its retirees are contracts that bind the state no matter how much fiscal distress it may cause to fulfill them. But as the burdens of these promises increase, so will the challenges to the strength of the guarantees."
Josh McGee

Josh B. McGee, PhD

Independent, Academic

Josh is a research professor at the University of Arkansas, and a widely published author on the nature of public sector retirement systems and how they can be managed more efficiently. He was previously chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board (2017-2019) and executive vice president at Arnold Ventures (2011-2018) where he worked with dozens of university teams and research groups on efforts to improve the financial sustainability of public pensions.

Josh McGee

Josh B. McGee, PhD

Independent, Academic

Josh is the Chief Data Officer for the State of Arkansas, and a widely published author on the nature of public sector retirement systems and how they can be managed more efficiently. He was previously chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board (2017-2019) and executive vice president at Arnold Ventures (2011-2018) where he worked with dozens of university teams and research groups on efforts to improve the financial sustainability of public pensions.