2012 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Social Security

Nikki Haley: Public service retirees: no COLA; no spiking; no double-dip

Our current policy of automatically awarding cost of living increases is irresponsible and unsustainable. To protect our pension funds, we must stop granting cost-of-living increases to our retirees in years when the funds are losing money. It may not be politically popular, but it's the only responsible thing to do.

There are a number of other reforms that we must adopt in order to shore up the retirement systems and to curtail further abuses. We need anti-spiking provisions that keep employees from using sick leave and vacation to artificially inflate their pension payouts. For new enrollees, we need to close the doors to the TERI program once and for all to prevent double-dipping.

John Hickenlooper: Update constitutional barriers in state's retirement program

Earl Ray Tomblin: Privatize W.V.'s workers' compensation system

We took the necessary steps to reform and privatize our workers' compensation system. That effort has resulted in rates that have been reduced by more than 47% since 2005. Our premiums are now below the national average!