Arizona First-Responders Pension System Criticized For Frivolous Spending

By Steve Goldstein, Lauren Gilger
Published: Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - 1:03pm
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Trevor Huxham/KJZZ
Craig Harris

Upscale meals, pricey hotel stays and more than $2,000 on staff Christmas gifts. Those are just a few of the things administrators of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System spent money on.

PSPRS is the state pension system for first-responders, judges and lawmakers, and the cost to state and local governments has made it more difficult to hire new police officers and firefighters.

Craig Harris with The Arizona Republic has reported on the administration’s spending, including at least $58,000 on travel, entertainment and meals in the past two years — spending that a PSPRS spokesperson defended.

Harris joined The Show to talk about these expenditures.

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