The Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security revised its governance structure at its Feb. 8 annual meeting.

The coalition adopted a new set of bylaws that expands its board from 11 members to 15. The new board includes three representatives from statewide retirement systems, three from teacher retirement systems, two from local retirement systems and one each from public employer groups, public employee groups, public safety groups, retirement associations, statewide retirement associations, associations, and coalition national partners.

The night before the meeting, at the coalition's annual dinner, Dean Baker, co director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, dismissed claims that Social Security is in financial trouble, saying the program is "in very solid shape." He said he expects no major reform efforts to occur in the next few years, especially if a Republican is elected president in 2008, in which case, he said, a Bush-like push for personal accounts probably would not occur until at least 2013 (assuming reelection). Baker did suggest, though, that a Democratic administration elected in 2008 might propose a reform plan that would make government-subsidized savings accounts a part of Social Security - with the value of the accounts offsetting traditional Social Security benefits - even though such a plan is not entirely unlike the model proposed by President Bush that Democrats united against in 2005.