The 2017 Pension Political Power 25: Mike Rawlings

21. Mike Rawlings

Mayor of Dallas

In November, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings testified before the Texas Pension Review Board that his city faces bankruptcy if something isn’t done to fix its struggling, scandal-plagued Police and Fire Pension System. The rating agencies agree with the former Pizza Hut CEO: In December, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Dallas’s general obligation bonds from Aa3 to A1, citing challenges surrounding the poorly funded $2.1 billion public safety pension plan. It was Moody’s third downgrade since October 2015, all for the same reasons. Just the day before the most recent cut, the pension plan’s trustees had halted lump-sum withdrawals; that action was taken in response to the 62-year-old Rawlings’s unusual step of suing the pension fund and its board as a private citizen to try to prevent a equivalent of a bank run. — Imogen Rose-Smith

The 2017 Pension Political Power 25

1. Andy Puzder Secretary of Labor 2. Bruce Rauner Governor of Illinois 3. Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education 4. Laura & John Arnold Founders, Laura and John Arnold Foundation 5. Steven Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury

6. Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce 7. Tani Cantil-Sakauye California Chief Justice 8. Paul Ryan Speaker of the House 9. Anthony Scaramucci Founder, SkyBridge Capital 10. Kevin de León California State Senator and President Pro Tempore

11. Mike Enzi Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security 12. Steve Sweeney President, New Jersey State Senate 13. Jerry Brown Governor of California 14. Corey Lewandowski Co-founder, Avenue Strategies 15. Paul Singer President, Elliott Management Corp.

16. Randel Johnson Senior Vice President, Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce 17. Joe Manchin U.S. Senator 18. Kenneth Feinberg Founder and managingpartner, Feinberg Rozen 19. Scott Walker Governor of Wisconsin 20. Richard Trumka President, AFL-CIO

21. Mike Rawlings Mayor of Dallas 22. Elizabeth Warren U.S. Senator 23. Kent Mason Partner, Davis & Harman 24. Bernie Sanders U.S. Senator 25. Randi Weingarten President, American Federation of Teachers