Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
John Myers
Sept. 20, 2016 – 2:47 p.m.
The retiring forecaster for California’s largest public employee pension fund offered some final advice on Tuesday: State and local governments should be required to pay more into the system as soon as next year.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 11, 2016 – 4:00 AM
The “unfunded liabilities” of state and local pension funds are California’s biggest unresolved political issue – at least in financial terms.
Ed Mendel
August 22, 2016
The one thing some pension reformers say is needed to cut the cost of unaffordable public pensions: give current workers a less costly retirement benefit for work done in the future, while protecting pension amounts already earned.
Ed Mendel
August 15, 2016
Two actuarial associations did not publish a controversial paper by their joint task force, reflecting a split in the profession over whether public pension debt should be measured with risk-free bonds or the earnings forecast for stock-laden investment funds.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016 – 12:00 p.m.
I just sent an email to Staff Writer Teri Sforza at The Orange County Register regarding her article on the “Top 25 Public Pensions” in California, published Tuesday.
Her story mysteriously omitted San Bernardino County pension data.
By Alicia Robinson, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 08/08/16 – 7:54 PM PDT |
High-earning state and local government retirees are scattered around the state, with no one city or agency dominating the list of the biggest pension payouts in 2015, data from an open records advocacy group show.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 7, 2016 – 4:46 PM
When Kevin de León talks about creating pensions for low-income workers, he cites his aunt, a housekeeper for many years, as an example.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 1, 2016 – 6:00 AM
Ron Seeling, the California Public Employees Retirement System’s chief actuary, believed he was speaking to a closed-door seminar in 2009 when he warned that public employee pension costs were becoming “unsustainable.”
By Ed Mendel
Monday, August 1, 2016
Twice in recent decades CalPERS fell below 100 percent of the funding needed for promised pensions, and twice CalPERS climbed back. But since a $100 billion investment loss in 2008, the CalPERS funding level has not recovered.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 23, 2016 – 2:00 PM
One day last week, Daniel Borenstein, a columnist for newspapers in the Bay Area News Group, published a critical analysis of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s long-term finances.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 18, 2016 – 4:03 PM
You can smear lipstick on a pig, but that doesn’t change its innate porcinity.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
July 18, 2016 – 9:11 AM
CalPERS reported a 0.61 percent gain in investments in its latest fiscal year, the second straight year of subpar results for the big California pension fund.
By Teri Sforza / Staff Writer
July 12, 2016 – Updated 7:37 a.m.
Public workers are pumping more money into retirement funds. Public agencies are pumping more money into retirement funds.
Yet the market seems distinctly unimpressed.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016 – 09:00 a.m.
San Bernardino County is set to approve a $203 million payment to its pension fund on Tuesday.
Surprisingly it’s an amount that’s lower than last year.
Thursday, June 16, 2016 – 12:00 p.m.
You know things are getting tough when a pension fund starts mentioning its 30-year average average return in its investment reports.
By Teri Sforza / Staff Columnist
tsforza@ocregister.com
May 23, 2016 – Updated: 6:36 a.m.
So if you don’t live in Irwindale, rejoice: There, even when you look at it through rose-colored glasses, public pension liabilities equal $32,447 for each and every household in the city.
By Ed Mendel
May 23, 2016
Annual rates paid by employers to CalPERS and CalSTRS are going up, pension funding levels haven’t recovered from a big drop during the recession, and Gov. Brown’s pension reform put a lid on pension increases.
Saturday, May 21, 2016 – 01:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, May 23, 2016 – 08:45 a.m.
Hats off to San Bernardino County First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood for doubling-down on his fantasy pension crack down spin.
Thursday, May 19, 2016 – 08:45 a.m.
San Bernardino County First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood is living in a fantasy land.
That’s at least when it comes to the county’s pension fund.
Monday, May 2 , 2016 – 12:00 p.m.
It’s time for the San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association (SBCERA) to face reality regarding what it will make on investments in the future.
By Ed Mendel
May 2, 2016
After reaching agreements with all major creditors, San Bernardino is moving toward an exit from a four-year bankruptcy this fall without cutting public pensions, its largest and rapidly growing debt.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 04/29/16, 10:52 PM PDT |
Roughly 9,000 members and beneficiaries of the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association have experienced a delay in receiving their April benefit payments due to a clerical error, the organization’s spokesman said Friday.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
April 20, 2016 – 5:18 PM
CalPERS approved another round of rate increases Thursday, requiring higher contributions from state agencies and school districts for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Published: April 13, 2016 – 8:09 a.m.
Puerto Rico, Atlantic City and Chicago school district bondholders have reason to fear a fight in court if the ailing governments collapse financially: recent cases show that when municipalities go broke, investors lose when pitted against municipal retirees.
To read article in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Ed Mendel
April 14, 2016
CalPERS actuaries recommend that the annual state payment for state worker pensions increase $602 million in the new fiscal year to $5.35 billion, nearly doubling the $2.7 billion paid a decade ago before the recession and a huge investment loss.
Ed Mendel
April 11, 2016
Gov. Brown’s plan to reduce state worker retiree health care costs got only a small nod in a tentative CSU faculty contract agreement last week. But three unions have agreed to begin paying down one of the state’s fastest-growing costs and largest debts.
By Patrick McGreevy
April 10, 2016
Republican state Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa has emerged as a leading voice in the Legislature against skyrocketing debt piled up by public pension systems.
By Ed Mendel
March 28, 2016
Following new accounting rules, the annual state financial report issued this month shows a “net pension liability” of $63.7 billion, a dramatic increase from the $3.2 billion “net pension obligation” reported last year.
By Ed Mendel
March 21, 2016
Social Security recipients get no raise this year because inflation last year was near zero. But more than half of CalPERS pensions will get a raise in May of 1.5 to 4 percent.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
March 18, 2016 12:07 PM
Although its 2014-15 budget was balanced, California’s state government ended the fiscal year $175.1 billion in the red, thanks largely to state retirement obligations that had to be included in its balance sheet for the first time.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
March 15, 2016 – 4:15 PM
Thanks to new accounting standards, California’s state and local governments are being forced to acknowledge tens of billions of dollars in previously obscure debt for unfunded pension liabilities.
Sarah D. Wire
March 11, 2016
A recent study shows nearly half of California workers don’t have a retirement savings plan available at work, and the U.S. Treasury Department is hoping a new no fee, no minimum deposit retirement saving program will fill the gap.
By Ed Mendel
February 29, 2016
A superior court judge has awarded judges back pay and a pension increase, ruling that a five-year freeze on their salary did not keep pace with average increases in state worker pay, a requirement under state law.
By Melody Gutierrez
February 6, 2016
Updated: February 6, 2016 – 2:53pm
SACRAMENTO — California has come a long way to dig itself out of budget deficits, but the state remains on shaky ground due to nearly $400 billion in unfunded liabilities and debt from public pensions, retiree health care and bonds, financial analysts say.
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By Daniel Borenstein
dborenstein@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 02/04/2016 06:00:00 PM PST
Updated: 02/04/2016 09:14:06 PM PST
Two years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown pushed through a 32-year plan to shore up the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
Thursday, January 21, 2016 – 09:30 a.m.
San Bernardino County’s pension fund, San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association (SBCERA), will pay out a 2% across-the-board cost of living (COLA) adjustment effective April 1, 2016.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 19, 2016 3:42 PM
With no thought to long-term financial consequences, California politicians, both state and local, have saddled taxpayers with hundreds of billions of dollars in debt for pensions and retiree health care.
Associated Press
Posted: 01/18/2016 – 10:51:49 PM PST
Updated: 01/18/2016 – 10:52:19 PM PST
SACRAMENTO — The California budget that Gov. Jerry Brown proposed this month marks a shocking financial turnaround for a state that just a few years ago faced a $26 billion deficit.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 01/05/16 – 5:46 PM PST |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Unlike every other retiree in this and other bankrupt California cities, 23 retired San Bernardino police officers would lose part of their pension in the city’s bankruptcy plan — and they’re going public with their opposition to those cuts.
Lisa Mascaro
December 17, 2015
By approving a massive package of tax breaks Thursday, House Republicans — who have made deficit-slashing the holy grail of their majority — just piled on nearly $650 billion in red ink.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
December 10, 2015
California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate.
By Dan Walters
walters@sacbee.com
December 5, 2015
California has long prided itself on having an upwardly mobile, egalitarian gestalt, so there’s much irony in its evolution into a two-tiered society.
Saturday, November 28, 2015 – 11:00 a.m.
Even though San Bernardino County, California has been ponying up tens of millions of dollars more in annual pension contributions each of the past several years, the funding situation hasn’t significantly changed.
Monday, November 23, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
Not that I agree with California Governor Jerry Brown on much.
But he’s correct regarding the fix to the under-funding problem affecting the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
John Myers
November 19, 2015
If there is one thing that Gov. Jerry Brown has made a calling card since returning to office in 2011, it’s a push toward paying down government debt.
Melody Petersen
November 18, 2015
The board of California’s largest public pension fund approved a plan Wednesday to lower its estimate of future investment returns — a move that will require taxpayers to pay billions of dollars more than expected over the next decades.
Melody Petersen
Novembe 17, 2015
Experts have warned for years that the state’s largest public pension plan has overestimated how much its investments will earn, leaving taxpayers to pay billions of dollars more than expected.
Thursday, November 5, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
If San Bernardino County leaders want a reason to push back at union demands for salary and benefit increases they now have it.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
October 12, 2015
CalPERS is about to roll out an unusual new investment policy that could reduce risks but also lower its portfolio’s profitability.
Published: Oct. 6, 2015 – 8:55 a.m.
It pays to retire from an Inland Southern California government job, an open-records advocacy group says.
Many retired Inland public employees receive pensions far exceeding the typical full-time Inland worker’s annual salary, according to a study released today by Transparent California, which has ties to a conservative think tank. But some critics took issues with the group’s findings, saying the math was skewed to reflect the group’s anti-union stance.
To read article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Melody Petersen
August 30, 2015
California taxpayers have never paid more for public worker pensions, but it’s still not enough to cover the rising number of retirement checks written by the state’s largest pension plan.
By Ed Mendel
August 24, 2015
CalPERS took another step last week toward a gradual long-term rate hike, a move to lower the risk of big investment losses as the maturing pension system enters a new era.
Monday, August 17, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
On the show today, Estimable Economist Jay Prag joins Lou on the show. First, NPR featured a story about children in San Bernardino who grow up in motels described as “meth addict summer camp.” What do stories like these do for the city’s image?
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 13, 2015
Kamala Harris is not only California’s attorney general, but a very ambitious politician who hopes to become a U.S. senator.
By Dean Starkman
August 13, 2015
California’s two major public pension funds, the biggest in the nation, lost a total of more than $5 billion on energy-related investments for their fiscal years, ended June 30, according to a new report.
Judy Lin, Associated Press
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 – Updated 11:14 pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Proponents of a California pension initiative said Tuesday that state Attorney General Kamala Harris is once again favoring labor unions by using the same words she used to describe their previous failed bid to limit taxpayer spending on public pensions.
Ed Mendel
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The authors of an initiative giving voters the power to decide whether new government employees get pensions said they will “commission a legal review” of the ballot summary issued yesterday by Attorney General Kamala Harris.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
ortiz@sacbee.com
August 5, 2015
Sacramento — With a new ballot proposal reigniting debate over government retirement benefits, the latest federal figures show California’s public pension debt in 2013 stood at $4,425 for every man, woman and child in the state, despite strong investment returns by public retirement funds.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
August 4, 2015
A proposed ballot measure that would make future pension benefits subject to voter approval is fraught with legal and administrative peril, according to a letter from CalPERS’ chief executive officer, eliciting a response from one of the measure’s proponents that the assessment is a “lie.”
Monday, August 3, 2015 – 07:30 a.m.
It looks as if San Bernardino County will be forking over additional money for pensions.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 2, 2015
There may not be a bounty on his head, but David Crane sits atop the enemies list for California’s public employee unions.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
July 29, 2015
Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said this week he doesn’t know what would happen if a new public pension ballot proposal becomes law.
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff Columnist
Posted: 07/24/2015 – 04:00:00 PM PDT
Although public employee pension plans across California are badly underfunded, union leaders have expressed little concern about the security of workers’ retirement pay.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 25, 2015
It’s no secret that the Legislature’s dominant Democrats want to make it more difficult to place initiative measures on the statewide ballot.
Saturday, July 18, 2015 – 02:30 p.m.
Several months ago county administrators told the Board of Supervisors the county was over the hump on ever escalating pension cost increases.
Not a chance!
Published: July 15, 2015 – Updated: 10:42 p.m.
Riverside County officials say changes to the county’s public employee pension system have saved money, but that the county will still pay millions of dollars more to the statewide pension network.
To read expanded article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
AP California News
By JUDY LIN
Associated Press
Jul 13, 4:59 PM EDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California can proceed with setting up a state-run savings program for private-sector workers who don’t have access to retirement plans at work, under a rule change ordered by President Barack Obama on Monday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 13, 2015
It’s likely that California voters will be treated – or subjected – next year to a vitriolic campaign over public employee pensions.
By Dean Starkman
June 25, 2015
The nation’s biggest public pension fund is falling far short of its annual investment goals.
By Paul Pringle
June 25, 2015
A California pension board’s decision to slash the retirement benefits of former Bell Police Chief Randy Adams because his salary was concealed from the public will serve as a precedent for other cases in which government officials receive hidden pay, the panel has announced.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 06/17/15 – 11:24 PM PDT |
RIVERSIDE >> The attorney representing bondholders who’ve invested about $50 million in San Bernardino came out swinging Wednesday in the first bankruptcy hearing since the city filed a bankruptcy exit plan that would pay bondholders only 1 percent of that.
Business & Real Estate
June 10, 2015
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Setting up a possible showdown with CalPERS, two bond firms are reviving their legal campaign to win a bigger share of the money being doled out by bankrupt San Bernardino.
By Shea Johnson
Staff Writer
Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 2:22 PM
Updated Jun 4, 2015 at 4:49 PM
VICTORVILLE — The City Council this week extended budget talks to June 9 after Mayor Pro Tem Jim Cox suggested officials iron out details of a draft $199 million spending plan, including concerns raised by employees over changes to benefits.
Dan Walters
June 4, 2015
dwalters@sacbee.com
California’s seemingly endless debate over public employee pensions may be approaching a climax.
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 06/01/15 – 8:21 PM PDT |
UPLAND >> The city could find itself in a deficit by 2017 — driven mainly by increasing pension costs — if it doesn’t take corrective action soon.
By Ed Mendel
June 1, 2015
CalPERS is considering small increases in employer and employee rates over decades to reduce the risk of big investment losses, a policy that also would lower an earnings forecast critics say is too optimistic.
By Steven Greenhut
May 27, 2015 – 3:10 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true,” wrote the 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. It must be an enduring trait of mankind and especially of politicians, who often fool themselves (and the public) about major problems.
By Ed Mendel
May 26, 2015
A San Bernardino plan to exit bankruptcy follows the path of the Vallejo and Stockton exit plans, cutting bond debt and retiree health care but not pensions. Then it veers off in a new direction: contracting for fire, waste management and other services.
By Jeffrey Scott Shapiro
The Washington Times
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
The Teamsters have begun informing retirees and current workers that their pension benefits may soon be cut, the final ironic twist to a lobbying campaign that saw the union spend its own members’ dollars to win the right to shrink their retirement pay.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 05/14/15, 4:49 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The proposed bankruptcy exit plan released to the public for the first time Thursday would pay 1 percent of the $50 million owed to pension obligation bondholders, slash retirees’ healthcare coverage, and contract out for services, including fire and waste disposal, among other changes.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 05/12/15, 6:53 PM PDT |
San Bernardino County will enter the next fiscal year on July 1 with $4.7 billion on hand for infrastructure projects and some services cut during the Great Recession, but the county has quite a ways to go before it can start loosening its fiscal belt.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Government pensions in California have withstood another fierce challenge in bankruptcy court.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
May 11, 2015
This city’s Spanish name recalls grassy, spring-fed meadows that nourished the first farms here and gave laborers relief from desert heat.
Saturday, May 9, 2015 – 12:00 a.m.
When you read the story on San Bernardino County pensions, published in The Sun newspaper on Friday, one takeaway is evident.
Saturday, May 8, 2015 – 11:00 a.m.
San Bernardino County and its pension fund, San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association (SBCERA), have fought feverishly to block disclosure of individual pension amounts by name.
That’s until now.