By Ed Mendel
Thursday, May 17, 2012

The CalPERS board yesterday raised the annual state payment for state worker pensions $213 million to a total of $3.7 billion, rejecting Gov. Brown’s request for a bigger increase to avoid a “loan” costing “$145.9 million over the next 20 years.”

Unions asked the board to spread out higher pension costs mainly caused by a lower investment earnings forecast. Paying part of the new rate over two decades, instead of the full amount now, makes an extra $149 million available for worker pay and other programs next fiscal year.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Marc Lifsher
May 15, 2012, 9:05 p.m.

SACRAMENTO — The state government’s contribution to employee pensions is expected to jump to $3.7 billion from $3.5 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

On Tuesday, a committee of the board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System recommended the increase as well as a $29-million drop to $1.2 billion for non-teaching school and community college district workers.

Even with the increase, the state’s contribution is lower than the $3.9 billion paid in fiscal 2010-2011, CalPERS said.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, May 14, 2012

A superior court judge this month upheld a voter-approved initiative giving lower pensions to all city of Menlo Park new hires except police, the first court ruling as unions challenge similar measures in Pacific Grove and Bakersfield.

Voters in the three cities approved cost-cutting pension reforms in November 2010 that bypassed bargaining with unions. California is one of only several states where public employee retirement benefits are set by labor negotiations.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Actuaries recommend a $213 million increase in annual state pension payments to CalPERS in July, bringing the total to $3.7 billion.

But $149 million would be added to the increase if the impact of a lower earnings forecast, dropped by the board in March from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent a year, is not phased in over 20 years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 – 08:00 a.m.

San Bernardino County, Calif. – San Bernardino County’s budget woes are likely to worsen in the coming fiscal year as employee pension fund returns fail to not only deliver relief, but instead bring more pain.

The San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association (SBCERA) has, to date, only generated a 0.6% return for its 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, May 7, 2012

The mayors of San Jose and San Diego are backing local measures on the June ballot that aim to make the change critics of costly public pensions say is the key to major reform — cutting the cost of pensions earned by current workers in the future.

Using different methods, Measure B in San Jose and Proposition B in San Diego would allow current workers to keep pension amounts already earned, but pensions earned in the future could be cut or cost workers more.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
May 2, 2012 | 2:52 pm

Faced with worsening budget problems, chances are growing that the Legislature won’t vote on comprehensive pension reform until the end of the session in August, some officials said Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, April 30, 2012

Stockton has enrolled three mayors and 14 city council members in CalPERS since 1991, despite a provision in the city charter that clearly states no council member shall receive retirement or death benefits, the Stockton Record reported last week.

The discovery of $276,954 in unlawful city pension contributions comes as Stockton is in the national media spotlight during a last-ditch attempt to avoid bankruptcy, mainly by getting unions to agree to cuts in retirement and other costs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wyatt Buchanan
Saturday, April 28, 2012

One of the biggest mysteries at the Capitol these days is whether lawmakers are really going to make any substantive changes in the pension system for public employees.

This week didn’t do much to answer that, even though there were hearings on bills that were taken word-for-word from proposals Gov. Jerry Brown had sent to the Legislature. The apparent problem? Republicans introduced the bills.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cook

Friday, April 27, 2012 – 09:00 a.m.

As expected, two measures proposed by Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) related to pension forfeiture and disqualification from office have stalled in an Assembly committee.

Read the rest of this entry »

The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
April 24, 2012

A key legislative committee isn’t going to act on a package of public pension reforms proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown and adopted by Republicans in their own bills.

Read the rest of this entry »

By JUDY LIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:05 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:05 a.m.

SACRAMENTO — It’s been six months since Gov. Jerry Brown put forward his proposals to make the public pension system more affordable, yet action on his 12-point plan has been nearly imperceptible.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, April 23, 2012

An annual look at CalSTRS, the nation’s second largest public pension system, once again raises the question of whether there is an urgent need to begin putting more money into the pension fund.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2012 – 7:44 am

The line at CalPERS’ customer service window is getting longer.

After converting to a half-billion-dollar computer system to process benefits for hundreds of thousands of California public agency retirees last September, backlogs for some services are worse than before the project launched.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, April 16, 2012

CHINO — Proposed legislation may curb “spiking” that has made county retirement systems notorious for providing pensions that exceed salaries earned on the job, a legislative committee was told last week.

After the Contra Costa Times revealed that two fire chiefs retired at ages 50 and 51 with pensions well above their salaries, one of them told the Wall Street Journal: “People point to me as a poster child for pension spiking, but I did not make these rules.”

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
April 13, 2012 | 5:12 pm

As state lawmakers consider proposals to reduce pension costs in California, they face legal obstacles to restricting the retirement benefits enjoyed by many local officials, including some city council members, experts warned Friday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, April 12, 2012 – 09:30 a.m.

As San Bernardino County continues to grapple with its ongoing budget woes and confrontations with employee unions continue to escalate, more bad news is on the horizon.

Like most public pension systems, the county’s pension fund hasn’t been able to maintain it’s investment return benchmark.

A benchmark necessary to guarantee the funds actuarial soundness.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, April 9, 2012

SANTA ROSA — A two-house legislative committee is working with Gov. Brown’s Department of Finance on a ‘hybrid’ retirement plan for new state and local government hires, a committee member told a forum here last week.

Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, twice referred to a “cash balance” plan while talking about a cost-cutting hybrid, proposed by Brown, that combines a lower pension with a 401(k)-style individual investment plan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
Friday, April 6, 2012

Why is the federal government under President Obama arguably tougher on medical marijuana operations than it was under George W. Bush? That’s the question that antidrug-war groups have been asking themselves for months.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Thursday, April 5, 2012

Regents last week reaffirmed the use of a federal IRS cap on the amount of pay used to calculate UC pensions, an inflation-adjusted $250,000 limit this year that also is proposed in a bill capping the pensions of all new hires in state and local government.

A letter from 36 of UC’s highest-paid executives threatened a lawsuit because UC, allegedly breaking a promise made in 1999, did not lift the cap after federal approval finally came in 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in December 2010.

Read the rest of this entry »

Emmerson

Point of View

Sen. Bill Emmerson
Created: 04/02/2012 09:14:27 AM PDT

Californians have made it clear that they support key reforms to our unsustainable public employee pension system. According to a recent poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 83 percent of Californians agree that our state’s pension problems must be addressed. With the average debt of both state and county pensions at $30,500 for each California household, it’s no wonder that an overwhelming majority of Californians are demanding reform.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 03/30/2012 06:07:44 PM PDT

CLAREMONT – After months of rancor, lawsuits and even some threats, the City Council and the Claremont Police Officers Association have reached a tentative agreement on a 3-year labor contract.

The council is due to vote on the contract at its April 10 meeting, city officials said. The CPOA will present the agreement to its members on Monday.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Thursday, March 29, 2012

After a decade of similar below-target investment earnings, punctuated by huge losses during the stock market crash in 2008, the nation’s two largest public pension funds are looking at different futures.

The California Public Employees Retirement System, putting a new focus on risk, worries about another recession dropping pension funding levels to 40 percent or below, a “warning track” zone that could make it difficult to get back to full funding in the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Mar. 26, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Mar. 26, 2012 – 6:33 am

California’s great public pension battles are heating up, and may be headed for some kind of political explosion.

The Legislature’s Democratic majority appears to be doing its best to ignore significant pension reform, even though Gov. Jerry Brown says the current system is “unsustainable” and an overhaul is needed to persuade voters to raise taxes this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
March 23, 2012 | 5:00 pm

California voters do not blame public employees for the state’s pension woes and are in no hurry to make steep cuts in the system, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Thursday, March 22, 2012

As CalPERS puts a new focus on risk, a funding level that drops to 40 percent is emerging as the red line.

The worry is that if the funding level of the big pension fund drops too far, it may not be practical to raise annual employer payments enough to regain proper funding.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 03/18/2012 03:36:06 PM PDT

Related story: Lawmakers react to CalPERS struggles

Local officials say funding for services are expected to take another hit with the California Public Employee’s Retirement System lowering investment return forecasts last week.

CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund, has requested state, local government and school districts increase contribution rates.

Return projections were lowered from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 14, 2012 – 12:55 pm

CalPERS gave final approval today to a quarter-point reduction in its investment forecast, but will look at softening the fiscal impact on government budgets.

The lowered forecast will cost the state an extra $167 million a year, and will also raise costs for the school districts and municipalities that belong to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2012 – 9:02 am

The state’s cost of supporting CalPERS could jump by as much as $425 million in the next fiscal year, generating more political heat on public pensions at a time of massive budget deficits.

The additional cost would result from a proposed reduction in CalPERS’ all-important investment forecast. The pension fund today will consider slashing its forecast by half a percentage point, to 7.25 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Marc Lifsher
March 7, 2012, 11:53 a.m.

The chief actuary of California’s biggest public pension fund is recommending that it cut its assumed-rate-of-return target by half a percentage point.

The change, if adopted by the board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System next Wednesday, could boost retirement costs by millions of dollars for the state government and more than 3,000 local agencies that participate in CalPERS.

Read the rest of this entry »

Twenty California counties, including Ventura, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego, allow some workers to make more in retirement than they did while working. The coffers are underfunded by millions of dollars.

By Catherine Saillant, Maloy Moore and Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times
March 3, 2012

Approaching retirement, Ventura County Chief Executive Marty Robinson was earning $228,000 a year.

To boost her pension, which would be based on her final salary, Robinson cashed out nearly $34,000 in unused vacation pay, an $11,000 bonus for having earned a graduate degree and more than $24,000 in extra pension benefits the county owed her.

By the time she walked out the door last year, her pension was calculated at $272,000 a year — for life.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 23 February 2012 11:36 PM

San Bernardino County’s former top attorney, who took a year’s worth of vacation before officially retiring last month, tops the list of pension earners among former county employees, according to recently provided data.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 02/22/2012 06:30:42 PM PST

State Sen. Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Walnut, and Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare, on Wednesday introduced legislation that duplicates Gov. Jerry Brown’s pension reform plan.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 21, 2012 | 11:57 am

Many of California’s biggest local governments spend an average of 10 cents of every dollar covering pension costs, according to a study of the largest independent pension plans released Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Under the new budget proposed by Gov. Brown, the annual state payment to CalPERS drops from $3.5 billion this year to $3.1 billion in the new fiscal year.

The payment falls, at a time most pension costs are rising, because a $404 million payment to CalPERS for California State University pensions is shifted from the state budget to CSU.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cook

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/15/2012 12:14:24 PM PST

Legislation that aims to discourage corruption by elected officials’ staff members by denying them public pension benefits if they’re criminally convicted has been introduced by Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 15, 2012 | 12:51 pm

CalPERS has a new report that says California Gov. Jerry Brown’s idea to alter pensions with 401(k)-style plans won’t help new workers and won’t save California money, either.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, February 13, 2012

A drive to place a statewide public pension reform initiative on the November ballot ended last week, lacking funding like previous attempts. But major local pension reforms are expected to be on the June ballot in San Diego and San Jose.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 10 February 2012 05:38 PM

Riverside County has reached a tentative deal with its second-largest union, less than two weeks after Service Employees International Union Local 721 held a one-day strike to push the county back to the bargaining table.

Read the rest of this entry »

The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
February 8, 2012

A group that hoped to put a sweeping public employee pension reform measure on the November ballot is suspending its campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

By lowering its investment forecast by another quarter point, CalSTRS made a bow toward economic reality – but also may have complicated efforts to shore up its finances.

The teachers’ retirement board agreed Thursday to reduce CalSTRS’ official investment forecast to 7.5 percent, down from 7.75 percent. It was the second cut in 14 months, after the $144 billion fund left the forecast untouched for 15 years.

In a volatile investment climate, following a year in which CalSTRS’ portfolio earned just 2.3 percent, board members took their consultants’ advice and went with the lower number.

“I think it’s best that we be conservative,” said Terry McGuire, representing board member and state Controller John Chiang.

The board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System voted 9-1 to reduce the forecast. The lone dissent came from Pedro Reyes of the Department of Finance. The higher forecast “is not unreasonable,” he argued. “Let’s stay where we are right now, (and) visit this in another year.”

By cutting investment projections, the board instantly ballooned CalSTRS’ funding gap – the estimated shortfall of assets available to meet the pension fund’s long-term needs. The gap will grow by nearly $6 billion, or roughly 10 percent.

That could create problems in the Legislature, which must OK changes in how CalSTRS is funded.

CalSTRS gets around $5.6 billion a year from the state, school districts and teachers. The pension fund had already calculated that it needed another $4 billion a year to eventually get healthy. With the lower investment forecast, those needs grow by another $500 million a year.

While CalSTRS is pushing for more money, many Republicans want to erase funding shortfalls for public pensions by reducing benefits. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown wants to give newly hired employees a combination traditional pension and a 401(k)-style program.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/03/4235828/calstrs-gap-rises-as-return-forecast.html#mi_rss=Business#storylink=cpy

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown laid out a detailed plan to alter California’s state and local public retirement systems on Thursday – and immediately drew fire from his core labor constituency.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

CalSTRS is thinking of cutting its investment forecast for the second time in barely a year, a move that acknowledges the increased financial strain on the pension fund.

The teachers’ retirement board on Thursday will consider a recommendation from its actuarial consultant to cut the forecast by a quarter point, to 7.5 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

Executive Editor Frank Pine
Created: 01/28/2012 06:06:04 AM PST

San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors asked county lawyers last week to draft language for a ballot measure that would give voters the final say on increases to pension benefits for public employees.

Supervisors Janice Rutherford, Gary Ovitt and Josie Gonzales voted yea with supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt and Neil Derry voting nay.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, January 30, 2012
By Ed Mendel

The nation’s two largest public pension funds last week reported slim annual investment earnings, CalPERS 1.1 percent and CalSTRS 2.3 percent, as experts continue to say hitting their long-term earnings target, 7.75 percent, will be difficult.

While CalPERS reported weak earnings in 2011, a prominent private-sector investment manager, Robert Arnott of Research Affiliates, told the board last week he thinks the most they can expect from stocks and bonds next decade is 4 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gov. Jerry Brown pledges to cut spiraling costs, but key parts of his rollback plan apply mainly to future workers. Activists want quicker action.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
January 28, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— Gilbert Robles retired as a state parole agent at age 53, able to collect a $101,195 annual pension — 94% of his final salary. Last year, six months after he retired, the Arcadia resident accepted a political appointment with the same agency that pays an additional six figures.

Scott Hallabrin took retirement as the top attorney for the state’s ethics agency on June 29, 2009. The next day, he went back to the same post, as he prepared to watch his pension checks roll in on top of a salary.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt, First District; Janice Rutherford, Second District; Neil Derry, Third District; Gary Ovitt, Fourth District; and Josie Gonzales, Fifth District (File photos)

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/25/2012 04:21:42 PM PST

A proposed initiative to make county supervisors’ jobs part-time would spell doom for residents desiring a stronger presence of government in their communities, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Josie Gonzales said Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Safety union announces push for part-time supervisors
January 25, 2012 10:31 AM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO • On a split vote Tuesday morning, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors directed staff to draft a ballot measure that would require voter approval for any future pension increases for county employees.

A few hours later, the county Safety Employees’ Benefit Association announced it was funding an effort to reduce the Board of Supervisors to part-time status.

Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisor Josie Gonzales

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 07:08 PM

San Bernardino County supervisors moved forward Tuesday with a proposal to require voter approval of future pension increases but face opposition from employee unions who quickly announced plans for a competing measure aimed at supervisors.

The board agreed to have county staff draft a ballot measure requiring voter approval before retirement benefits for county employees, legislative officers and elected officials could be increased. But final approval is not assured with supervisors split 3-2 on whether to consider the proposal.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

Published: Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Whenever someone suggests that California’s public employee pension systems need reform, civil service unions react dismissively, often with attacks on the credentials or even the morals of critics.

Read the rest of this entry »

George Skelton

By George Skelton, Capitol Journal
January 23, 2012

It’s the norm in January: After the governor proposes a new budget and delivers his State of the State address, legislators slide into hibernation until spring.

Oh, there’s some rustling around in the dens — a few committee hearings, brief floor sessions — but no strenuous activity, no risk taking until May, when deadlines sprout and the governor revises his budget proposal.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, January 23, 2012

A new advisory panel, following a move by CalPERS last year, recommends that public pensions take a small step that touches on a big issue: What happens if pension fund earnings fall below the forecast?

Read the rest of this entry »

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 20 January 2012 10:26 PM

Future retirement benefit increases for San Bernardino County employees could be decided by voters under a proposal that will go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Public Money

BY: Girard Miller | January 5, 2012

One of my pet peeves in the ongoing debates over public pension reform is the way partisans on each side try to pitch half-truths and myths to support their arguments. The other side seldom believes any of these, but they help rally the allies on the speaker’s side. Sometimes the press naively re-circulates these fallacies, which leaves the general public even more confused about what to believe. There’s an old saying in politics that if you tell the same lie long enough, the public will eventually believe it — and that apparently is the mentality of lobbyists on both sides. In an effort to start the new year with a clean slate for public debate, I’d like to set the record straight on a dozen of the most glaring fallacies and silly slogans.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Tuesday, January 3, 2011

An official analysis of two public pension reform initiatives last week raised an issue quickly seized by opponents — a potential cost increase of $1 billion or more a year for state and local governments during the next two or three decades.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Legislature will consider unresolved budget and pension issues when members reconvene this week.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

January 2, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento—- When state lawmakers convene again Jan. 4, their plates will be filled with leftovers.

Their agenda is expected to be dominated by issues that have been unresolved in the last few years: state budget problems, pension reform, a new water supply system and legalizing poker on the Internet.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 31 December 2011 05:04 PM

Changes in public employee retirement were a hot-button issue in 2011 and will likely continue this year as a dominant policy debate at the state and local levels.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 29 December 2011 07:21 PM

Riverside County imposed pension changes on its largest union Thursday afternoon, a move that means 7,000 employees will begin paying more toward their own retirements starting next month.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, December 26, 2011

Gov. Brown’s proposal to give new state and local government employees a hybrid retirement plan is part of a national trend, joined by Rhode Island last month and Utah last year.

A typical hybrid combines a smaller monthly pension, guaranteed for life, with a more risky and unpredictable 401(k)-style investment plan, whose value can rise and fall with the market.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jannise Johnson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/22/2011 05:33:53 PM PST

MONTCLAIR – The Montclair City Council decided 3 to 1 Wednesday night to require members of the Montclair Fire Fighters Association to continue their 6 percent individual contribution toward their retirement fund.

Negotiators for the city and the association (MFFA) had been at an impasse since February.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 – 11:00 a.m.

A stark contrast has emerged between San Bernardino County and neighboring Riverside this week.

A contrast in how each county deals with collective bargaining and budgeting.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITER
dbegley@pe.com

Published: 20 December 2011 08:50 PM

Riverside County supervisors on Tuesday warily approved a four-year deal with a union covering various lawyers, setting the stage for a larger face-off with the county’s largest union next year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Borenstein

By Daniel Borenstein
Staff columnist

California taxpayers should ask themselves, in the words of Clint Eastwood’s famous movie character, “Do I feel lucky?”

We’re not staring down the barrel of “Dirty Harry” Callahan’s gun wondering whether there’s a bullet in the chamber. Instead, we’re gambling our financial future on whether public pension fund investments will surpass reasonable expectations.

Read the rest of this entry »

The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
December 13, 2011

California’s three largest pension systems have promised $500 billion beyond their current ability to make those payments to retirees, according to a study released to today by Stanford University Professor and former Democratic Assemblyman Joe Nation and a student researcher.

The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research issued the report, documenting what it claims is the state’s deepening pension crisis. California Common Sense, an organization dedicated to engaging the public in “data-driven discourse” is also behind the report.

Read the rest of this entry »

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 13, 2011 | 3:27 pm

The debate over pension reform in California reached a boiling point Tuesday.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer resigned from a pension advisory panel to protest a study it was affiliated with that called for reducing retirement benefits for current public employees and overhauling the boards that oversee the public pension systems.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 10:50 am

A majority of California voters support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to dial back public employee pensions and a plurality think that state and local government retirements are “too generous,” according to a new Field Poll.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 1, 2011 | 4:15 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown stepped up Thursday to defend his proposed overhaul of the state’s public pension systems against criticism from legal experts and unions, telling lawmakers it would save money without running afoul of legal restrictions that protect retirement benefits for current employees.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
November 27, 2011, 10:54 p.m.

It’s business as usual at Santa Ana City Hall as residents trickle up to the counter to pay business fees, pick up a dog license or, in a newer wing next door, apply for a free solar permit.

But on the top floor of the eight-story concrete fortress, city officials in Orange County’s most labor-friendly city are doing the once unthinkable: demanding big benefit concessions from their employee unions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 11/24/2011 06:10:18 AM PST

The Golden State’s pension systems are fraught with areas of concern.

A report last year by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research said retirement funds for 2.6 million California teachers, state workers and university employees have long-term unfunded obligations totaling as much as $500 billion.

Read the rest of this entry »

Justice Marvin Baxter, pictured on Nov. 10, wrote for the court: “Under California law, a vested right to health benefits for retired county employees can be implied under certain circumstances from a county ordinance or resolution.” (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
November 21, 2011, 5:50 p.m.

Health benefits for government retirees may not be eliminated if state and local governments had clearly promised workers those benefits, the California Supreme Court ruled in an Orange County case Monday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, November 20, 2011 – 11:00 a.m.

One things for certain.

The sluggish stock market and record low interest rates has been and will continue to be a bad recipe for California government pension funds.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Riverside County group has a nearly $900,000 war chest as it strives to build clout and protect its retirement benefits

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 20 November 2011 08:19 PM

After a record year for political spending, the Riverside Sheriff’s Association is sitting on nearly $900,000 in cash as the 2012 elections approach.

The group likely will be a potent force, political experts say.

Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisors, managers and employees not represented by unions will pay 8 percent of their salaries toward retirement

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 15 November 2011 07:25 PM

Riverside County’s elected leaders and management will begin paying their own pension costs in a move designed to save money and show employees that they are willing to lead by example.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2011

A Los Angeles judge Tuesday ordered the release of all pension data for 50,000 Los Angeles County government retirees, rejecting arguments by union and retirement system attorneys that the records are confidential.

Read the rest of this entry »

The county board already favors contributing to their own pensions to save $14 million over 3 years

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 13 November 2011 08:20 PM

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday will take up a measure requiring all county elected officials and management to pay their own retirement contributions.

Supervisors earlier this month voted in favor of the concept but had yet to work out the details.

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