Friday, November 24, 2017

California should be able to reduce public employees’ pension benefits, Jerry Brown argues


Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers.
Five years later, he’s in court making an expansive case that government agencies should be able to adjust pension benefits for current workers, too.
A new brief his office filed in a union-backed challenge to Brown’s 2012 pension reform law argues that faith in government hinges in part on responsible management of retirement plans for public workers.
“At stake was the public’s trust in the government’s prudent use of limited taxpayer funds,” the brief reads, referring to the period when he advocated for pension changes during the recession.
While the brief targets a specific provision of the pension overhaul he championed, its arguments suggest he favors broader pension changes that affect current employees.
“It was as good as anything the lawyers we use could have written,” said Dan Pellissier, president of an advocacy group that that wants to reduce California pension obligations for public employees and retirees.
Submitted by Mark Stechbart

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jerry Brown has been on the taxpayer tit his whole life. His father before him.

It reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw one day on Pedro Point.

I am not a bum

My wife works

Tommy Taxpayer said...

Reduce legislators pensions first! Didn't they just give themselves a raise?!

Anonymous said...

There was a tiny town in Sierras that was so broke, they terminated their agreement with Calpers to get out of paying unfunded pension liabilities and now the pensioneers have 60% reduced benefits. Interesting reading for those interested in pension costs. In Pacifica, politically, not sure that would work. Or would it? Could be the wave of the future, as cities outsource many of their operations. Pay ins to Calpers by current employees diminishing because there are fewer employees to pay in.

http://beta.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-loyalton-calpers-pension-problems-20170806-htmlstory.html