On Friday, California state legislators passed a reform measure that is expected to put new limits on pensions for future state and local government employees, saving billions of dollars in retirement spending.
The bill, AB340, passed 49-8 in the Assembly and 38-1 in the state Senate.
Brought forward by Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday, the new law - if signed by Brown - could cut $40 billion to $60 billion in pension expenses for government employers over the next 30 years, according to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States.
According to the Huffington Post, the legislation will increase the retirement age for new employees, cap the annual payout at $132,120, eliminate numerous abuses of the system and require workers who are not contributing half of their retirement costs to pay more.
State and local governments have been struggling to meet the demands of long-held pension promises to retirees while their abilities to pay shrink.
Public employee unions are unhappy about the agreement, and complained that Democrats who normally support their causes in Sacramento had abandoned them.
Others felt the legislation did not go far enough.
"I hope people acknowledge there is much, much more work to be done," said Joe Nation, a former Democratic member of the state Assembly who now teaches public policy at Stanford University in an interview with Reuters. "It's better than moving backwards but this barely moves the ball forward."
Nation in recent years has overseen studies warning California and its local governments face unfunded pension liabilities that stretch into the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Pension costs contributed to the bankruptcy filings of Stockton and San Bernardino this year.
"Because we are so under water right now there just really has to be more," Nation told Reuters.
What do you think? Will this reform measure being sent to Governor Brown help the economies of our state and our cities? Should there be a cap on the amount a person can earn from a pension?
Let us know in your comments.
The Golden Gate Bridge was supposed to abolish the toll after, I believe it was 50 years, and it would be free. No such luck. People have apparently forgotten that the state sales tax had that temporary 0.25% increase to pay for the '89 Loma Prieta quake. That was back when the sales tax was 6%. yet the people will probably be foolish enough to float yet another "temporary" tax hike in November.
Choose to vote against all tax increases but at least educate yourself: pensions are not the problem. Pension costs are one of the smallest growing costs in all of state government. The state pays less today for pensions on a percentage basis than in 1980. Recently approved tax breaks for corporations are costing taxpayers like you and me a billion dollars a year for the next five years, according to the Legislative Analyst. Meanwhile, bankers and Wall Street bosses even now are enjoying raises and bonuses while the economy continues to stagnate around them. The Federal Reserve published its Survey of Consumer Finances, which showed that the median American family’s net worth fell almost 40 percent in the three years ending in 2010, and real income fell 7.7 percent. At the same time, CEO pay rose 5 percent between 2010 and 2011 — in some cases it went up 500 percent (according to a survey by the New York Times).
You might think you are very intelligent but blinds and brainless people like you are the reason why this country is going down. And yes, check the list of dangerous jobs. You will be surprised.
P.S. My "lovely President" wasn't the one who started sending our kids to Iraq in the first place, so don't preach to me about that. I lost a 19 year old nephew in Tikrit thanks to GWB's war. The Hummer he was patroling in was blown to pieces by an IED.
Also, you seem to continue making a point that these pensions are reasonable. But, you never mention CalPERS 300 billion dollar deficit. You do you think will pay this money? Us tax payers. This deficit means that pensions were calculated using an overly optimistic formula and employees didn't put in enough. On top, these thugs who are running CalPERS (mostly union thugs or their cronies) refuses to change the investment return expectations despite failing to achieve their overly optimistic figures over and over. Since people refuses to vote any new taxes, good luck, there is no money to pay all this loot.
Ignorant and disrespectful statements like this make it impossible to give credibility to anything you say (not that much of what you say has any credibility anyway). I personally know a number of people who comment on the Patch, and NONE of them can stand you. So we get it that you hate public employees, OK? It is my fervent wish that someday you will face a life-threatening situation where you need police or fire help - and the agency you call remembers what you have said over and over about public employees. You make all kinds of stupid assumptions, don't have many of your facts straight or complete and keep calling people "occupiers" without knowing anything about them. My guess is that you don't work, your hatred of public employees is the result of "employment envy" and "retirement envy", and you are trying to do everything within your power to see that everyone else is just as miserable as you. And I'll bet employment is not all that you're not getting much of these days. I will close with the following statement to you: It is better to remain silent and let people think you are ignorant than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Now go back to your tea party rally and don't miss the Rush Limbaugh Show. I will not be reading or responding to any more of your stupid comments, so save your breath responding to this. Have a good life, and happy hating.