California’s total state and local government liabilities as of June 30, 2017, the most recent year for which a complete set of financial and actuarial reports are available, totaled just over $1.5 trillion. Over two-thirds of that total consists of unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree health insurance for California's state and local public employees.
For Immediate Release March 13, 2017 Contact: Dawn Collier dawn@calpolicycenter.org 916-718-8572 California Policy Center California’s retired government workers earn 26% more in retirement than private-sector workers earn while still on the job. That’s the finding of an in-depth analysis released this week by the California Policy Center. “This is an absolutely upside-down system,” said California...
For Immediate Release January 26, 2017 Contact: Dawn Collier dawn@calpolicycenter.org 916-718-8572 California Policy Center A in-depth analysis released this week by the California Policy Center finds that the average pay and benefits for California’s full-time state and local public employees in 2015 was $121,843. This is nearly twice what the average full-time private sector worker...
For more information: Cecilia Iglesias Education and Community Relations Director California Policy Center (714) 573-2208 cecilia@calpolicycenter.org Local charter schools, community leaders and education partners will participate in the National School Choice Week celebration SANTA ANA, Calif. – In celebration of National School Choice Week, California Policy Center along with local charter schools will host the...
For Immediate Release January 19, 2017 California Policy Center Will Swaim, will@calpolicycenter.org (949) 274-1911 In a case that will cheer education reformers, four Pennsylvania teachers today sued their unions, school districts and district officials for making union membership a condition of their employment. The suit – and the likely appointment of a reform-friendly Supreme Court...
For Immediate Release January 11, 2017 California Policy Center Marc Joffe, marc@calpolicycenter.org (415) 578-0558 A landmark study of California’s finances reveals the state’s debt burden is approaching the levels of Italy and Portugal, where debt crises in 2011 and 2012 drove the Eurozone countries to the brink of collapse. The findings come a day after...
For Immediate Release December 1, 2016 California Policy Center Lee Schalk at 916-258-2396 lee@calpolicycenter.org New California Policy Center Study Offers Next Generation Infrastructure Solutions Study explores how private infrastructure investment can increase water supply, bolster energy, and modernize transportation systems. LOS ANGELES — Today the California Policy Center released a new study investigating California’s infrastructure...
For Immediate Release July 12, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 Stock market overvaluation will lead to ‘major correction,’ trigger benefits cuts and tax hikes SACRAMENTO, Calif. – There are more red flags for public-sector pension funds that rely on stock investments for most of their income, a new California Policy Center...
I met Eulalio Gomez in Bakersfield earlier this year. The correctional officer from Fresno was part of an MLK Day gathering of public sector union reformers, and I was there to document. Each California employee present had spent time and resources challenging their unions in one form or another. They came to compare war wounds...
For Immediate Release June 23, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 Income inequality at UC Berkeley worse than world’s-worst Haiti SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Scholars from the University of California at Berkeley have played a pivotal role in making income inequality a major issue in 2016 political campaigns. But while they decry...
For Immediate Release June 2, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 SACRAMENTO — Californians may be accustomed to living with the specter of a public pension crisis. But the federal government’s problem with its retirement systems – including Social Security – is far worse, and yet none of the three remaining major-party...
As the Fresno Bee recently reported, the city of Fresno’s pension systems are in much better financial shape than the Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association (FCERA). As of June 30, 2015, the city’s two systems reported a combined $349 million of assets (at market value) in excess of actuarially accrued liabilities. By contrast, FCERA’s assets...
For Immediate Release May 18, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (949) 274-1911 SACRAMENTO – America’s already troubled public-employee pension funds will go broke in the next economic slowdown, creating the likelihood that millions of public employees will see their retirements slashed – even as state and local governments raise taxes dramatically and scramble...
For Immediate Release April 29, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 Retroactive pension bump likely violated multiple state transparency and accounting laws Sacramento — County supervisors members and other senior county officials in Marin and Sonoma may have violated state law when voting for massive retroactive pension increases for themselves and...