Time for California’s Government Unions to Get Serious About Pension Reform

By Edward Ring
03/24/2020
It’s been a long time since California’s pension systems were responsibly managed. Back then, they made conservative investments, paid modest but fair benefits to retirees, and did not place an unreasonable financial burden on taxpayers. But a series of decisions and circumstances over the past thirty years put these pension systems on a collision course...

TAGS: CalPERS, City Journal, Edward Ring, government unions, Gray Davis, pensions, public unions

Government Pensions Are Dividing Americans and Damaging the Economy

By Edward Ring
03/17/2020
Now that financial markets around the world are experiencing a long-overdue correction, the best we can hope for is that we hit bottom before a deflationary cascade causes a worldwide depression. Those economists who believe in the long-term debt cycle may claim that this time the end has arrived, and they may be right. COVID-19, oil price...

TAGS: CalPERS, COVID-19, Edward Ring, Edward Ring, pensions

California Dystopia Update: The January 2020 edition

By Chris Reed
01/14/2020
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom presented a 2020-21 state budget that includes more money for K-12 public schools than ever before. But even as metrics-driven education reforms over the past quarter-century have paid major dividends in both union states (Massachusetts, New Jersey) and non-union states (Florida, Texas), California lawmakers have never seriously considered trying to...

TAGS: Chris Reed, Gavin Newsom, homelessness, pensions, Sacramento, schools, state budget, Unions

Public Employee Strike Looms in Santa Clara County

By Edward Ring
01/06/2020
With 2020 upon us, it appears likely that two unions representing Santa Clara County employees will be going on strike. Unless agreements can be reached, 3,000 members of the Registered Nurses Professional Association will strike, along with over 11,000 members of the SEIU. When one considers the political leanings of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors,...

TAGS: CalPERS, Edward Ring, pensions, public employee unions, seiu

Pension reform waits for California Supreme Court

By Edward Ring
12/02/2019
With markets fitfully advancing after a nearly two year pause, the need for pension reform again fades from public discussion. And it’s easy for pension reformers to forget that even when funds are obviously imperiled, with growing unfunded liabilities and continuously increasing demands from the pension funds, hardly anyone understands what’s going on. Unless you are sitting on a...

TAGS: "California Rule", CalFire Local 2881 vs. CalPERS, California Supreme Court, pension reform, pensions

The Cost to Taxpayers of Enhancing Sonoma County Employee Pensions

By Edward Ring
11/13/2019
In the early 2000s, along with many other cities, state agencies and counties in California, Sonoma County enhanced their employee pension benefits. As of 6/30/2018, Sonoma County’s pension system had $2.7 billion of invested assets, but nearly $3.1 billion in actuarial accrued liabilities. To what extent is its $400 million unfunded liability attributable to the...

TAGS: Edward Ring, pensions, Sonoma County, unfunded liabilities

Were Pensions Benefits Retroactively Enhanced Without Notifying the Public?

By Edward Ring
08/08/2019
In 1999, at the height of the stock market runup fueled by the internet bubble, California’s state legislature passed SB 400, which increased pension benefits for officers with the California Highway Patrol. Over the next several years, pension benefits were similarly increased for government employees working in nearly every one of California’s cities, counties, state agencies,...

TAGS: "California Rule", pensions, PEPRA, Section 7507, Sonoma County

Elizabeth Warren’s Private Equity Plan May Harm Public Employees

By Marc Joffe
07/23/2019
Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a 2020 presidential candidate, proposed a plan to rein in private equity funds that engage in leveraged buyouts—acquiring companies with large amounts of borrowed money. Although the idea of cracking down on financial engineering is attractive to many, it could have the unintended consequence of lowering asset returns for public...

TAGS: Elizabeth Warren, Marc Joffe, pensions, Unions

A Strategy to Transform California in One Election

By Edward Ring
06/26/2019
As a statewide political force, California’s conservative voters are disenfranchised. Almost no politicians holding state office speak for conservatives, few court rulings favor conservatives, and nearly everywhere, conservative values are discredited or ignored by a hostile press. But California’s political landscape could be poised for dramatic shifts. Even now, after more than a decade of...

TAGS: education reform, energy, Housing, Law and Order, pensions

How AB 195 May Help Restore “Impartiality” to Local Ballot Language

By Edward Ring
05/30/2019
Every two years in November, California’s local agencies ask the voters to approve hundreds of new taxes and bonds. California’s primary ballot every other June also features dozens, if not hundreds of new requests for local tax increases and borrowing. And in times of dire urgency, special elections are called. For example, this Tuesday, June...

TAGS: CalPERS, CalSTRS, LAUSD, Los Angeles, Measure EE, pensions, UTLA