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

How can California reduce the costs of incarceration

By Edward Ring
06/19/2019
California Governor Gavin Newsom has agreed to give state prison correctional officers a 3 percent raise. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, there is “no evident justification” for this raise. A recent article in the Sacramento Bee summarizes portions of the LAO report, writing “The last time the state compared state correctional officers’ salaries to their local government counterparts,...

TAGS: CalPERS, Gavin Newsom, PEPRA, Prop 47

California Court Ruling Allows Pension Changes

By Ken Churchill
08/26/2016
On August 17, 2016 the First Appellate District Court ruled on the lawsuit brought by the Marin Association of Public Employees against the Marin County Employees’ Retirement Association (MCERA) and State of California. The case was brought after MCERA eliminated pay items considered pensionable following the States enactment of the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform...

TAGS: "California Rule", Marin County, PEPRA, Public Employee Pension Reform Act

CalPERS "Myths vs. Facts" Propaganda Will Not Change Reality

By Edward Ring
11/03/2015
California’s largest state/local government employee pension system, CalPERS, has posted a page on their website called “Myths vs. Facts.” Included among their many rather debatable “facts” is the following assertion, “Pension costs represent about 3.4 percent of total state spending.” This depends, of course, on what year you’re considering, and what you consider to be...

TAGS: California City Pension Burdens, CalPERS, Costa Mesa, pension reform, PEPRA

The Amazing, Obscure, Complicated and Gigantic Pension Loophole

By Edward Ring
11/18/2014
“The bottom line is that claiming the unfunded liability cost as part of an officer’s compensation is grossly and deliberately misleading.” – LAPPL Board of Directors on 08/07/2014, in their post “Misuse of statistics behind erroneous LA police officer salary claims.” This assertion, one that is widely held among representatives of public employees, lies at the...

TAGS: normal contribution, pension funds, pension reform, PEPRA, Public Employee Pension Reform Act, unfunded contribution