November 8, 2011
LAO report on Governor’s pension proposal
The Legislative Analyst's Office has just issued the following report:
Public Pension and Retiree Health Benefits: An Initial Response to the Governor's Proposal
The Governor’s 12-point pension and retiree health plan would result in bold changes for California’s public employee retirement programs. His proposals would shift more of the financial risk for pensions—now borne largely by public employers—to employees and retirees and would, in so doing, substantially ameliorate a key area of long-term financial risk for California governments.
As this report discusses, despite the proposal’s strengths, it leaves many questions unanswered, such as how his hybrid plan and retirement age proposals would work and how the state should cope with large unfunded liabilities already affecting the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the University of California Retirement Plan, and the health benefit program for state and California State University retirees. The Governor’s proposal to increase many current public employees’ pension contributions also raises significant legal and practical issues.
This report (36 pp.) and a companion webcast (7:42) areavailable on the LAO’s website using the following link: http://lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2537
NOTE: You can also view the LAO Report below in .pdf document format via the CCPOA.org website for those who cannot access outside links.
