State Workers
February 2, 2012
Jerry Brown delivers pension reform language to legislators
Gov. Jerry Brown has sent language for his 12-point pension reform plan to the Legislature's Conference Committee on Public Employee Pensions.
The proposals are divided into two groups. The constitutional amendment Brown offered broadly outlines the pension changes more narrowly defined in the language to change state law. The governor's plan won't go forward without two-thirds of the Legislature voting to put the constitutional changes on the Nov. 6 ballot, which would then need voter approval from a majority....
LINK - SacBee.com
January 27, 2012
Darrell Steinberg: Pension reform must pass ‘strength test’
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said today that the Legislature will consider some sort of pension reform bill this session, and he didn't rule out sending a hybrid plan for new hires to Gov. Jerry Brown for a signature.
The Sacramento Democrat talked at length about pensions during a morning meeting with the Capitol press corps on Thursday. The Bee's Torey Van Oot was there and passed this six-minute audio file from the event.
(Warning: To hear the file, you'll need software that plays m4a files, such as RealPlayer or QuickTime. The recording is clear but low-volume, so turn up the sound on your listening device.)...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 26, 2012
WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE A LAYOFF NOTICE
Bargaining Unit 6 employees subject to layoff should anticipate receiving a layoff notice soon, perhaps as early as Friday, January 27, 2012. If you receive a layoff notice and you believe you have reasons to contest your layoff due to errors in your seniority score, the form of the notice, or the layoff procedure itself, contact our CCPOA field representative, Corey Davis, immediately so that your case can be evaluated in a timely manner. Corey Davis can be reached by calling our Sacramento Office at (800) 821-6443 or (916) 372-6060...
January 25, 2012
Lawmakers urge Brown to provide details on pension proposals
Members of a conference committee charged with crafting comprehensive pension-reform legislation this year urged Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday to quickly provide full details on how he envisions his proposed reforms would work.
"The public is starting to question if this committee is going to accomplish anything," said Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel. "We need to prove to the public that we are very, very serious about moving forward with pension reform."
She urged the Brown administration to quickly provide the committee with proposed legislative language that would detail his proposals on reform for public employee pensions...
LINK - VCStar.com
January 25, 2012
Gov. Jindal reveals Pension Reform Plan
Governor Jindal unveiled a dramatic redesign of the state employee retirement plan. The Governor, in three parts, tries to help the state dig itself out of an $18 billion hole. No all state workers are on board.
"Louisiana taxpayers are spending nearly $2 billion just this year in state retirement," said Jindal.
He called the state's current retirement system irresponsible, pointing to out of control costs that are impacting what he calls critical investments in priority areas; like classrooms and healthcare...
LINK - WAFB.com
January 25, 2012
Editorial: Lawmakers spin their wheels on pension reform
A joint Senate/Assembly conference committee will hold its third (ho-hum) informational hearing today on the 12-point pension reform plan that Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled with such fanfare last October. Don't expect anything to come of it. So far, a lot of talk has emerged but no pension bill. Efforts to substantially reduce state pension obligations are a sham in this Legislature, and most people who work in the Capitol know that.
A conference committee was formed to produce a reform package, but after three months, no author has emerged willing to champion the governor's proposal and no language has been drafted that would give substance to the modest plan Brown outlined...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 24, 2012
More work to do on pension reform in New Jersey
In talking to state legislators, there appears to be a willingness to address a fresh concern with the New Jersey public pension system.
News reporter Lauren Taniguchi has written stories the last two Sundays about public employees retiring, collecting pensions and then getting new public jobs. Labeled “double-dipping” by critics, the practice amounts to two hefty public paychecks for many of these individuals.
It’s a practice our state cannot afford and one that should be ended....
LINK - NJ.com
January 23, 2012
The pension clock is ticking
It's the norm in January: After the governor proposes a new budget and delivers his State of the State address, legislators slide into hibernation until spring.
Oh, there's some rustling around in the dens — a few committee hearings, brief floor sessions — but no strenuous activity, no risk taking until May, when deadlines sprout and the governor revises his budget proposal.
Not every year follows that pattern — last March, the governor and the Legislature made sharp spending cuts — but winter 2012 has all the signs of the rhythmic long nap...
LINK - LATimes.com
January 23, 2012
Reform Washington state’s pension system to help state close its budget gap
Washington state must reform its overly generous pension system. The Seattle Times editorial board favors pension reform of the type proposed by state Sen. Joseph Zarelli.
IN the work to balance the state budget, short-term gains are nice, but the long term is critical. One of the most fruitful areas for saving money long term is public-employee pensions. This cannot mean taking away a benefit already promised, which is illegal. Surely it will mean changing what is promised to new employees.
An example is Senate Bill 6378, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Zarelli, R-Ridgefield. Under the bill, new state employees would no longer get a full pension at 62 after 30 years service or an 80 percent pension at age 55 — a benefit light-years away from what most private-sector workers have...
LINK - SeattleTimes.NWSource.com
January 19, 2012
Oklahoma House leaders to unveil new plans for overhauling pensions, government modernization
House Speaker Kris Steele and members of the House's Republican majority will unveil new proposals for modernizing state government and propping up the state's underfunded pension systems.
Steele and other GOP leaders plan a news conference Thursday to discuss the proposals. The Shawnee Republican has made government modernization and pension reform among his top priorities for the 2012 Legislature that convenes on Feb. 6...
LINK - TheRepublic.com
January 19, 2012
Assm. Grove complains about CCPOA?
Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, issued the following response to Governor Jerry Brown’s State of the State address:
Governor Brown’s remarks today were essentially identical to past years and years of liberal Democrat speeches and promises. While the Governor talks a good game of reigning in spending and getting our fiscal house in order, his actions demonstrate a much different agenda.Governor Brown has given pay raises on the backs of taxpayers to the high-paid prison guards and other unions who helped put him in office, granted taxpayer subsidies to illegal immigrants for college loans and scholarships under the “Dream Act,” pushed an expansive “green” energy mandate which has and will continue to raise taxpayer energy costs, and most recently put his stamp of approval on the $100+ billion and growing high-speed rail disaster that epitomizes the incompetence and waste that results from a massive government. Governor Brown signed 745 bills into law from last year. This does not lift burdens off of our struggling economy, but instead adds more through increased government bureaucracy....
LINK - RidgecrestCA.com
January 19, 2012
NY Governor Takes on Union Pension Reform
Another go showing the unions no love. This time, it is not Republican Chris Christie in New Jersey. This time it's democrat Andrew Cuomo next door in New York.
Cuomo clamping down, pushing union members to pony up, and now unions are fed up and now fighting back. Tonight a democrat base getting in his face.
The Keystone cop out. Republicans lashing out at the president's decision to knock out a job creating pipeline. Then if image is everything then this image tell you every thing you need to know about Carnival Cruise Lines futures. The picture that could sink an entire company...
LINK - FoxBusiness.com
January 18, 2012
Arizona may undo fix to pension system
Key state lawmakers want to rescind last year's hike in the contribution that more than 200,000 Arizona State Retirement System members make toward their pensions, citing fears of losing a lawsuit over the issue.
House Bill 2264 would return to the previous funding system, under which contributions to the ASRS for public-employee retirements were split 50-50 between employees and their employer...
LINK - AZCentral.com
January 17, 2012
NM Legislature: Pension Reform
The Educational Retirement Board or ERB is proposing changes to the pension system for school district and University employees. The changes include a minimum retirement age of 55 and limits on cost of living increases.
We asked Senator Steve Fischmann about the issue on KRWG-TV's Your Legislators. He says changes must be considered to prevent the pension system from becoming insolvent...
LINK - PublicBroadcasting.net
January 16, 2012
California: Pension Reform & “Vulture Capitalists”
If the squealing by the forces behind attempts to blow up the state's public pension are any indication, the truth must really hurt.
In the last few days, both the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office and Attorney General issued their judgment on pension reform proposals being proposed by former Schwarzenegger aide Dan Pellissier. And it wasn't pretty.
The LAO noted that the proposals would cost governments more than $1 billion per year for up to 30 years...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
January 11, 2012
Public Employee Pension Reduction Initiative - Gathering signatures now
Reduces pension benefits for current and future public employees, including teachers, nurses, and peace officers, but excluding judges. Eliminates constitutional protections for current and future public employees' vested pension benefits. Creates hybrid pension plan for new employees, capping collective benefits at 75 percent of salary. Limits cost-of-living adjustments for retired and current employees. Prohibits public retirement systems from providing death or disability benefits to future employees. Requires that current employees add up to three percent of their salary to their pension contribution annually, when pension plan is underfunded. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government...
LINK - SOS.ca.gov
January 10, 2012
Backers of Calif. public pension overhaul lag in fundraising effort
The effort to place a public pension overhaul before California voters this November has moved into a new and challenging phase.
Backers have reported contributions from but a handful of donors, and on Tuesday bashed Attorney General Kamala Harris for what they said was a "grossly misleading" official description of their measures.
The Sacramento-based California Pension Reform reported raising $128,600 late last month, mostly from Silicon Valley venture capitalists...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 10, 2012
Illinois Gov. Quinn urges pension fix; he’s ‘willing to lead the expedition’ this year
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn pledged Tuesday to reform the public employee pension system "once and for all" this spring.
The Democratic governor said he's willing to take on the ailing program in a year when every seat in the Legislature is up for election because the state's contribution to five retirement plans is eating up more and more of the state budget.
The system is short about $85 billion what it will eventually need to cover all its liabilities. But repair could mean reducing benefits for state employees, something that's highly unpopular with powerful unions who contribute money to political campaigns...
LINK - ChicagoTribune.com
January 9, 2012
Governor’s Proposed Budget Concerns Prison Guard Union
The union representing state prison guards and parole officers says it's very concerned about the Governor's proposed budget.
Governor Brown's proposed budget unveiled Thursday would cut about 3,000 state jobs while avoiding any furloughs.
Brown's plan to reduce the state workforce would come mostly from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the prison system...
LINK - KIONRightNow.com
January 6, 2012
Jerry Brown budget would slash 3,000 state jobs, merge departments
Gov. Jerry Brown's 2012-13 budget proposal would cut state government by a few thousand jobs and consolidate nearly 50 state organizations, while avoiding furloughs.
Brown's plan would reduce the state's workforce by some 3,000 positions, mostly from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The savings would fill just a tiny fraction of the $9.2 billion budget hole projected through June 2013....
LINK - SacBee.com
January 6, 2012
Illinois pension reform signed into law
Public employees can no longer rely on some loopholes to inflate their state benefits, including one that allowed two union officials to qualify for teachers’ retirement perks after a single day in the classroom, under a law signed Thursday.
The law, which takes effect immediately, also aims to end the practice of double dipping. In some cases —notably in the Chicago area — employees took leaves of absence from city jobs, took full-time union jobs, then collected pensions from both.
The legislation also says current union leaders can’t base public pensions on union pay checks; now their pay will be based on their salaries when they leave their government jobs...
LINK - SJ-R.com
January 5, 2012
Pension reform debate is about to heat up
The next few weeks will draw the lines more sharply in the 2012 debate over public employee pensions. A road map:
On Monday, the attorney general's office expects to issue the titles and descriptive summaries for two potential November ballot initiatives that aim to cut government pension costs.
One of the measures backed by California Pension Reform would put newly hired state and local government workers into "defined contribution" plans similar to a 401(k) account...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 4, 2012
The GOP’s California Pension “Reform” Plan Continues to Get Bad Reviews
With the Attorney General expected to release its Title and Summary for the pair of GOP pension-gutting measures any day now, we can only hope she comes to the same conclusion the Legislative Analyst did when it put its lump of coal into the stockings of the millionaires behind the proposals: The revelation that their sloppily-drawn "reform" plans in fact will cost state and local governments billions MORE in pension costs.
The LAO pegs the taxpayer cost of the pair pension-stealing ballot measures at no less than $1 billion dollars every single year for the next three decades. The Orange County Register warns that taxpayers aren't likely to see any savings until they are "grizzled and gray." And although the LAO sees "potential" savings in the distant future, “pension reform could actually cost governments, and the taxpayers who fund them, more,” says the Register...
LINK - CAMajorityReport.com
January 4, 2012
Lawmakers face budget strife, election challenges
The state Legislature reconvened Wednesday for a year of diminished expectations set against a background of intense partisanship and election-year politics.
Lawmakers face a $13 billion budget deficit and several hot topics that include pension reform, high-speed rail and whether to keep an $11 billion water bond on the November ballot.
Gov. Jerry Brown and his fellow Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, already have said they do not plan to engage with Republicans in budget discussions after last year's failure to reach a compromise. Instead, they'll go to the ballot and ask voters to increase taxes on the wealthy and boost the state sales tax...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
January 3, 2012
Pension reform: Cheaper to do nothing?
Pushing public workers out of pension plans with guaranteed payouts could save taxpayers billions each year — but perhaps not until the folks reading this story are grizzled and gray, according to new analyses by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
In the short-term, the LAO said, pension reform could actually cost governments, and the taxpayers who fund them, more.
We’ve been telling you about the two versions of an aggressive initiative filed by California Pension Reform (whose VP is Fullerton’s own Jack Dean), which are in the signature-gathering stage and aiming for the November ballot...
LINK - OCRegister.com
December 28, 2011
LAO: Ballot proposals to cut California government pension costs may wind up increasing them
Two ballot proposals aimed at cutting government pension costs could wind up increasing them, are fraught with legal and fiscal uncertainty and would put pressure on governments to increase public employee pay, according to new analyses of the measures.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office on Tuesday released its takes on two public pension reform plans filed by Dan Pellissier, president of California Pension Reform. The group hopes to put one of the proposals to a statewide vote next November...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 27, 2011
Legislative Analyst releases review of California pension plans
Two public pension reform plans aimed for the November 2012 ballot wouldn't make much of a dent in government costs for decades, and the savings to employers' retirement expenses would be "offset to some extent by increases in other employee compensation costs," according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.
The analyses share much of the same language and conclusions. Click here for the LAO's review of the defined contribution plan backed by California Pension Reform. This link opens the review of CPR's alternative hybrid pension proposal that mirrors a plan backed by Gov. Jerry Brown....
LINK - SacBee.com
* Links above open in a new window.
December 27, 2011
Double dipping retirees eyed by Brown
Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for sweeping public pension reform would hit the pocketbooks of employees who hope to collect a pension check and paycheck at the same time.
It's a common practice statewide -- especially in law enforcement -- and the central San Joaquin Valley is no exception.
Visalia Police Chief Colleen Mestas, for example, gets an annual pension of about $55,000 based on her 20 years with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department and also collects $140,000 a year, including benefits, from her current job...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
December 25, 2011
Editorial: Pension numbers need to be nailed
When California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer dropped by The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board last week to talk about public employee pensions, he said he didn't have "settled, crisp views" on pension reform. That statement surprised everyone in the room.
After all, Lockyer is one of the state's chief financial officers, a man who's been sitting on the boards of the state's two biggest public pension funds, the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System, for five years now...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 24, 2011
Opinion: Pension reform hindered by limits of contract protections
When it comes to public-employee pensions in California, what goes up usually can't come down.
At least that's the prevailing legal theory, severely restricting reform options across the state. As the state pension squeeze intensifies, we soon could see those limits tested.
Pensions typically are based on the number of years an employee works. Each additional year adds to future retirement payments. Starting in 1999, most public agencies in California increased that annual accrual rate...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
December 22, 2011
Press Release from the Tennessee State Senate Republican Caucus, Dec. 22, 2011
State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) announced today he has introduced legislation that would reform the way pensions are calculated for new state employees. The plan would be offered for new state employees but not for local government employees or for education workers. Kelsey said the proposal would establish a privately managed cash-balance plan to eventually replace the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System defined benefits plan, participation in which would continue to remain available for current employees.
The legislation is the tenth in a series of announcements by Kelsey in his “12 for ’12” initiative for the next legislative session, which is set to reconvene January 10, 2012...
LINK - TNReport.com
December 22, 2011
California employees will pay higher payroll tax on next check
Here's one more thing to blame on Congress.
Although the battle over extending a Social Security payroll tax reduction continues in Washington, D.C., the matter has already been settled for California state workers: They'll have more money withheld from their checks next month, no matter what.
It's a matter of timing...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 18, 2011
Public pensions in free fall
As the bill to reform Ohio’s five public pension plans crawls through the General Assembly, the need to deal with the unfunded liabilities only gets more urgent.
A study issued this month by The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions entitled “Hanging By A Thread” places the total unfunded government pension liabilities at $66 billion.
But Ohio isn’t alone in being threatened by this epidemic. An Associated Press survey conducted earlier this year found the 50 states have a combined $690 billion in unfunded liabilities and $418 billion in retiree health-care obligations...
LINK - Vindy.com
December 18, 2011
Pension Reform Updates: Panel Discussion Webinar
This session will provide you an update on the latest changes to California's pension laws, including the rules for hiring annuitants and new PERS regulations defining compensation. This session will discuss available strategies, and pitfalls to avoid, in reducing liability for pension benefits.
Issues that will be addressed include implementing pension tiers, sharing pension costs with employees, eliminating "spiking" and discontinuing accrued leave payouts that are considered compensation for retirement...
LINK - CSDA.net
December 16, 2011
Million-dollar nurses at CDCR?
California has paid Lina Manglicmot $1.5 million since 2005, an average of $253,530 a year, to work as a prison nurse in the agricultural town of Soledad.
Manglicmot is one of 42 state nurses who each made more than $1 million in those six years, mostly by tapping overtime, according to payroll data compiled by Bloomberg News. Together, those nurses collected $47.5 million. In 2008, Manglicmot was paid $331,346, including $211,257 in overtime...
LINK - Bloomberg.com
December 16, 2011
Voters side with Jerry Brown on pensions
Jerry Brown made a rare gubernatorial appearance this month before a joint legislative committee that was delving — with obvious reluctance — into whether California’s public employee pension benefits should be overhauled.
While seeking his second stint as governor last year, Brown had pledged pension reform and has since offered a 12-point overhaul that attempts to strike a middle ground between the defenders of the status quo and the radical changes outside groups want...
LINK - DailyRepublic.com
December 15, 2011
CalPERS Calls Critical Stanford Pension Study an Exaggeration
A Stanford University-based economic think tank has asserted that California's public employee pension plans are skyrocketing, yet the nation's largest pension fund claims the study exaggerates.
"The study is written from a perspective that is intended to exaggerate perceived costs and the instability of pension systems,” said Ann Boynton, Deputy Executive Officer of CalPERS Benefit Programs Policy and Planning, in a statement released on the fund's website. “The report’s findings were based on low discount rates to artificially magnify unfunded liabilities. It is important to remember that CalPERS invests in a highly diversified portfolio that includes stocks, real estate, and other assets that have historically earned significantly higher returns than the rates assumed in the study.”
The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research claimed that the shortfall in California's plans is too large to be solved only by cutting future payouts, noting that the state's plans face long-term shortfalls as high as $500 billion -- a number that continues to grow rapidly. According to economist and former state Assemblyman Joe Nation, the report's author, the shortfalls cost the state $3.4 million for each day that lawmakers fail to change the pension benefits and contribution levels for public employees...
LINK - AI-CIO.com
December 13, 2011
Our View: Don’t flip-flop on pension reform
When it comes to state pensions and Springfield, nothing really is a surprise anymore.
Lawmakers talk big about fixing the system and reforming an unsustainable model. But they do little about it. And they do even less to address the $85 billion hole the state is in for underfunding the pensions systems in years past.
Now, it appears, that even when lawmakers do enact some sort of pension reform, they want to take it back – particularly some House Democrats...
LINK - Daily-Chronicle.com
December 13, 2011
Older employees hesitant about VA pension reform
Geoff Borah isn't looking to get rich from his state pension.
He's just looking for stability and, like many older workers, he is keeping an eagle-eye on the retirement debate coming up in Richmond.
He joined the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, or ARHA, a public agency that works on affordable housing, as a carpenter in September 2008...
LINK - Virginia.StatehouseNewsOnline.com
December 12, 2011
SC legislators give initial OK to pension reform
A legislative panel has initially approved a plan to fix South Carolina's pension system.
A House subcommittee unanimously approved the rough draft Monday. It includes increasing the number of years public employees must work to draw full retirement from 28 years to 30. Employees currently within five years of retirement would be exempt from the longer requirement...
LINK - DailyComet.com
December 12, 2011
SC legislators give initial OK to pension reform
A legislative panel has initially approved a plan to fix South Carolina's pension system.
A House subcommittee unanimously approved the rough draft Monday. It includes increasing the number of years public employees must work to draw full retirement from 28 years to 30.
The proposal would also tie retirement to age. Workers could not draw full retirement until age 62. A reduced benefit would be an option at 60...
LINK - WISTV.com
December 7, 2011
More Californians say public pensions too generous
About 41 percent of California voters think pension benefits received by public employees are too generous, with Republicans overwhelmingly viewing the retirement benefits as over-the-top, but independent and Democratic voters more supportive of the current system, according to a Field Poll released today.
The survey also found majority support for Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to raise the retirement age for new government workers and set limits on public employee benefits.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters last month and found that the number of Californians who view government employee pensions as too generous has grown over the past two years, from 32 percent in 2009 to the current 41 percent. However, the poll also found that a majority of both Democrats and independent voters view the current benefits as about right or not generous enough - and that 49 percent of all voters feel that way...
LINK - SFGate.com
December 7, 2011
Anti-union “paycheck protection” measure qualifies for Nov. 2012 ballot
As expected, conservative Californians have qualified a measure for the November 2012 ballot that would prohibit unions from deducting dues from paychecks.
Known as “paycheck protection” by supporters, the initiative has long been expected. It’s not the first time union critics have tried: two efforts, in 1998 and 2005, failed at the ballot box.
Here’s how the Attorney General’s office is describing the measure...
LINK - SFGate.com
December 7, 2011
California voters give edge to Jerry Brown’s public pension overhaul
A majority of California voters support Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to dial back public employee pensions and a plurality think that state and local government retirements are "too generous," according to a new Field Poll.
A little more than half – 51 percent – said that Brown's pension proposal "strikes about the right balance."
Poll director Mark DiCamillo said that finding shows that Brown, a union-backed Democrat who introduced a 12-point pension reform plan last month, has credibility with voters...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 7, 2011
Poll: Majority support Brown’s pension reform
A new Field Poll finds bipartisan support among California voters for Gov. Jerry Brown's pension proposal, with nearly two-thirds saying they support reduced retirement benefits for new and current public workers.
The poll released Wednesday shows about four in 10 registered voters believe public pensions are too generous...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
December 6, 2011
Initiative to ban payroll deduction for political spending qualifies
The fight over unions using members' dues to fund political spending is headed back to the ballot next year.
A proposed initiative to block unions and corporations from using automatic payroll deductions for political purposes has made the cut to go in front of voters next November, the secretary of state announced today.. The measure, backed by GOP groups, also bans labor unions, corporations and, in some cases, contractors doing business with state government, from making contributions to candidate-controlled committees...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 5, 2011
Sac Bee Editorial: Legislators dither and pander on pensions
Gov. Jerry Brown showed up personally to pitch his 12-point pension plan before a joint Assembly- Senate Committee on Thursday.
The rare appearance underlines the importance of pension reform for this governor. Without it, Brown told legislators, "I don't think we will have the credibility to ask the people to do other things that are very much needed."
Chief among those "other things" is a tax increase he hopes to put before voters next year. Sadly, legislators seemed unimpressed...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 2, 2011
Gov. Brown urges quick work to get state pension reform proposal on 2012 ballot
Making a rare gubernatorial appearance before a legislative committee, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday urged a panel studying potential changes to public employee pensions to act quickly on reforms he has proposed in order "to win the confidence of the people."
Brown has asked lawmakers to place on a next year's ballot constitutional changes that would implement portions of his proposals, which include requiring public workers to pay half the cost of annual contributions to their pension plans, raising the retirement age to 67 for most workers and establishing a so-called "hybrid" system that would include both a scaled-down pension and a 401(k)-type retirement saving plan...
LINK - VCStar.com
December 2, 2011
Remember: Flu Vaccinations Are Optional!
It's that time of year again, when we are hit with the decision "To Vaccinate against the Flu" or "Not". The signs are posted everywhere: Walmart, Walgreens, Costco, Target and CDCR. Unlike your local retail establishment who has the choice whether to offer flu vaccinations to their patrons, CDCR is mandated by Title 8, Section 5199 to offer all of their employees free seasonal flu vaccinations...
December 1, 2011
Initiative Attorney General File #: 2011-052 Repeal Dills Act (Amendment #1S)
This measure repeals the Dills Act and related provisions regarding excluded employees. The measure prohibits state employees from engaging in strikes against a state employer.
December 1, 2011
Gov. Jerry Brown defends pension changes against critics
Gov. Jerry Brown stepped up Thursday to defend his proposed overhaul of the state’s public pension systems against criticism from legal experts and unions, telling lawmakers it would save money without running afoul of legal restrictions that protect retirement benefits for current employees.
Brown appeared before a legislative committee that includes lawmakers skeptical of portions of his plan. Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena), the committee’s co-chair, was among those who said the plan may be too far reaching, but the governor indicating that his proposal was not intended as an opening bargaining position to be scaled back...
LINK - LATimes.com
November 30, 2011
Illinois Pension Reform Heads To Governor Quinn
Double-dipping into government pension systems is about to end in Illinois. Both Democrats and Republicans took a stand to close a loophole that allows union leaders to draw pensions from both labor and government pension systems. House Minority Leader Tom Cross says it was time to end the abusive practice. "We're talking in cases where there are individuals that are getting more than one pension, and it's hard to be sympathetic to a fellow who substitute teaches for a day and retires with a city pension and a union pension", said Cross...
LINK - WJBDRadio.com
November 30, 2011
Pension reform hearing and agenda
Jerry Brown's pension plan to get California lawmakers' scrutiny
California lawmakers will delve into Gov. Jerry Brown's 12-point pension plan on Thursday, the second legislative hearing by a two-house committee looking at the state's pension systems.
Brown's plan would generally propose less generous benefits for new hires and raise the retirement age.
The committee, which held its initial hearing Oct. 26 in Carson, is chaired by Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, and Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino.
LINK - SacBee.com
November 29, 2011
Utah senator to present pension reform ideas to NH lawmakers
A special New Hampshire House committee looking into ways to overhaul the state's public pension system will hear from a Utah lawmaker about that state's efforts.
Utah Sen. Daniel Liljenquist will make a presentation Tuesday to the House Special Committee on Public Employee Pension Reform. He will discuss Utah's effort to transform its public pension system from a defined benefit model to a defined contribution plan...
LINK - TheRepublic.com
November 29, 2011
New Hampshire Senator: Pension reform to work
Too many people have taken advantage of the state retirement system, boosting their pensions to exceed their salaries, state Sen. Jeb Bradley said.
Prime sponsor of a bill that led to recent pension reform legislation, Bradley said "all the reforms taken together" will eliminate future cases of "high profile" pensioners and so-called double-dippers.
"It's not rampant and widespread," he said. "The double-dipping, which gets people rightfully so upset — someone who retires from a high-profile job and goes on to another high-profile job — I think it will curb the examples like that..."
LINK - SeacoastOnline.com
November 29, 2011
ASSEMBLYMEMBER KRISTIN OLSEN on Pension Reform
Recently, Governor Jerry Brown unveiled his state worker pension reform proposal to the public. He presented a plan that, at least on paper, is a good start, ending the worst abuses in the system and requiring future employees to more equitably share in the cost of retirement benefits.
It is a good sign that many of the ideas the Governor put forward are ideas that Republicans have pushed for years. Pension costs are consuming a larger chunk of the state budget each year, threatening classroom funding.
According to the bipartisan Little Hoover Commission, the 10 largest public pension funds in California – including CalPERS – faced a combined shortfall of more than $240 billion in 2010. Researchers at Stanford University have come up with an even more shocking number – they estimate unfunded pension obligations to be as high as $500 billion...
LINK - TurlockJournal.com
November 28, 2011
South Carolina moves on pension reforms for public workers
South Carolina is joining a group of states grappling with how to handle shortfalls in their state retirement systems. The state currently faces a $17 billion gap between investments and long-term pension promises. In addition to the gap, a proposed new rule would require local municipalities to disclose this shortfall on their balance sheets which may endanger some municipal credit ratings.
Two weeks ago, the House committee tasked with finding recommendations on how to bridge the investment gap canceled its plans to discuss the issue. Republican Rep. Jim Merrill of Daniel Island, the committee chairman said that officials were weeks away from having any kind of plan in place. In the interim the state has started looking for an investment professional to act as a consultant for the $26.2 billion pension fund. The state is expected to post RFP’s online for both this position and a global custodian for the fund within the next few weeks...
LINK - CIVSourceOnline.com
November 17, 2011
Massachusetts: Governor Patrick Signs Pension Reform Legislation; Saving MA $5 Billion
Governor Deval Patrick today signed comprehensive pension reform legislation, continuing the Patrick-Murray Administration’s efforts to end abuses and close loopholes to create a sustainable public pension system. The bill signed today, S. 2065, “An Act Providing For Pension Reform and Benefit Modernization”, builds on legislation signed during the Governor’s first term that eliminated the most egregious abuses in the public retirement system.
“We are committed to finding additional ways to eliminate costs in state government and end abuses within the system,” said Governor Patrick. “I’m proud to sign this third phase of comprehensive pension reform legislation that will improve the public’s trust in government and ensure the pension system’s economic sustainability for future generations...”
LINK - NewEnglandPost.com
November 16, 2011
Labor coalition responds to California Pension Reform changes
Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Californians for Retirement Security, read this morning's report about tweaks to two pension reform ballot proposals and emailed a comment on behalf of the labor coalition:
"They can shop this measure to lawyers on the East Coast and try to get their funding from an Enron billionaire from Texas," Maviglio said in the email to The State Worker, "but at the end of the day, as the LAO has said, trying to slash the retirement benefits of California's public workers is unconstitutional, period."
What the Legislative Analyst's Office said was this...
LINK - SacBee.com
November 9, 2011
Pension reform measures watched across California
Resounding voter support this week for pension reform measures in San Francisco and Modesto offered some reassurance to leaders of other California cities also struggling to deal with ever-tightening budgets partly due to the costs of generous retirement plans for their employees.
More than two-thirds of San Francisco voters in Tuesday's election supported Proposition C, which would increase contributions by some city workers and raise the minimum retirement age for some others to save $1.3 billion over the next decade. San Francisco faces a $4 billion obligation over the next decade for tens of thousands of current and former employees under its system, which was created in better economic times...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
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.
November 3, 2011
Ballot proposals seek change in California’s pension system
State and local workers would pay more for their pensions under two ballot initiative proposals made public Wednesday.
The effort by a group calling itself California Pension Reform comes less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown offered his own 12-point plan to dial back pension costs. Brown hopes to secure passage for his plan in the Legislature.
One of the two plans filed with the attorney general's office mirrors Brown's call for pensions to blend a smaller guaranteed pension with other retirement income sources...
LINK - SacBee.com
October 7, 2011
Anti-union “paycheck protection” (deception) submits signatures for ballot
Proponents of an initiative to prohibit unions from automatically deducting dues from members' paychecks for political purposes say they've collected more than 900,000 voter signatures in hopes of placing the measure on next year's ballot.
The so-called "paycheck protection" measure would ban contributions to candidate-controlled committees by corporations and labor unions. Contractors that receive government contracts could not donate to the officeholder who awarded the contract.
"This initiative gets to the heart of one of the most corrosive elements in politics: campaign contributions," former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, a supporter of the initiative drive, said in a statement. "For too long, special interest money has dominated our politics, muting the voice of average Californians...
LINK - SacBee.com
September 20, 2011
Public Employee Pensions Under Attack - Again
The group founded by the advocates of the tax-cutting Proposition 13 are crafting a ballot initiative that urges across-the-board cuts in public pensions and sets ups a new, CalPERS-style state retirement system for private employees.
The proposed initiative, which would apply to new and reinstated employees, would cap pay at $100,000 for the purposes of figuring retirement. It would bar any other compensation – such as bonuses, accrued overtime, accrued sick leave and vacation pay – from being included when calculating pensions...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
August 23, 2011
LAO analysis of pension related initiative
Pursuant to Elections Code Section 9005, we have reviewed the proposed constitutional initiative regarding changes to pension benefit retirement ages for certain public sector pension systems (A.G. File No. 11‑0022).
Background
California Has Both Statewide and Local Public Pension Plans. The two largest entities managing state or local pension systems in California are the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). Combined, CalPERS and CalSTRS serve 3.1 million members (about 8 percent of California's population), including around 750,000 members and beneficiaries who currently receive benefit payments. Members of CalPERS include current and past employees of state government and the California State University (CSU), as well as judges and classified public school employees. In addition, hundreds of local governmental entities (including cities, counties, special districts, and county offices of education) choose to contract with CalPERS to provide pension benefits for their employees. Members of CalSTRS include current and past teachers and administrators of California's public school and community college districts. Members of CalPERS and CalSTRS receive differing levels of pension benefits. Many CalPERS members also participate in the federal Social Security program; in general, CalSTRS members do not...
LINK - LAO.ca.gov
August 23, 2011
Taxing big pensions, eliminating collective bargaining initiatives collecting signatures
Taxing public pensions in excess of $100,000 a year could bring an extra $60 million into state coffers — – but would likely drive retirees from the Golden State, and would surely be challenged in court, says an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
We told you recently that Lanny Ebenstein, a rather quixotic visiting economics professor at UC Santa Barbara, filed this and two other initiatives for the California ballot – including one that would strip public employees of the right to collective bargaining.
In a separate analysis of the ban-collective-bargaining measure, the LAO concluded that state and local agencies could indeed save money on employee compensation costs, “because the overall effect of this measure would be to strengthen state and local governments’ authority to set employee compensation at levels that are lower than that which an employee association would agree to...”
LINK - OCRegister.com
August 19, 2011
Justices hear CCPOA ‘self-directed’ furlough case
The arguments are in. Now a panel of appellate justices must decide whether the state illegally furloughed some 32,000 correctional officers by cutting their pay by up to 15 percent per month but deferring the commensurate time off.
In documents filed in San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal and during courtroom debate on Thursday, lawyers for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association said the so-called "self-directed" furloughs were an illegal pay cut...
LINK - SacBee.com
August 16, 2011
News interview on CCPOA contract, pension, benefits, etc.
The Maddy Report: Public Employee Unions / Public Safety Pensions
VIEW the VIDEO on YouTube.com (opens in a new window)
July 5, 2011
CDCR chief psychiatrist over $800,000 in 2010?
The chief psychiatrist for California’s overcrowded prison system was paid $838,706 in 2010, more than any other state employee that year, payroll figures released today show.
The doctor, whose name wasn’t released, had a salary range of $261,408 to $308,640, according to data released today by California Controller John Chiang. The total compensation was raised by bonuses or payout of unused vacation time, according to the controller’s office.
The figures show that the 10 highest-paid state employees each earned more than $500,000 in 2010, for a total of $6.2 million. All but three were doctors or dentists for the Corrections Department. Joe Dear, the chief investment officer at the California Public Employees Retirement System, ranked seventh with a gross pay of $548,142, the data show...
LINK - Bloomberg.com
June 4, 2011
Republican Assemblywoman Shannon Grove on prisons, public employees & taxes
In the latest state budget debate, taxpayers are presented with this "choice": increase taxes or experience drastic cuts to education, public projects and safety.
This choice is false, cunning and, if you still have a sense of humor, laughable. California does not have a revenue problem. California has a spending problem. Legislators have used the general fund to binge on pet projects and public employee benefits, only to cry that there is not enough left for necessary services like education, veterans and public safety. These priorities are distorted.
Here are the recent issues I have focused on that play directly into this problem...
LINK - Bakersfield.com
May 31, 2011
Earned vacation should be forfeit if mgmt refuses to let workers use them?
I’m still fuming about the Supreme Court’s decision forcing California to release 46,000 prisoners into our streets. The response from conservative, common sense pundits has been pretty universal: this is an outrageous decision that will result in more crime. The real travesty in all of this is that it could have been avoided. As I mention in the following video blog, money isn’t the issue. At least, not the amount of money, just how it’s being spent…
Even for jaded politicos, it’s shocking that Governor Brown’s initial response to the matter is to turn it into a blatant appeal for higher taxes. It’s almost like extortion: your wallet for your safety. Even the Sacramento Bee acknowledged the crass politicking with this headline: “Jerry Brown calls prison ruling a reason for taxes”
While it might be more frightening to be mugged by one of the thugs that will soon be unleashed on us, is it any less immoral for our leaders to demand our money or our safety? When California’s crime inevitably increases because of the state’s failure to build enough prisons, it will be on the heads of every government leader who sold out to the unions...
LINK - FlashReport.org
May 25, 2011
Neillo says he won’t pursue pension-reduction initiative
Former Assemblyman Roger Niello's initiative to rollback public pension benefits "will end up in the scrapheap of politically-motivated failures," said Dave Lowe, chairman of Californians for Retirement Security, in a statement released by the union coalition Tuesday evening.
As reported by Bee colleague Paresh Dave on Tuesday, Niello has decided he won't pursue collecting signatures to put his public pension rollback initiative on the ballot, although the secretary of state has said that he can begin working to place it before voters.
Niello, a Fair Oaks Republican who has said he's considering a run at statewide office, said with a special election on taxes later this year looking more and more remote, there's no urgency to make sure "pension reform" goes up for a vote...
LINK - SacBee.com - The State Worker
May 24, 2011
Pension reduction initiative authorized to collect signatures
Former Republican Assemblyman Roger Niello of Sacramento is clear for signature take-off on his controversial public employee pension reform initiative.
The Secretary of State officially announced today that he may begin collecting the required 807,615 signatures of California voters in order to qualify the measure for the statewide ballot.
The constitutional amendment strips public employee unions of their right to negotiate their pensions in collective bargaining, sets the retirement age at 62 and caps benefits at 60 percent of an employee’s highest average base wage over three years. It also requires that workers match the public contribution to their premiums...
LINK - IBABuzz.com
May 16, 2011
Governor’s Revised Budget for Corrections
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is responsible for the incarceration of convicted felons, the supervision of these felons after their release on parole, and the provision of rehabilitative strategies designed to successfully reintegrate offenders into their communities. The CDCR is responsible for providing safe and secure detention facilities and necessary support services to inmates, including food, clothing, academic instruction, and vocational training.
The May Revision includes total funding of $9.5 billion ($9.4 billion General Fund and $134.2 million other funds) for all programs included in this Agency...
May 12, 2011
CA Republicans propose budget to cut state workers by 10%, privatize transportation, etc
Republicans in the Legislature on Thursday produced for the first time a detailed plan to balance California’s budget, relying on no new taxes but deep spending cuts, in particular for the state workforce, the mentally ill and the disabled –- and a dose of optimistic assumptions.
The plan, unveiled by Assembly Republicans only days before Gov. Jerry Brown will update his own budget blueprint, would fund public schools at the same level as the governor has proposed and avert further reductions to the state’s universities.
After months of brushing aside calls for a comprehensive package, Assembly Republicans stepped forward with a proposal that minority leader Connie Conway (R-Tulare) outlined in a letter she sent to Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles)...
LINK - LATimes.com
May 6, 2011
LAO analysis of pension reduction initiative
This is the summary from LAO:
This measure provides that public employee defined pension benefits in California can only allow for "full retirement ages" of 62 years of age or older. This provision of the measure states that it would apply to public employees who are employed on the day after this measure is approved by the state's voters, notwithstanding the Contract Clause of the State Constitution.
May 3, 2011
Senate approves 6 contracts with state employees
California prison guards and other state employees are closer to having a labor contract.
The Senate on Monday approved six contracts covering more than 50,000 prison guards, engineers, scientists and other state workers.
Senators passed the bill, 27-13, despite concerns from some lawmakers that the contracts did not save as much money as expected by earlier projections...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
May 3, 2011
OC Register opines on CCPOA, other contracts - and gets it wrong - again
Californians have been let down twice already by their representatives in Sacramento, and another disappointment may be looming as final approval of union contracts for 51,000 public employees will be considered by the Assembly any day now.
Despite promising to save more than $500 million in negotiating the six contracts, Gov. Jerry Brown instead negotiated agreements saving taxpayers $300 million. That's a 40 percent shortfall, but not too surprising, considering how nearly 100 percent indebted the governor is to public employee unions, which largely financed his election campaign...
LINK - OCRegister.com
May 2, 2011
Senate approves six state worker labor contracts
Legislation to adopt contract agreements reached with six state employee bargaining units including a controversial labor pact for state prison guards union, squeaked through the Senate today.
Senate Bill 151, by Democratic Sen. Lou Correa, initially came up one vote short of passage, 26-14, but cleared the upper house when Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, changed his vote after a roughly two-hour recess. Sen. Sam Blakeslee, of San Luis Obispo, was the only other Republican who voted for the bill.
The bill ratifies the agreements Gov. Jerry Brown reached with bargaining units representing correctional officers, engineers, scientists, administrative law judges and other law enforcement officials. The measure now moves to the Assembly...
LINK - SacBee.com
April 20, 2011
Re: SacBee Editorial: “Brown regresses on prison contract”
Letter to the Editor from Chuck Alexander:
Politics of the Editorial Board aside, it's grossly irresponsible of the Bee to print a list of "highlights" concerning CCPOA's proposed contract which are blatantly false...
[see .pdf file of letter attached at the bottom for full text]
The SacBee.com Editorial:
While he was governor, Gray Davis approved a plum contract for the state's 30,000 prison guards that effectively gave the California Correctional Peace Officers Association management control over the state's prison system.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked to wrest back control of the prisons from the CCPOA. But now that he is governor, Jerry Brown is reversing those hard-earned reforms on behalf of a major campaign contributor.
If this were a movie, we'd call it "Contract Giveaway: The Return of Gray," starring Jerry Brown...
LINK - SacBee.com
April 7, 2011
CCPOA proposed contract in the news
The Oscars have the buildup for best picture. College basketball has the finals. And this year's state labor deals have the CCPOA contract.
Sometime between now and Monday, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office will publish a cost estimate on an agreement with the 32,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association, one of six unions that approved tentative deals with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration last month.
The LAO crunches the numbers for legislators, two-thirds of whom must agree to the deals for them to take effect. So far, the LAO has dinged the first four deals for saving too little money...
LINK - SacBee.com
April 6, 2011
OIG Report: CDCR Health & Education Staff “Cheated on Timesheets”
Dozens of employees at a California state prison were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for hours they didn't work during a three-month sampling period last year, according to an inspector general's report released Wednesday.
Auditors found that one mental health employee averaged less than 27 hours of his scheduled 40-hour work week inside Mule Creek State Prison, which is 40 miles southeast of the state capital. Teachers spent as few as 33 hours inside the prison, but were paid for a 40-hour week.
"Many of the prison's mental health and educational employees were fully paid, but did not average working full days inside the prison," wrote acting Inspector General Bruce Monfross...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
March 23, 2011
Leave balances, furloughs and pay outs to state workers - especially in CDCR
One public employee received a $594,976 lump-sum payment from the state when he retired last year; another got $553,253.
The two - a surgeon and a dentist who provided care to prison inmates - topped the list of some 300 state employees who left or retired from their state jobs in 2010 and collected six-figure payments for unused vacation and other paid time off accumulated during their careers, according to records obtained from the state controller's office.
The records reflect a widespread failure by the state to control the amount of paid time off that employees amass. State policy caps the number of vacation hours an employee is allowed to bank at 640 hours - or 16 weeks - and sometimes higher for public safety workers. But many agencies do not enforce the limits...
LINK - SFGate.com
March 23, 2011
Latest on cell phones in prison legislation and “walk-time”
California prisons confiscated more than 10,000 cell phones last year. This year, officials at Corcoran State Prison found a cell phone with a camera in possession of convicted serial killer Charles Manson. It was the second phone found on Manson in two years.
In 1996, four men gang-raped a 15-year-old girl. They were convicted. But in 2008, the ringleader called the victim from his prison cell. "To our horror," Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said at a press conference Tuesday, "there was nothing we could do about that."
In dysfunctional California, it is not illegal to smuggle a cell phone into a state prison...
LINK - SFGate.com
March 8, 2011
Correctional Officer Furloughs - $1 Billion Liability
California prison guards and their supervisors have racked up 33.2 million hours of vacation, sick and other paid time off - an astounding accumulation that amounts to nearly half a year per worker.
It also adds up to a $1 billion liability for taxpayers of the deficit-plagued state.
Poor management at California's prisons has for years allowed workers to stock up on generous amounts of paid time off - a benefit that employees must either use or cash out when they retire. But the numbers swelled when former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed furloughs in 2009, forcing prison guards and their supervisors to take unpaid days off each month to help save state cash...
LINK - SFGate.com
March 3, 2011
Unions ask Alameda Superior Court judge to stop furloughs
Five of six state employee unions without contracts whose members are furloughed three days per month have asked an Alameda Superior Court judge to stop the policy.
Professional Engineers in California Government, California Association of Professional Scientists, California Correctional Peace Officers' Association and California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment are the union plaintiffs in the lawsuit now before Judge Steven Brick.
The Association of California State Supervisors, which speaks on behalf of management-level exempt workers, is also a party to the lawsuit...
LINK - SacBee.com (The State Worker)
March 3, 2011
California lawmakers pounce on the messenger
California lawmakers on Wednesday reacted skeptically to a new proposal to lower public employee pensions throughout state and local government.
Stuart Drown, the executive director of the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, known as the Little Hoover Commission, testified before a joint session of California Assembly and Senate committees that oversee public employee compensation that the current system is unsustainable and has become a program that seeks wealth accumulation for public employees...
LINK - CalCoastNews.com
February 25, 2011
Little Hoover Commission: Cut retirement benefits for current employees, including C/Os
The Little Hoover Commission issued a report today recommending the reduction of pension benefits for all current public employees in the state.
Here are a few excerpts from the report:
- “The Legislature should give state and local governments the authority to alter the future, unaccrued retirement benefits for current public employees.”
- “Freezing earned pension benefits and re-setting pension formulas at a more realistic level going forward for current employees would allow governments to reduce their overall liabilities – particularly in public safety budgets. “
- “Police officers, firefighters and corrections officers have to be involved in the discussion because they, as a group, are younger, retire earlier and often comprise a larger share of personnel costs at both the state and local level.”
- “Public safety pensions cannot be exempted from the discussion because of political inconvenience.”
February 22, 2011
Assemblyman who receives peace officer retirement proposes collective bargaining ban
Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) introduced a bill Tuesday that would eliminate the right of public employees to collectively bargain for pension benefits. The measure is partly a response to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose controversial bill to eliminate collective bargaining for most public employee unions has prompted massive protests and a walkout by Democratic lawmakers. The Indiana state Senate also has passed a bill that would limit the power of teachers’ unions.
“I stand in solidarity with the courageous legislators in the Midwest who are taking brave steps to do the right thing for all of their citizens, not just public employee union campaign contributors,” Mansoor said in a statement...
LINK - LATimes.com
February 21, 2011
Legislative analyst urges pension reductions throughout public sector
The nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst's Office urged action Thursday to reduce pensions for future employees throughout the public sector, an issue that some Republicans have demanded be part of budget talks.
The office recommended that lawmakers act not only on state employee pensions, but on retirement benefits for the University of California system, teachers and county government workers.
"From our perspective, this seems unsustainable," Jason Sisney, director of state finance for the Legislative Analyst's Office, said in a phone interview...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 25, 2011
Another View: Public employees are negotiating pension changes
Dan Pellissier attempts to use our hope for honest civic discussion to conceal his long commitment to cutting retirement security no matter the consequences.
An honest assessment of our budget situation starts with the worst economic crash in 70 years and how Wall Street speculation hurt every aspect of the economy.
Those market conditions are also the cause of retirement funding shortfalls. "The main driver of the current level of pension funding pressure is market losses in late 2008 and early 2009," according to a study by the Fitch independent global rating agency...
LINK - SacBee.com (Opinion)
December 9, 2010
They helped him get elected. Now how will Jerry Brown help the CCPOA?
Governor-elect Jerry Brown, though rarely seen in public these past few weeks (with the exception of a tough-love budget talk today), is nonetheless clearly busy getting his program together before he takes office January 3. Yesterday, Brown was spotted at a convention of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association in Las Vegas. The CCPOA heavily backed Brown during the campaign, running ads and mobilizing its considerable resources and influence behind the candidate. While Meg Whitman had advocated cutting correctional officers’ pensions, shipping inmates out of state, and making use of more private prisons, Brown stuck to a much more union-friendly agenda.
The Governor-elect has reportedly spoken to about a dozen interest groups so far, mostly about the budget situation in the state and what to expect. What exactly Brown had to say to correctional officers is unknown, as journalists were barred from attending the event...
LINK - KALWNews.org
December 9, 2010
The State Worker: For labor deals, it’s now Brown
The not-so-special special session that opened Monday marked the last chance for out-of-contract state employee unions to cut a deal with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Assembly likely won't assemble again until Jan. 3, so it's not around to approve contracts before they go to the governor. From here on, all deals go to Jerry Brown.
For most unions, the guv-elect is a welcome change. Six bargaining units representing 63,000 state workers still don't have contracts. Half are prison and parole officers represented by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. They haven't had a deal since 2006. They despise Schwarzenegger...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 2, 2010
In from the cold: Prison officers’ union gears up
California’s prison guards’ union hasn’t been happy since 2006, when it was still savoring the fruits of a lucrative pact it had successfully negotiated earlier with the state.
In the years since, the Schwarzenegger administration and the 28,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association have been bitter foes.
But with Gov.-elect Jerry Brown headed back to office, all the CCPOA wants for Christmas is a contract. And it may happen.
“CCPOA and the members worked hard to help elect Jerry Brown. Now that the campaign is over we can begin talking with Gov.-elect Brown and his team about what it will take to better our working conditions,” the CCPOA wrote in a letter to its members. The union spent at least $1.8 million backing Brown or opposing his rival, GOP contender Meg Whitman...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
October 22, 2010
Memo from Chuck Alexander re: PML 2010-027 Furlough Program
Yesterday, the Department of Personnel Administration issued a new PMLto all Personnel Officers, which was forwarded to you by Perry Speth.
This PML states:
"Effective November 2, 2010 furloughs will be self directed. All State agencies and departments must ensure that employees take their three furlough days off within the pay period their total compensation is adjusted."
It is our belief that this is an attempt by DPAto convince the Appellate Court that all Unit 6 members are furloughed the same as those employees covered by the recent Supreme Court decision regarding furloughs. We are in the process of developing and submitting an information request seeking the CDCR plan that complies with this "new" furlough program...
October 17, 2010
Prison safety a concern
Violent incidents at state prisons in Norco and Chino as well as recent state budget cutbacks have resulted in concerns being expressed by residents, local officials and corrections officers about the safety at these facilities.
The state plans to cut $1.1 billion from its corrections agency, according to a report from the state Legislative Analyst's Office.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is already considering cuts to corrections officer staffing as well as implementing a 12-hour workday for the officers in response to the shrinking budget...
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
October 15, 2010
Few Inland Republicans support pension bill
...In a floor speech late Thursday, state Sen. Bob Dutton accused the governor's office of trying to use the bill to punish the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the largest union without a contract. Lawmakers ratify the pacts.
"What I'd really like to see is...the administration to go and deal with the CCPOA and actually bring a (contract) to the floor," said Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, who became Senate GOP leader Monday. "Because this will end up being used, I feel, unfairly, against them as a bargaining tool." [...]
LINK - PE.com (The Press-Enterprise)
October 11, 2010
EXECUTIVE ORDER S-01-10
WHEREAS immediate and comprehensive action to reduce current spending must be taken to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the essential services of the State are not jeopardized and the public health and safety is preserved; and
WHEREAS the State’s employee attrition rate is approximately 12 percent per year due to employee retirements and separations from service; and
LINK - Read the FULL Executive Order @ gov.CA.gov
October 8, 2010
EC Budget Update
The California Legislature passed the State Budget early this morning. Members of the CCPOA Executive Council and the CCPOA Legislative Division held an all night vigil in the State Capitol during this process. We were successful in keeping the “pension reform” as written from achieving the required two-thirds votes for passage. However, in the early morning hours the Legislature gutted another bill, loaded the pension reform into that bill and passed it with a simple majority vote.
Considering the fiscal state of the state we made it quite clear, as we have all along, that we were more than willing to agree to pension reform and possible concessions in return for our work place rights (an MOU). The legislative leadership either would not or could not stand up to the Governor on behalf of the men and women in this profession...
October 4, 2010
Memo: Today’s California Supreme Court ruling upholding the furloughs
At my request, our legal team prepared the following short summary of today's 84-page decision by the California Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court issued a decision today in three cases relating to the Governor and Department of Personnel Administration's ("DPA") February 2009 furloughs program on State workers. CCPOA was not a party to those cases, but the Court's decision may have some impact on cases we have filed on behalf of the members.
The Court ruled against the Governor and DPA on every ground they relied on for implementing the furloughs. The Court stated that there was no legal authority to take such action. Nonetheless, the Court ruled that the Legislature legitimized the furloughs through its February 20, 2009 passage of a revised budget...
