(CA) Gov. Brown unveils pension reforms

[alp227]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

SACRAMENTO -- In a bid to seize his Republican opponents' most appealing issue among voters after the collapse of budget talks, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday unveiled a list of measures aimed at overhauling public employee pensions "with or without" GOP support.

The Democratic governor has long insisted that he supports overhauling state pension systems that have outraged voters, whose own retirement benefits pale in comparison. Taxpayers are also upset about being saddled with multibillion-dollar bills to shore up pension funds ravaged by investment losses.

But Brown's proposed budget had included no specific pension changes, leading critics to question whether he was willing to buck public employee unions by trimming a benefit they cherish.

Brown said the measures released Thursday were discussed with Republicans during budget talks. The list, however, drew a tepid response from Republicans and reform advocates, who said it amounted to little more than a good start.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_17747664

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On Tuesday, Jerry Brown ended budget negotiations with the Republicans

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. The announcements todate do not include the teachers CalSTRS

So far Brown has been very protective of state support to school districts at the expense of community colleges and universities. However, with CalSTRS, there is no trade space. Per an A article today:

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The pension system for Cali­fornia's teachers has $56 bil­lion less than it needs to cov­er the benefits promised to its 852,000 members and their families, the fund reported Thursday, as big investment losses in 2008 continue to re­verberate.

The drop in value was enough to trigger an auto­matic increase in the amount the state must pay into the California State Teachers' Re­tirement System, which is the nation's second largest public pension fund. That will boost the payment from California's already strained general fund by 20 percent — from $573 million to $688 million — in the fiscal year starting July 1. The pension shortfall as of June 30, 2010, was $15.5 bil­lion greater than it had been a year earlier, CalSTRS officials said. The fund had expected the shortfall to be even greater, but educators received small­er raises than projected, reduc­ing the ultimate amount of their retirement benefits, and the fund's investments per­formed better than expected in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The pension fund's assets at the end of June were enough to cover 71 percent of its ac­crued liabilities over the next 30 years, down from 78 per­cent a year earlier.

[fascisthunter]

2. Basically, people need to give up pensions and benefits for the Rich and Wealthy

this is political suicide.... really dumb.