CA Public Pensions Law Blog

A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Ill-Funded Police Pensions Put Cities in a Bind,” discusses problems cities have experienced after cutting police pensions and other benefits.

According to the article, police and firefighter pensions are among the worst funded in the country, with a median of 71 cents for every dollar needed for future liabilities. In comparison, median funding for general ...

As reported by the Sacramento Bee, last week the California Senate’s Public Employment and Retirement Committee voted down by a three-two margin Senate Bill 32, which had been aimed at reducing public pensions’ unfunded liabilities. Republican Senator John Moorlach from Costa Mesa brought the bill; many union representatives testified against it.

SB 32 was modeled after last year’s climate change ...

Last week, the California Supreme Court agreed to review the California Court of Appeal’s December 2016 ruling in Cal Fire Local 2881 v. California Public Employees’ Retirement System, 7 Cal.App.5th 115 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016), that the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) lawfully eliminated the right of CalPERS members to purchase up to five years of retirement service credit called ...

Last month, the Bay Area’s Mercury News published an editorial by Dave Low headlined “Opinion: CalPERS Pensions Are Just Fine, Thank You Very Much.” Low heads Californians for Retirement Security, an organization claiming a membership of more than 1.6 million public employees and retirees. Low’s editorial maintained that the pension reforms enacted in 2012 have bolstered the long-term health of ...