Howdidwegethereandwheredowegonext?

JudyLinEconomyReporter

SB400:Thedealthatwasn’tsupposedtocosttaxpayersadime

TheaverageCaliforniaHighwayPatrolsalarywas$111,732in2015.

TheaverageCaliforniaHighwayPatrolretiredwith$95,282in2015.

Employeeschipin11.5%oftheirsalary.Thestatechipsin55%.

JonHamm,retiredchiefexecutiveoftheCaliforniaAssn.ofHighwayPatrolmen

“IfIwasintheprivatesectorjuststrugglingtogetby,hadnodreamofretiring,wouldIbeupset?”Hammsaid.“Yeah.Andwehavetounderstandthat’sareality.”

Didn’tJerryBrownfixthis?

PassedHigherretirementagefornewemployees

Pensionsbasedonhighestthreeyears,notone

Calculatesbenefitbasedonnormalpay,notinflatedbyunusedvacationtime,bonusesandovertime

FailedAhybridretirementsystemcombiningsmallerpensionswith401(k)-styleplansInstead,Democraticlawmakersproposedacaponthesalaryusedtocalculateanemployee’spension.

IncreaseCalPERSboardindependence

Nearly 40percentoftheincreaseinschoolbudgetswillbeabsorbedbyhigherpensioncosts

LegislativeAnalyst’sOffice

RetirementdebtofallpublicworkersinCaliforniatops$400billion

What’snext?

Howmuchflexibilitydostateandlocalgovernmentshavetocutbenefitsofcurrentworkers?

AgroupofMarinCountyemployeeshadarguedthatBrown’s2012pension changesinfringedontheiremployer’scontractualobligationtoprovideretirementbenefitsatthelevelthatwaspromisedontheirfirstdayofwork.Thatpremise,knownasthe“Californiarule,”hasleftstateandlocalgovernmentswithlittleroomtomodifyretirementbenefitsexceptfornewhires.

PublicemployeesinAlameda,ContraCostaandMercedcountieswonwhenanappealscourtsaidbenefitadjustmentsrequire“compellingevidence”showingthatthechangesarenecessarytothesuccessofthepensionsystem.

ThestateSupremeCourthasagreedtotakeuptheissueofthe“Californiarule,”whichcouldhavehugefinancial

implicationsforcities,counties,schooldistrictsandthestate.

“Thatfightisunderway,andthere'snotmuchthatthenextgovernorcando...evenwiththeCaliforniarule,wehavethetoolsthroughcollectivebargainingtonegotiatereformsandcommensurateoffsets.”

GavinNewsom