Cities: repeal landmark pension legislation

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Calpensions
By Ed Mendel

CARSON-A League of California Cities representative urged a legislative committee on Nov. 1st, to repeal two decade-old bills allowing local governments to negotiate higher pensions, saying the benefits are “too rich” and “unsustainable.”

The legislation backed by CalPERS created a range of more generous formulas said to have ratcheted up pensions during labor negotiations as employer “chased the richest contract” to remain competitive. 

“We think it’s important to repeal SB-100 and AB 616 because we think they have generated pensions that are unsustainable and very difficult to explain to the larger public that we serve,” Rod Gould, Santa Monica city manager, told the committee yesterday.

He said the cities would like to see CalPERS and other large retirement systems “offering additional formula choices that maybe aren’t quite as lucrative as those that are currently available but provide more choices to be bargained locally.”

The two-house committee held the first of three hearing on pension reform planned before the Legislature reconvenes in January. A plan is expected to emerge from bills pending in the Legislature and Governor Brown"s 12 point Pension Reform plan.