{"id":15690,"date":"2012-08-30T15:54:27","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T19:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/?p=15690"},"modified":"2012-08-30T17:25:02","modified_gmt":"2012-08-30T21:25:02","slug":"silver-lining-in-california%e2%80%99s-latest-pension-reform-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/15690\/silver-lining-in-california%e2%80%99s-latest-pension-reform-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Lining in California\u2019s Latest Pension Reform Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s one reason<\/a> to be cautiously optimistic about a pension reform deal announced between California Governor Jerry Brown and state Democratic lawmakers:<\/p>\n

California’s public pensions are currently governed by a patchwork of contractual agreements and retirement-system rules. The deal, likely to win approval in the Democratic-controlled Legislature, would bring most of those systems under the same pension standards.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, as critics correctly point out, Brown\u2019s deal with his fellow Democrats is \u201cinsufficient to cut billions of dollars in unfunded obligations on governments\u2019 books.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the value in Brown\u2019s pension reform deal is that for the first time most of the state\u2019s public employees will be under the same set of pension rules.<\/p>\n

This is important for at least two reasons.<\/p>\n

First, it makes the pension liability problem more understandable for everyday Californians.\u00a0 Sure, we all know the state\u2019s unfunded liabilities are huge \u2013 around $500 billion<\/a> according a Stanford study \u2013 but what good does knowing that number do if reform opponents can sidetrack reasonable debate by citing a dizzying array of competing pension rules?\u00a0 By consolidating most public employees under the same standards, citizens can begin to see the pension crisis in a simpler, more straightforward way.<\/p>\n

The other potential improvement is related to the first. \u00a0Brown\u2019s deal sets the table for a future reformer to make the changes Brown\u2019s critics want now.\u00a0 No one expects Brown to be that guy, so why not welcome a plan that at least moves the ball in the right direction?<\/p>\n

Besides, a pension reform deal like Brown\u2019s that puts most of California\u2019s public employees under the same standards means that a future governor will have that many less obstacles to achieve the cost savings the state needs to get back its golden sheen.<\/p>\n

H\/T: Governing.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s one reason to be cautiously optimistic about a pension reform deal announced between California Governor Jerry Brown and state Democratic lawmakers: California’s public pensions are currently governed by a patchwork of contractual agreements and retirement-system rules. The deal, likely to win approval in the Democratic-controlled Legislature, would bring most of those systems under the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[299,2035,1588,1447],"class_list":["post-15690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts","tag-california","tag-jerry-brown","tag-pension","tag-reform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15690"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15695,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15690\/revisions\/15695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}