Governor Takes Vow for Pension Reform National with Op-Ed in WSJ

In an op-ed today in the Wall Street Journal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger outlines the state's public pension situation and reiterates that he will not sign a budget until reforms are passed........."The Assembly needs to reverse the massive and retroactive increase in pension formulas it enacted 11 years ago. It also needs to prohibit "spiking"—giving someone a big raise in his last year of work so his pension is boosted.

"Government employees must be required to increase their contributions to pensions. Public pension funds must make truthful financial disclosures to the public as to the size of their liabilities, and they must use reasonable projected rates of returns on their investments. The legislature could pass those reforms in five minutes, the same amount of time it took them to pass that massive pension boost 11 years ago that adds additional costs every single day they refuse to act.

"And after they've finished passing those reforms, they could take another five minutes to pass legislation terminating the annuity give-away they passed in 2003 and ending the immoral practice of pension fund board members accepting gifts or even campaign contributions from lobbyists, salesmen, unions and other special interests."

Read the full story here.

CalWatchdog also has an article that tackles the arguments of some who say the pension "crisis" is overblown, and why the issue of unfunded liabilities is of concern. Read the full story here.