Steamroller Could Be Approaching on Pension

The California business community is pushing for a grand deal on the state budget which would include pension reform of some type. And, as yours truly endlessly points out on this blog, UC’s pension modifications approved by the Regents last December could be steamrollered through some ballot proposition that would be part of the deal. No sign yet, however, that UCOP or the Regents are taking active steps to avoid that outcome.

From the San Francisco Chronicle online:

Using bizspeak, the (business) leaders say they think that California should have a “financial workout plan.” In the business world, a financial workout plan is an agreement between a financially troubled company and its lender to alter the terms of repayment. Typically, the lender agrees to modify the terms in exchange for legally binding commitments from the company to fix the structural problems that got the company in trouble…

They offered a five-point plan that sounds similar to what’s been on the table for months, to the annoyance of at least one party in the budget talks: Pension reform, extension of temporary taxes, government “closer to the people,” a “path” to job creation; gently reforming redevelopment and enterprise zones; and spending and budget controls…

The signers include: Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Bay Area Council, Orange County Business Council, Friends of the San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento Metro Chamber, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Fresno Business Council, Business Council of San Joaquin and San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership.

Full article at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=88772#ixzz1M9cmPTUU

UPDATE: Republican legislators have come up with a budget plan which involves UC taking over state prison health care. Supposedly, this saves $400 million for the state. Whatever the merits of that proposal, note that it opens up an avenue for UCOP and the Regents to join the budget negotiations.

More on the GOP plan at http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2011/05/12/gop-unveils-deficit-fix-sans-taxes/#more-8939

Further UPDATE: GOP Assembly GOP leader Connie Conway in a letter to Assembly Speaker John Pérez indicates that some of the budget proposal comes from UC. (But exactly what is not specified.):

Keep in mind that the nearly all of the components of our Republican budget roadmap have been proposed by the non-partisan sources we all trust, such as the Legislative Analyst’s Office or the Bureau of State Audits, and key budget stakeholders like the University of California, or even by Governor Brown himself.

Full letter at http://www.flashreport.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Ltr-to-Speaker-Perez-re-budget-051211.pdf