Coming Soon to a Polling Station Near You?
As noted in a prior post, one proposed pension initiative that could have overridden the Regents’ December changes in the UC plan has been abandoned and no signature-gathering campaign will be conducted. But there are others possibly on the way, as calpensions.com reports (excerpt):
…Dan Pellissier, president of California Pension Reform, is working on an initiative that would cap normal employer contributions at 6 percent of pay and give new hires a 401(k) plan. The employer would be responsible for any previous “unfunded liability,” allowing employer contributions to exceed 6 percent until the debt is paid off. Employees could negotiate increases in their contribution to maintain pension levels. Pellissier has not yet filed an initiative. He said the campaign is “still trying to wrap up fundraising for the first phase” and talking to potential backers with “thick skin,” not intimidated by public employee unions…
Pellissier said he thinks defeating other initiatives that may be on the ballot next year (a spending limit and “paycheck protection” making it difficult to use union dues for campaigns) could be a greater priority for unions than hot-polling pension reform. “The unions may find that they can’t wage nuclear war and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on four different initiatives,” he said. “They may have to pick and choose.” …
Full story at http://calpensions.com/2011/05/31/pension-reform-bargaining-table-or-ballot-box/
A spokesperson for Mr. Pellissier summarized:
