pension

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More Newspaper Editorial Comment on High-Paid UC Execs’ Demand for Lifting Pension Cap: This One Says “Outrageous”

Byuclafaculty

Are they paying attention? UC execs’ threatened lawsuit over pensions misses the point (excerpt) Jan.3, 2011, Stockton Record Three dozen of the University of California’s highest-paid executives are threatening to sue unless their pensions are substantially raised. Incredible. Perhaps these men and women, all of whom make more than $245,000 a year, are so busy doing the public’s good works that they missed that: » The state is facing a $28 billion budget deficit. » Student tuition at UC increased 32 percent last fall and will jump an additional 8 percent next fall because of sagging state support. » The…

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Sacramento Bee Editorial Says UC High Paid Execs Threatening to Sue “Live in Bubble”

Byuclafaculty

UC executives offer further evidence they live in bubble (excerpt) Jan. 02, 2011, Sacramento Bee We’re in a time in California when everyone has to share the pain, and leaders have to set the right example. It is dumbfounding that some top officials at the University of California are doing the exact opposite. Thirty-six executives sent a letter to UC regents on Dec. 9 with an ultimatum: Give us higher pensions or we’ll sue. They had the gall to call it a “legal, moral and ethical obligation.” What’s appalling is that people – who already earn far more than the…

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Lame Duck Nominates Crane: Crane Nomination May Not Fly

Byuclafaculty

In a very lame-duck action, Governor Schwarzenegger has nominated David Crane, generally billed as his economic advisor, to the UC Board of Regents. As you can see above, he is an odd mix of Democrat and Republican. Below is an excerpt from one news account: Capitol Alert, Dec. 30, 2010 Schwarzenegger appoints key economic aide as UC regent (excerpt) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named one of his top economic advisers Thursday to the governing board of the University of California, which has been rocked in recent years by California’s budget crisis. David Crane, 57, was named to fill the UC regents…

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Clash of the Titans II: Jerry Brown says high-paid execs at UC demanding high pensions are “out of touch”

Byuclafaculty

UC execs’ demand for more benefits angers many (excerpts) Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 30, 2010 Gov.-elect Jerry Brown, state lawmakers and others minced few words Wednesday in condemning high-paid executives at the University of California who are threatening to sue UC unless it spends millions of dollars to increase their pensions. “These executives seem very out of touch at a time when the state is contemplating billions of dollars in reductions that will affect people who are far less advantaged,” Brown said. Their demand comes as UC faces $21.6 billion in unfunded pension obligations and is reducing benefits…

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Clash of the Titans: Coming to a Regents Meeting Soon

Byuclafaculty

Background: Readers of this blog will know that at the Dec. 13 Regents meeting, where changes in the retirement plan were adopted, one item was dropped from the agenda a few days before the meeting. You can hear the Regents meeting on this blog. But there is only one vague reference to the dropping. The item involved a 1999 Regents decision to seek IRS approval to exceed a ceiling on pension benefits. The approval was received but the pension plan was never modified to implement the approval. The PEB task force recommended such implementation as part of its other retirement…

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Another Editorial Complaint About UC Retirement as Too Generous

Byuclafaculty

Yet another reminder that what the Regents did at their December meeting may not turn out to be the last word. Past posts on this blog have noted that via ballot initiative, UC could be swept into some general change in all public-sector retirement plans. Here is another editorial complaining about UC’s changes in its retirement plans. Retirement ruin? Riverside Press-Enterprise Editorial, 12-20-10, Excerpt A university system that faces repeated budget squeezes cannot justify siphoning money away from education and into lavish pension benefits. The University of California has to rein in the escalating costs of its retirement plan. And…

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Newspaper Editorial Unhappy With “Happy Talk” About UC Pension Fix

Byuclafaculty

Yet another reminder that the pension/retirement issue at UC did not end with the December Regents meeting below: UC president’s happy talk not helpful (excerpt) San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial December 20, 2010 Like so many public agencies in the Golden State, the University of California has promised vastly more in retirement benefits for its employees than it can afford. Taxpayers should find the UC system’s woes particularly appalling because of this fact: For two decades, the state and UC employees didn’t put aside any money at all toward future pension costs, leading to a current overall shortfall of $13.4 billion….

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Observations and Worries Over at CalPERS

Byuclafaculty

The excerpt below from calpensions.com deals mainly with a state contribution cut to CalPERS, ostensibly due to increased employee contributions. Some things to note: 1) the state contribution rate to the plan is already roughly at our “normal cost.” 2) CalPERS may come down to UC’s assumed 7.5% rate of expected earnings – or possibly lower. Lower would put pressure on UC to do the same. 3) CalPERS is concerned about federal legislative proposals in the new Congress regarding public pension plan discount rates used for estimating unfunded liabilities. CalPERS state rate hike cut by $200 million (except) Ed Mendel,…

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CUCFA statement about the Dec. 13th special Regent’s meeting

Byuclafaculty

Council of UC Faculty Associations statement about the Dec. 13th special Regent’s meeting At their Special Meeting on Monday, December 13, the Regents of the University of California will be making decisions on two significant issues– endorsing the principles of the UC Commission on the Future (UCOF) and drastically changing the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP). “One thing we can agree on, said Robert Meister, President of the Council of UC Faculty Associations “is the first sentence of the UCOF Report: ‘UC is at a crossroads.’” Meister continued, “Unfortunately the University leadership has ignored the outcome of this year’s…

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Agitation Around Public Pensions in California Continues

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts have noted, there has been an active campaign – with varying intensity – behind a ballot initiative that would affect all public pensions (including UC’s) in California. Although the Regents have now enacted a plan for UC, their decisions could be overridden by such an initiative. The image accompanying this entry indicates that the issue continues to simmer. Whether the proponents of such an initiative have the $1-$2 million needed in practice to gather signatures to get it on the ballot, or the considerable amount that would be needed for a campaign thereafter, remains unknown. When Meg…