pensions

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The Degradation of Faculty Welfare and Compensation

Byuclafaculty

Colleen Lye and James Vernon (UC Berkeley Faculty Association) UC faculty need to wake up to the systematic degradation of their pay and benefits.  In 2009, when the salary furlough temporarily cut faculty salaries between 6 and 10%, faculty were outraged.  Yet since then our compensation has been hit by a more serious, and seemingly permanent, double blow. First, despite modest salary rises of 3% and 2% in October 2011 and July 2013, faculty take-home pay has been effectively cut as employee contributions to pension and healthcare have escalated.  Faculty now pay more for retirement and healthcare programs that offer less.  Secondly, faculty are…

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PBS’ Hot Potato May Not Be on California Stations

Byuclafaculty

As far as yours truly can tell, the major PBS affiliates in California have so far taken a pass on the hot potato program described below.  That decision could have been because the threatened pension initiative that would have swept in UC was originally aimed at the November 2014 ballot.  With it apparently off the ballot for now (see earlier posts), some stations might air the program.  On verra. The Wolf of Sesame Street: Revealing the secret corruption inside PBS’s news division On December 18th, the Public Broadcasting Service’s flagship station WNET issued a press release announcing the launch of…

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Tradition!

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a report on UC and CSU funding.  LAO is usually viewed as a neutral agency.  But it is a component of the legislature.  So it tends to favor approaches that add to legislative control as opposed to, say, gubernatorial control.  This report is no exception. LAO seems to want to return to what it terms the “traditional” approach to funding, but with bells and whistles added to monitor legislative goals.  The traditional approach seems to be one focused on undergraduate enrollment.  But in fact the tradition – such as it is – has…

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Anti-Pension Group Opens the Door to ID Fraud

Byuclafaculty

That’s a harsh headline.  But it applies to any group that publishes info on the web – because it is technically legal  to obtain and publish it  – that identifies incomes of individuals.  And the same harsh headline applies to govt. salary data, not just pensions.  It applies whether there is a political objective, as in the pension case, or just a way to get eyeballs to a commercial website.  While there may be a case for such disclosures for top executives and elected officials, wholesale publication deserves harsh headlines.  For details on the latest such development, see: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/04/6125543/government-reform-group-launches.html And,…

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Pension Initiative Seems to Be Out of Gas (for Now)

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts noted a pension initiative drive – fronted by San Jose Mayor Chris Reed – that would have swept in UC.  For now, the effort seems to have stalled.  The proponents have decided to litigate the title and summary by the attorney general of the initiative.  Effectively, that will take enough time so that they will not be able to gather the signatures needed to get the initiative on the November 2014 ballot.  The decision to litigate may just be a polite way to bow out for now.  See:http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/30/6116016/public-pension-measure-likely.html Of course, if your car stalls for whatever reason, you…

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Issue Heating Up

Byuclafaculty

We noted in yesterday’s posting (in the update portion) on the Regents public comment session that there were spokespeople complaining about anti-Israel activities on UC campuses including course credit on one campus, pushes for divestment, etc.  Earlier postings noted statements by the UC prez and several chancellors (including Block) opposing an academic boycott of Israel by several academic societies.  Today, the LA Times reports: A group of lawmakers has formed the California Legislative Jewish Caucus to weigh in on issues of priority to members, including immigration, civil rights and Israel, according to its chairman, state Sen. Marty Block (D-San Diego)… …

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Is there a Changing State Attitude Regarding the UC Pension? Reading Between the Lines

Byuclafaculty

As blog readers will know, UC has had difficulties in getting the state to recognize that its pension liabilities were ultimately those of the state, just as CalPERS and CalSTRS liabilities are liabilities of the state.  Thanks to the two-decade hiatus of contributions, the state seemed to forget about UC’s pension.  However, there is beginning to be recognition that although you can say the pension is a liability of the Regents, in the end the Regents have no sources other than the state and tuition to deal with it. We noted recently that in his budget document describing his proposal…

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Neutral

Byuclafaculty

Proponents of the  proposed pension/retiree health care initiative (that would cover UC) were afraid the attorney general would come up with a nasty title and summary.  It doesn’t seem to have happened, however.  Other than the references to teachers, nurses, and peace officers (the public’s favorite public employees), it is pretty neutral.  To the extent there is mention of costs, the references come from the earlier Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report.  Below is the title and summary: January 6, 2014 Initiative 13-0043 The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points…

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Follow Me, Says Crane

Byuclafaculty

We have previously reported on a proposed ballot initiative on public pensions in California that, as written, would cover UC.  There appears to be money behind the campaign for this initiative.  Another indication of such money comes in the form of a letter by former UC Regent David Crane on CalSTRS.  Crane was appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger but the appointment was not endorsed by the state senate and thus ended.  In any event, the letter from Crane addressed to Gov. Brown – which his website says in today’s Sacramento Bee – seems to be part of the larger campaign for…

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The Rewards of Good Behavior (and the penalties for the reverse)

Byuclafaculty

With a possible pension initiative coming to the ballot, it would be nice if public pension plans stayed on Good Behavior.  Alas: Federal investigators are looking into allegations that CalPERS violated insider trading laws this year when it purchased $26.6 million in restricted stock and then decided it didn’t need to reverse the trades when they were discovered. Two sources with knowledge of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s inquiry say on condition of anonymity that it involves stock purchases that the nation’s largest public pension fund made in March, including nearly $24 million in global financial firm JPMorgan Chase & Co….