pensions

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The Great GASB

Byuclafaculty

Accounting standards for public entities such as UC are set by GASB, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (pronounced gaz-bee). Calpensions.com is reporting that GASB is considering rules that could impinge on the UC pension. One proposed rule would require a change in the way unfunded liabilities are discounted. Another would affect the period of amortization of past unfunded liability which the Regents have pushed out to 30 years. The rules proposed would appear not to affect the “normal cost” of the plan (essentially, an estimate of what incremental liability is being added annually). Apparently, the discount rate applied to that…

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Bits and Pieces Leaking Out on State Budget Deal

Byuclafaculty

The spin doctors are leaking out bits and pieces about the state budget deal which is to be unveiled officially tomorrow. (Unveiled is not the same as enacted.) You can find highlights of this leaking – including a really, really profound quote by yours truly – in a Sacramento Bee story at http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/05/3080001/schwarzenegger-lawmakers-claim.html There will be a suspension of a previously-enacted, but not yet in effect, business tax break. There will be an assumption of more federal revenue. (Yes, I know that an assumption is not the same as actual cash, but that is what the leak says.) There will…

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UCLA Town Hall on Post-Employment Benefits: October 14

Byuclafaculty

There will be a UCLA Faculty/Emeriti Town Hall on Post-Employment Benefits (PEB): Thursday, October 14, 2010,10:00 a.m. to noon, Royce Hall Auditorium. Some concerns have been expressed about a controlled agenda. It is important that the dissenting report to the PEB Task Force be adequately expressed along with the views of UCFW (which supports the dissenting report). Yesterday, the University Emeriti and Pre-Retirement Relations Committee passed a resolution endorsing the UCFW position. If you attend, look to see that there is full discussion. Attempts to control (censor) messages or protect the audience from alternative views are counterproductive.

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More on Growing Public Pension Issue In California

Byuclafaculty

As noted in previous posts on this blog, the UC pension funding issue may be difficult to isolate from the more general issue in California, particularly if the Regents don’t have a policy in place when the next governor takes office. Below is an excerpt from a piece reporting on a variety of local ballot initiatives on the pension topic, especially a high-profile San Francisco ballot measure. Pension cost cuts on ballot in eight cities (excerpt) Ed Mendel, calpensions.com, 9/30/10 Proposals to cut public employee pension costs are on the November ballot in at least eight California cities and one…

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State Budget Negotiations Reportedly Hung Up on Pensions Issue

Byuclafaculty

Supposedly, a “framework” for a state budget deal was worked out last week by the “Big-5” (governor + 4 legislative leaders). News reports suggest that public pensions remain a key issue (although the immediate effect of creating a two-tier pension system, etc., on the state budget for this fiscal year is small.) Democrats want the governor to use collective bargaining with state unions to cut a pension deal. The governor wants the legislature to impose a deal. Note that a budget could be passed that on paper assumes the governor bargains a deal with the unions. Whether the governor would…

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UCOP’s Webinar on Retirement Benefits Available

Byuclafaculty

UCOP ran a Town Hall webinar on the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force report last Friday. It is now available as a streaming video. You can access it below or by going to http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9789931 Because there is no guarantee of how long it may remain available, I have additionally recorded it. If at some point the streaming video becomes unavailable, I can repost it. The entire session runs about 90 minutes. Pay special attention to the comments by UC-Berkeley Prof. Robert Anderson, vice chair of the systemwide Academic Council and the chair of TFIR, the subcommittee on retirement issues that reports…

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Interview with Jerry Brown Touches on Pensions, Two-Tier, & Faculty Pay During His Previous Governorship

Byuclafaculty

Jerry Brown was interviewed by the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 24. Various issues were covered. Among them were pensions, two-tier, and faculty pay during his previous term as governor (1977-83). Video below:

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Most Thorough Report on UC Pension Mentions $2-for$1 Problem

Byuclafaculty

Perhaps not surprisingly, since calpensions.com covers California public pensions exclusively, the most thorough report on the recent Regents meeting on the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force recommendations and other retirement issues appeared on that source today. It includes mention of the $2-for-$1 problem – the fact that roughly $2 out of $3 in contributions that would fund the pension comes from non-state sources. Below is an excerpt from the calpensions report. The full report – scroll down for URL – contains photos of the demonstration at the Regents. A recording of the Regents meeting on the pension and retirement issue is…

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The Clock is Ticking on UC Pension Reform

Byuclafaculty

The clock is ticking. An interview with gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman reported today in the online Capitol Alert service of the Sacramento Bee serves as a reminder of the need for the Regents to put together a UC pension reform plan before January. In the interview, she pushes for new hires to be under a defined-contribution plan and hints that a ballot proposition to do that might be her approach. Any such proposition might well not exclude UC if UC has no plan by January. UC might then be swept into some larger statewide change. Of course, there is no…

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U.C. Proxy Voting on Investment Portfolio Said to Skirt Social Issue Review Guidelines

Byuclafaculty

U.C. Proxy Voting Skirts Review Guidelines, Documents Show (excerpts) Tess Townsend, NY Times/Bay Area Citizen, 9/16/10 The University of California, which prides itself as a leader on social and environmental issues, voted against hundreds of shareholder resolutions designed to promote human rights, environmental sustainability and efforts to fight discrimination, a review of U.C.’s voting record shows. The resolutions involved corporations like Exxon Mobil, PepsiCo and Occidental Petroleum and pertained to about one-third of the university’s $65 billion investment portfolio, a portfolio that includes some 5,000 companies. Like many other universities, U.C. employs a private firm to manage its investments and…