politics

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New Pension Initiative Could Override Regents’ Action

Byuclafaculty

I have noted in prior posts that UC’s plans for its retirement program could be overridden by a ballot initiative. A new pension ballot initiative is in the works. In the past, no pension initiative made it on to the state ballot. The closest such an initiative has come was in 2005 as part of the governor’s “Year of Reform” effort. In that case, the initiative was pulled due to a controversy over the impact on survivor benefits of public safety workers. While it costs only $200 to file an initiative, getting the signatures in practice requires hiring signature gathering…

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California (and UC) Then and Now

Byuclafaculty

The image above – which is not very clear – comes from today’s Sacramento Bee. So go to http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/25/3211006_a3210969/california-browns-heyday-vs-today.html for a sharper view. When you do, note in particular the data on UC enrollment. Of course, things were not just different for Jerry Brown in the 1970s:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCH3w_LnmHE&fs=1&hl=en_US]

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Straws in the Wind on External Pension Agitation

Byuclafaculty

From time to time, I post a reminder that the pension reform movement could lead to a state ballot initiative that could override UC’s apparent move to a two-tier plan modeled on Option C. Here are two recent illustrations. Sanders proposes no pensions for new city hires: New employees would get 401(k) accounts; current workers not affected (excerpt) By Craig Gustafson November 19, 2010, San Diego Union-Tribune Mayor Jerry Sanders has proposed eliminating pensions for new non-public safety hires and giving them 401(k) accounts instead… Sanders said Friday he’ll gather signatures to put a measure before city voters that would…

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A Misleading Headline: Darrell Steinberg Blasts UC and CSU Fee Increases

Byuclafaculty

Today’s Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog carries the headline “Darrell Steinberg blasts UC and CSU fee increases.” It goes on to describe a letter sent by California Senate President Darrell Steinberg addressed to Regents Chair Gould, UC President Yudof, and their counterparts at CSU. Here is an excerpt from the text of the Capitol Alert blog: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has written to state university chiefs to object to new fee increases after legislators restored and boosted state funding this year to the embattled systems. During tough budget negotiations, Steinberg said in a letter Thursday, “we provided…

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A Little Help From Our Friends at Stanford

Byuclafaculty

It seems likely that when the Regents meet for their special session in December, they will ultimately approve President Yudof’s recommendations on pensions and retiree health. If you listen to the Regents session of the last two days (see the earlier postings on this blog), the presentation of those recommendations went off with little debate. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that Jerry Brown, when he becomes governor, or the legislature would override UC or put something on the ballot that would sweep UC into some statewide pension reform plan. However, there is ongoing agitation in the state about the public pension…

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UCLA and UC Well Represented on New Redistricting Commission

Byuclafaculty

In 2008, voters approved taking redistricting legislative seats after the 2010 Census away from the legislature and gave the job to a citizens redistricting commission. In the recent election, they rejected abolishing the commission and gave it the additional task of redistricting congressional seats. Eight commissioners have so far been selected through a complicated process. UCLA and UC are well represented, as the report below from the Rose Institute at Claremont indicates. First 8 CA Commissioners are a Well-Educated Group The first 8 people chosen for California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission are a well-educated group. All 8 hold both a bachelor…

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Threat Level Reduced on Pensions

Byuclafaculty

The victory of Jerry Brown in the gubernatorial race likely means that the threat of a defined contribution plan as the new lower-tier pension is off the table. Meg Whitman supported defined contribution. Still, as the story below notes, there were a number of pension initiatives at the local level on the ballot and most passed. (San Francisco was an exception.) So the possibility that someone might put a pension proposition on the state ballot remains. Pension reforms sweep, except San Francisco (excerpt) November 4, 2010 by Ed Mendel, calpensions.com Voters approved seven ballot measures Tuesday aimed at curbing or…

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Brown and Whitman on Higher Ed

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt from California Watch: …Whitman and Brown agree that higher education needs more money. Whitman says she would get $1 billion from cuts to welfare and other reforms and would look to college officials on how to best spend those funds. Brown says he’d shift spending from prisons. Brown also proposes a new Master Plan, the long-ignored 1960 document that defined the roles of the UC, CSU and community college systems and promised a tuition-free education for all Californians. He would emphasize online classes to expand access to education, he says, and would ease the transfer process from community colleges…

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What the Latest PPIC Poll Tells Us

Byuclafaculty

The Public Policy Institute of California has released its latest poll data. Jerry Brown seems to be pulling ahead of Meg Whitman. The poll covers the period including the last debate and “whore-gate.” (If you don’t know what that is, it apparently doesn’t matter to voters so forget it.) As far as UC goes, Whitman favors defined contribution pensions for new hires of public employees, but it appears the Regents will select a defined benefit option. Would she insist on DC for UC? As noted in earlier posts, regardless of who wins, there could be a ballot initiative mandating DC….

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The Downhill Slide of Private Pensions: An Issue for UC?

Byuclafaculty

A report based on U.S. Bureau of the Census data notes that the proportion of full-time, full-year employees in the private sector that were participants in some kind of pension plan (defined benefit or defined contribution) has been dropping over the past decade. The participation rate was about 60% in 1999. In 2009, it was about 54%. There is no breakout of California data. The decline suggests why public pensions have become an issue, even apart from concerns about pre-funding. In an earlier post, I noted that much of the focus in the UC discussion of its retirement plan has…