uc retirement

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Stand By

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts on this blog have noted, Gov. Brown has a public pension plan proposal – but no one quite knows what it is and whether, more specifically, it will cover UC (and possibly override the Regents’ pension revision of December 2010). Excerpt from Capitol Alert late yesterday: Gov. Jerry Brown will give lawmakers his plan for pension changes on Thursday, the governor said in a letter to legislators this afternoon, though it remains unclear what Brown will propose. “Given the paramount importance of pensions to both taxpayers and public employees, it is absolutely critical that we carefully examine…

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Rising Employee Pension Contributions

Byuclafaculty

A note from the Daily Bruin of 10/20/11: Faculty and staff could be paying more toward retirement within two years in a proposal to be discussed by the UC Board of Regents in November. Under the proposal, employee contributions to the University of California Retirement Plan would rise to 6.5 percent of covered salary starting July 1, 2013. The UC, meanwhile, would pay 12 percent. Right now, faculty and staff contribute 3.5 percent and the UC pays 7 percent. This is the second time in about a year that the regents will vote to raise employee and UC contributions. Last…

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Follow Up: GASB proposals could stir things up for UCRP via CalSTRS

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, we noted proposed changes in public pension accounting rules by GASB, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. An observation from Academic Council Chair Robert Anderson, added to that blog note, indicated that the GASB proposal would not have a direct impact on UCRP. However, the problem facing UCRP is partly political. As prior blog posts have noted, the governor is planning some kind of pension proposals – apparently requiring a ballot proposition. Such a proposition, depending on how it is worded, could sweep UCRP into a statewide change, even though the Regents enacted their own pension modifications in December 2010….

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Buried Lede on Retiree Health?

Byuclafaculty

From Wiktionary “bury the lede” (idiomatic, US, journalism) To begin a story with details of secondary importance to the reader while postponing more essential points or facts. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bury_the_lede ==== An article in today’s calpensions.com indicates that both CalPERS and CalSTRS have asked GASB – the Governental Accounting Standards Board – for a delay in its proposed new rules on public pension accounting. The rule would allow public pensions such as UCRP to continue with their projections of earnings on their assets (7.5% for UCRP) but would require a much lower discount rate for unfunded liabilities. The net effect of the…

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Pension Train Is Leaving the Station

Byuclafaculty

The Legislature has formed a joint committee to hold meetings around the state on public pensions. As noted in a prior blog post, the governor seems to be formulating his own proposal which he says will involve constitutional changes and need a vote of the electorate. On the joint committee: Legislative leaders have named six lawmakers to a joint committee that will hold hearings on changes to public employee pension systems. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has appointed Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, Warren Furutani, D-Gardena and Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has appointed Gloria Negrete…

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Gov. Brown Says Pension Proposal Will Involve Constitutional Changes & a Vote of the People

Byuclafaculty

At the Milken Institute State of the State conference today (attended by yours truly), Governor Brown was asked by Michael Milken about public pensions in California. (Cell phone photo of conference event at right.) Brown indicated he was working on a proposal on pensions – but did not give a precise date when it would be unveiled. He did say that it would involve a constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by a vote of the people. It was unclear what the coverage of the pension proposal would be. All state and local pensions in California? Just state-level…

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Piggy-Back

Byuclafaculty

Can UC piggy-back on CalSTRS? We are “education,” too. And we have pension funding issues. If you don’t ask, you surely don’t get. See below: CalSTRS reported ready to seek more state funding Sacramento Bee, 10/11/11, Dale Kasler For more than two years, CalSTRS has been talking about asking state lawmakers for more money to plug its funding gap. Now the teachers’ pension fund believes the Legislature is ready to listen. Pension fund Chief Executive Jack Ehnes said last week he wants Gov. Jerry Brown to include additional CalSTRS funding in a long-awaited pension reform proposal he’s expected to release…

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Looks Like Crane Won’t Fly

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times’ LA Now blog: San Francisco businessman David Crane’s brief term as a UC regent seems likely to be over in December because Democrats in the state Senate have not moved to confirm his appointment nine months ago by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Under state rules, an appointee to the university board can serve up to a year without legislative confirmation. The state Senate is now in recess and no special session is scheduled for the rest of the year. Crane, a Democrat who was an economic advisor to Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is opposed by labor unions…

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Outlawing Holidays

Byuclafaculty

There is a bill pending in the legislature (passed the Assembly; now in the Senate) – applying to CalPERS, not UC – that would effectively ban pension “contribution holidays.” As is well known, UC had the mother of all contribution holidays to its pension fund, one lasting two decades. Had that holiday not occurred, we would not have the underfunding problem we have today. Of course, given the circumstances under which the UC pension holiday developed – overfunding in the face of a state budget crisis at the time – it could be argued that the holiday was unavoidable. But…

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Pension Tax?

Byuclafaculty

An initiative was submitted in July to the Attorney General proposing to tax public pensions above $100,000. It applies only to CalPERS and CalSTRS and not UC. As noted in this blog, anyone can submit and initiative (anyone with $200). But as a practical matter, you need $1-$2 million to pay signature gathering firms if you want to get it on the ballot. And, if the measure is controversial, you may need tens of millions for TV ads, etc., thereafter for a campaign. The submitter of this particular initiative is Lanny Ebenstein whose CV is at http://www.sbcta.org/lannyebenstein.html It seems unlikely…