Articles for category CalPERS
Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) issued the following statement today in response to the proposed state budget and efforts to reduce health care costs today and in the future:
"Managing and paying for the cost of health care for public employees requires discipline, collaboration and innovation. We applaud the Governor’s wisdom to do what CalPERS and many public employers have done in recent years, tackling the cost of health care and retiree health care," Stausboll said.
[Read More...]
It’s official: Gov. Jerry Brown’s January budget proposal will include a plan to reduce the nearly $72 billion in unfunded promises the state has made to pay retiree health benefits.
Now how to pay it? Answer: Money in the rainy day fund that voters approved just last month, Proposition 2.
[Read More...]
Retirees covered by financially troubled multiemployer pensions could soon see their benefits cut under a congressional spending deal to keep the government running, the Associated Press (AP) reported Dec. 10.
The plan does not affect public pensions like those under CalPERS, but California State Retirees is closely monitoring this and all other pension issues and trends.
[Read More...]
A new report finds that defined benefit (DB) pension plans are a far more cost-efficient means of providing retirement income as compared to individual defined contribution (DC) accounts. The study calculates that the economic efficiencies embedded in pensions enable these retirement plans to deliver the same retirement income at a 48% lower cost than 401(k)-type DC accounts.
[Read More...]
Taking aim again at government pensions, an angry creditor in Stockton’s bankruptcy case is appealing a pivotal court ruling that preserved the city’s retirement plans.
Franklin Templeton Investments filed a notice of appeal this week, challenging the Oct. 30 decision that approved Stockton’s reorganization plan. The plan keeps the pensions fully funded but pays Franklin, which loaned the city $36 million during better economic times, just 12 cents on the dollar.
[Read More...]
CalPERS said Nov. 3 it has received a $249.3 million payment from Bank of America, the result of a settlement over toxic mortgage securities purchased by the pension fund during the housing bubble. With the Bank of America settlement, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it has now recovered more than $500 million from its investments in bad mortgage securities.
[Read More...]
A bankruptcy judge today approved the city of Stockton’s plan for repaying creditors, a plan to keeps pensions intact despite the objections of a disgruntled investment firm. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein approved the city’s plan during a two hour hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento, rejecting the complaints from San Mateo-based Franklin Templeton Investment over how it is being treated. Franklin, which is getting repaid about 12 cents on the dollar over some bond debts, had argued its treatment was unfair in light of the city’s refusal to reduce pension contributions to CalPERS.
[Read More...]
“Today’s ruling in federal bankruptcy court is a victory for public employees and working people in general because it strengthens the sanctity of pensions that people have earned over long careers in public service.
[Read More...]
Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) issued this statement in response to a federal bankruptcy judge’s ruling that confirms the City of Stockton’s plan of adjustment to exit bankruptcy:
“We are pleased that the City of Stockton will emerge from bankruptcy and can now chart a path forward under a plan of adjustment that protects the pension promises made to its public employees ... "
[Read More...]
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday appointed Richard Gillihan to head the California Department of Human Resources, where he has served in an acting role since February. In his new position, Gillihan will also serve on the CalPERS Board of Administration.
Gillihan, 46, took over after Julie Chapman suddenly stepped down amid criticism that the department lacked leadership. His appointment broke a chain of CalHR chiefs who were labor insiders or bureaucrats who had come up through the department in favor of a technology expert and fiscal manager from the Department of Finance.
[Read More...]