Posted Feb 09, 2012 by
CalPERS
Politics
Retirement
The cause of pension reform in California took a significant body shot Wednesday when a group hoping to put an overhaul measure before voters this year suspended its campaign.
Beleaguered by fundraising problems and questions about the viability of its proposals, California Pension Reform shut down its efforts. The group's officials blamed the demise on a "false and misleading" summary of the plan by Attorney General Kamala Harris, a charge the Democrat denied.
The death of California Pension Reform's efforts also wounded Gov. Jerry Brown's pension proposals to the Democratic-controlled Legislature, one analyst said, by removing the threat of a more draconian measure going before voters.
[Read More...]
Posted Nov 22, 2011 by
Retirees
Health Care
State Economy
Health benefits for government retirees may not be eliminated if state and local governments had clearly promised workers those benefits, the California Supreme Court ruled in an Orange County case Monday.
[Read More...]
Posted Oct 06, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
State Economy
Retirement
Approximately half of California workers will retire in or near poverty, according to a study published Monday by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. [Read More...]
Posted Oct 06, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
State Employees
A new study by the Center for Retirement Research and Boston College refutes the notion that state and local government workers as a group end up a lot richer than their private sector counterparts. [Read More...]
Posted Oct 05, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Health Care
The time for CalPERS members to make changes to their health plan or add eligible family members begins Oct. 10 and continues through Nov. 4. In mid-August, CalPERS Open Enrollment packets were mailed to eligible members. [Read More...]
Posted Oct 05, 2011 by
Retirees
Retirement
California’s largest state retiree organization
has
a new name and a new attitude about
standing
up to public pension critics [Read More...]
Posted Oct 04, 2011 by
CalPERS
General News
State Economy
Retirement
Nearly half of California workers will retire in or near poverty, shows a new study released by the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, "California Workers’ Retirement Prospects."
While retirement security is and will be a problem in the whole of the nation, the situation is worse in California, because California workers have less access to employer retirement plans than workers in the United States as a whole, according to the study authors.
[Read More...]
Posted Sep 28, 2011 by
Legislation
Politics
Retirement
Faced with a growing pension burden, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council moved this summer to freeze the amount of healthcare benefits given to thousands of police and firefighters once they retire. Those benefits would not increase in coming years, Villaraigosa said, unless employees contribute more toward retirement from their paychecks. [Read More...]
Posted Sep 09, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
CalPERS Sept. 7, 2011 -- CalPERS is consolidating 49 different computer systems into one new integrated system this September. This new system will streamline many CalPERS processes as well as decrease dependency on paper documents. New member self-service capabilities will be introduced in 2012.
[Read More...]
Posted Sep 09, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
CalPERS, Sept. 9, 2011
On November 4, 2011, the CalPERS Office of Stakeholder Relations will host a second Northern California recruitment meeting to identify CalPERS beneficiaries for the CalPERS Ambassador Program. The November 4 meeting is a repeat of the popular kick-off meeting held in Sacramento on May 26.
[Read More...]
Posted Sep 09, 2011 by
Retirees
Legislation
Retirement
Sacramento Bee Sept. 8, 2011 --Lawmakers essentially threw in the towel Thursday on comprehensive public pension reform - at least for now.
With this year's legislative session scheduled to end at midnight today, the Assembly voted 51-21 to approve a last-minute bill declaring its commitment to pension reform but conceding that more time is needed.
[Read More...]
Posted Jul 18, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
State Economy
Retirement
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) July 18 reported a 20.7 percent return on investments in preliminary estimates for the one-year period that ended June 30, 2011.
“This is our best annual performance in 14 years,” said Rob Feckner, CalPERS Board President. “For the second straight fiscal year, the Pension Fund exceeded its long-term annualized earnings target [Read More...]
Posted Jul 13, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
State Economy
State Employees
CalPERS benefit payments rippled through the California economy last year, generating $26 billion in economic activity and supporting more than 93,600 jobs across the state, Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, told a Washington, D.C., conference today.
[Read More...]
Posted Jul 13, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
State Economy
Retirement
Benefit payments in 2010 by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension, spurred more than $26 billion in economic activity in the state, the fund said in a report.
[Read More...]
Posted Jul 13, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
Retirement
CalPERS Board run-off election candidates, Michael Bilbrey and Richard Ross, participated in a candidate forum sponsored by PERSwatch on July 6, 2011. A video of the forum is now available for viewing online via YouTube. Ballot packages for the run-off election were mailed to eligible voters on June 30, 2011.
[Read More...]
Posted Jul 12, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
State Employees
From California to Florida, many public employees are paying more for their pensions now than a year ago as strapped state and local governments cast about for savings.
Now a sweeping Republican proposal in the California Senate, among other changes, would hike how much all current and future state and local government workers pay toward their pensions.
[Read More...]
Posted Jun 30, 2011 by
Retirees
General News
State Economy
State Employees
California's legislature passed a Democrat-crafted plan late Tuesday to close a budget gap that initially stood at $27.6 billion—the first time in decades that state lawmakers approved a budget without Republican support in a move that could have far-reaching consequences for California.
The $86 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting Friday was endorsed Monday by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown after he earlier vetoed another budget passed by the legislature. The new budget was approved by just over half of each house of the legislature, the first such budget since California voters last year reversed a decades-old law requiring budget approval by two-thirds of lawmakers. The reversal meant the budget could pass with support from only Democrats.
[Read More...]
Posted Jun 28, 2011 by
General News
State Economy
Politics
State Employees
Abandoning negotiations with Republican lawmakers, Gov. Jerry Brown struck a deal with Democrats for a budget that assumes billions of dollars in fresh revenue — but could lead to major service cuts if the money doesn't materialize.
[Read More...]
Posted Jun 28, 2011 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Politics
Retirement
Michael Bilbrey and Richard Ross – the two candidates in the CalPERS runoff election for a vacant seat on the CalPERS Board of Administration – will face off at an upcoming candidates’ forum.
[Read More...]
Posted Jun 27, 2011 by
General News
Legislation
State Economy
Politics
Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders announced today that they have reached an agreement on a new majority-vote budget plan.
"We've had some tough discussions, but I can tell you that the Democrats in both the Senate and the Assembly have now joined with the administration and myself and we have a very good plan going forward with the budget," Brown said at a press conference in his office this afternoon.
[Read More...]