News Articles

Pension fund hits milestone: It's earning more money than it's paying out

February 13, 2018

For the first time in years, CalPERS is stable enough that it no longer expects to run deficits into the middle of the century.

Though still underfunded, the $345 billion pension fund has a better financial outlook because it’s collecting more money from employers and making the most of recent stock market gains, its chief investment officer said on Monday. That should help it avoid scenarios where it has to sell investment assets to pay pensions.

Cases could open door to pension cuts for California workers

December 28, 2017

By Jonathan J. Cooper | Associated Press

SACRAMENTO — For decades in California, a sacrosanct rule has governed public employees’ pensions: Benefits promised can never be taken away.

But cases before the state Supreme Court threaten to reverse that premise and open the door to benefit cuts for workers still on the job.

The lawsuits have enormous implications for California cities, counties, schools, fire districts and other local bodies facing a sharp rise in their pension costs.

Count the bad ideas in California pension overhaul proposal

August 15, 2015

by Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times

Along with taxation and immigration, one political issue that never seems to go away is the cost of public employees, especially their pensions.

Public retirement plans are consistently blamed for local and state budget woes. Any time a community runs into fiscal trouble, its workers are among the first to be demonized, and often bear the brunt of the remedies. After all, pension obligations are typically among the largest liabilities any government entity must bear, so why not hack away?

CalPERS CEO says pension proposal full of problems

August 4, 2015

By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee 

A proposed ballot measure that would make future pension benefits subject to voter approval is fraught with legal and administrative peril, according to a letter from CalPERS’ chief executive officer, eliciting a response from one of the measure’s proponents that the assessment is a “lie.”

Study says 401(k)-style public pensions cost more than traditional plans

February 10, 2015

By Tim Reid

Public worker unions and others who back traditional pensions over 401(k)-style plans got ammunition on Tuesday from a new study that shows U.S. state governments that made the switch did not achieve the predicted savings but rather lost money.

The National Institute on Retirement Security (NERS), a non-profit group that has defended traditional public pensions, issued case studies on three states that switched to 401(k)-style defined contribution retirement plans.