Pension System

Throwing a political curveball, Republican lawmakers on Wednesday lined up behind Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to overhaul public pensions — and called on Democrats to do the same. Echoing Brown's concerns about ballooning obligations to current and future retirees, they introduced a series of bills that mirror the 12-point plan the governor released last fall. So far, they noted at a Capitol press conference, Democrats have failed to heed Brown's call to put his proposals into legislation.

Throwing a political curveball, Republican lawmakers on Wednesday lined up behind Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to overhaul public pensions — and called on Democrats to do the same. Echoing Brown's concerns about ballooning obligations to current and future retirees, they introduced a series of bills that mirror the 12-point plan the governor released last fall. So far, they noted at a Capitol press conference, Democrats have failed to heed Brown's call to put his proposals into legislation.

As more and more people tack up their "Gone Fishin' " signs, the institutions they had counted on to fund their retirements are wriggling right off the hook. They say they have no choice but to force workers to make more of a go of it themselves, given all the pressure the baby boomers will soon bring to bear.

They loped in like a pair of old lions, one a bit stooped, both proud to a fault. On the left, sipping from his bottled water, was Gov. Jerry Brown. On the right, fidgeting with note cards, was Michael Milken. The occasion was last week's State of the State Conference put on by the Milken Institute. The day was full of wisdom and, surprisingly, optimism, as some of California's best minds and sharpest business types appraised the state and found reason for both concern and hope. But the main event was the dialogue between Milken and Brown, icons of dichotomous California — the ascetic governor sharing a stage with the financial wizard whose name was once synonymous with greed.

Japan's legislature adopted a bill designed to save the country's troubled pension system after an all-night debate marred by brawls and a walkout by opposition parties. A majority of upper house members passed the highly unpopular measure, which raises citizens' pension premiums while cutting their benefits. Opposition parties had delayed the vote for more than 18 hours using a range of stalling tactics, causing frayed tempers that at one point erupted into a brawl outside the upper chamber.

Dallas-based L&B Realty Advisors has purchased two fully leased industrial buildings in Anaheim totaling 245,503 square feet for $16.5 million on behalf of the Nevada Public Employees' Retirement System. The properties include a 112,831-square-foot building at 951-955 E. Ball Road and a 132,672- square-foot building at 1045-1055 East St. Lars P.

After paying generous bonuses to retirees in recent years, Ventura County must now pay at least $5.5 million more into its employee pension system next fiscal year to offset poor investment returns. In order to meet its future pension obligations, the county needs to boost its annual contribution to the retirement system 21%, from $26 million now to $31.5 million, officials said Wednesday.

When the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1993 enacted a ban on gifts to most top county employees, the law's preamble aptly cited the reason it was needed: "to stem the erosion of public confidence in the integrity of county government caused by what was perceived to be undue influence . . . ." Those words should be required reading for the board members and employees of the Orange County Retirement System.

After hearing testimony last week from United Airlines employees, business leaders and others, some members of Congress declared the nation's private pension system broken and in need of an overhaul. One fix they're considering is known as the Pension Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee.

The anti-tax group that last year successfully sued to block the state from borrowing $2.2 billion to cover payments into the pension system for government employees is now willing to support such a loan. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has entered a settlement with the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would allow the state to borrow nearly $1 billion to make the payments if the loan is accompanied by a plan requiring state workers to pay for a bigger share of their pensions.

Some of California's largest counties — including Los Angeles — could be forced to reveal the names and retirement benefits of tens of thousands of public employees under an appeals court ruling. The ruling, issued last week by the 3rd District Court of Appeal, marks the first time an appeals court has ordered the pension information released and came despite arguments from county officials and labor unions that it would violate the privacy of local government employees across the state.

Let's be clear: State employee pensions are not to blame for Sacramento's budget deficit. Not by any math. Down the road, the current state pension system probably is not fiscally sustainable, as some studies have reported. It could burn a hole in the state vault — some time in the future. But not now or any time soon. Yes, some local governments are suffering financially because of their politicians' short-sighted largess in negotiating overly generous pension schemes with public employee unions.

Scores of California government agencies continued to sweeten employee pension plans even after the state's economy began collapsing into recession in 2008, a decision that is now haunting them as they struggle with deficits and deep budget cuts. A state oversight panel has identified about 180 local governments that increased pension benefits at a time when the state's unemployment rate was rising, housing prices were falling and the nation's banking system was in crisis. The enhancements covered thousands of public employees, adding tens of millions of dollars of new debt to local governments, analysts say. Cities are now paying the price.

With public-employee pensions under attack by budget cutters, teachers may have to rely more on their own savings to pay for retirement. But a new study indicates that the retirement system used by California public school teachers to supplement their traditional pensions is larded with high fees that eat into employee nest eggs. And the state's teachers must wade through more than 3,000 investment options offered by six dozen financial firms, a baffling array that makes it hard to pick good investments, according to the analysis by the TIAA-CREF Institute, a research arm of investment firm TIAA-CREF.

The reaction of Claremont resident Randy Scott was typical of the many e-mails I received last week after reporting that Southern California Edison wants to jack up people's electricity rates in part to cover its pension losses in the stock market. "Unbelievable!" he said. "How can the PUC even approve this request?" It turns out there's nothing unusual about a utility passing along its pension costs to ratepayers. What is unusual is that this means such pension funds face virtually no risk, even when financial markets take a bath.

In this campaign year, everyone seems to be talking tough about pension costs. In the governor's race, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown are competing to be seen as the candidate who will be more effective in controlling pension costs. In the state Legislature, lawmakers have been pushing a crackdown on so-called worst-case pension abusers, using former Bell City Administrator Robert Rizzo, who was set to receive an annual pension of about $1 million, as their prime example. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has negotiated deals with several unions to restrain pension costs for newly hired workers.

Senate Republicans hoping to start their summer recess with several legislative successes got one Thursday with the first substantial overhaul of the nation's ailing pension system in decades. But the majority party failed to pass a sweeping tax-cut and minimum-wage bill that Republican leaders had hoped they could showcase as they headed into closely contested congressional elections this fall. Despite an intense effort, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.

The unfolding story of the high salaries paid to municipal officials in Bell has delivered a surprise twist to taxpayers in Glendale, Simi Valley, Ventura and several other Southern California cities - they're on the hook for the pension bills. FOR THE RECORD: Shared pension costs: An article in Monday's LATExtra section about cities' sharing the cost of pensions for highly paid Bell officials said that La Canada Flintridge and Goleta were among the cities in the same pension liability pool as Bell.

The Los Angeles City Council scuttled a plan to seek power over the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's retirement benefits Tuesday after hundreds of the utility's workers showed up to denounce the move. Councilman Bernard C. Parks had called for a March 8 ballot measure that would ask voters to give the council more authority over the DWP's retirement system, which operates independently from the rest of the city. Councilman Paul Koretz panned that idea, saying he did not want to engage in a costly election-year fight with the powerful International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, which represents DWP employees and had hundreds of members in the audience.

With Los Angeles facing a $320-million budget shortfall next year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa backed on Monday what he termed a "landmark proposal" to reform "out of control" pension costs and retiree health benefits for newly hired city police officers and firefighters. "The days of unsustainable pensions are over," Villaraigosa declared at a City Hall press conference, accompanied by City Controller Wendy Greuel and Miguel Santana, the city administrative officer. "The era of free healthcare is over.