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State Supreme Court ruling could make local ballot initiatives more difficult

A recent unanimous ruling by the California Supreme Court (pictured) that may force the city of San Diego to retroactively create pensions for non-police employees hired since the start of 2013 isn’t just bad news for pension reformers. It also

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Legislature is back and focused on housing, recall and bail

  SACRAMENTO – California’s Legislature is back from its recess and legislators kicked off the session by focusing on two highly partisan matters. Assembly Republicans first voted to keep Chad Mayes as Republican leader, despite pressure from activists to oust

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CalPERS’ divestment goals in crosshairs as coal stocks soar

SACRAMENTO – A newly released report from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System confirms that, fulfilling the Legislature’s directive to divest from coal-related investments, the pension fund has now largely exited from coal stocks. But as news reports this week

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Gov. Brown’s pension plan gets mixed reviews from reformers

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature mostly have avoided tackling the state’s unfunded pension liabilities, even though these taxpayer-backed debts to pay for pension promises to state and local employees have soared by 22 percent in the last

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Rising pension costs threaten California school funding

  In a shock critics had warned against, Golden State schools discovered that their nation’s largest pension system, CalPERS, was on track to force substantial budgetary cutbacks on core education spending.  “Public schools around California are bracing for a crisis driven by

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Does the Secure Choice state-run retirement plan guarantee against taxpayer bailouts?

Arguably the biggest selling point for Secure Choice — the state-run, automatic retirement account measure signed into law last month — is the promise that taxpayers won’t be on the hook in the event of a loss. The law has several

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CalWatchdog Morning Read – September 20

Union battles Caltrans over costly move Gov. Brown mulls bills overseeing psych meds for foster kids Energy company won big giveaway from Legislature More on CalPERS and the state’s rising pension debt Good morning! But alas, it’s only Tuesday. CalPERS and the

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CalWatchdog Morning Read – September 19

Pensions cost taxpayers billions, but weren’t supposed to  Group sues five coastal commissioners over hundreds of alleged transparency violations Sausage making on last night of legislative session Airbnb challenges laws it doesn’t like Senate odd couple actually work together to

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Court ruling opens avenue for pension reform

SACRAMENTO – An Aug. 17 California appeals court ruling rejected a public employee union’s claim that its members had a right to “pension spiking,” which the court described as “various stratagems and ploys to inflate their income and retirement benefits.”

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CalWatchdog Morning Read – August 9

Recreational pot in trouble? Promised parks never built Bullet train project over budget Pension payouts Groups back out of housing talks  Good morning and happy Tuesday. Today we have lots of interesting bits of news, including about how there are

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