Tag "CalPERS"

Back to homepage

Is California budget as ‘balanced and progressive’ as Gov. Brown suggests?

SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly and Senate have until Thursday to approve the budget deal announced by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, but there’s little uncertainty about the outcome. The general-fund budget is a record-setting $125 billion – something Brown

Read More

Only CalPERS internal watchdog on way out

The giant California Public Employees’ Retirement System – with $320 billion-plus in assets, the nation’s largest pension system – is going to lose its only outspoken internal watchdog. J.J. Jelincic – an eight-year incumbent on the CalPERS board who is on leave from

Read More

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

Read More

CalPERS pressed to divest from energy firms, banks

After years of criticism, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System made headlines in December when its board voted to lower the expected rate of return on investments from 7.5 percent to 7 percent over the next three years. The move

Read More

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

Read More

California sales tax dips, but tax burden rises

  “Four years ago, voters approved Proposition 30, which raised the income tax significantly on the wealthiest Californians and raised the sales tax a tiny bit on everyone,” Capital Public Radio recently recalled. “That quarter-of-a-cent increase equated to paying an additional $0.01 on

Read More

CalWatchdog Morning Read – January 5

CA cities’ pension costs rise to meet CalPERS expectations SD mayor running for governor? Legislator wants to move state’s primary date  University of California wants to raise tuition Rep. Issa proposes high-skilled visa overhaul Good morning! TGIT. We begin this

Read More

California cities facing growing pension costs in new year

SACRAMENTO – After two years of miniscule investment returns, the nation’s largest state pension fund – the California Public Employees’ Retirement System – has once again lowered its expected rates of return. Even some CalPERS officials and consultants argue the

Read More

CalWatchdog Morning Read – December 28

New laws going in effect Gun sales on the rise Life expectancy plateau is good news for pensions Oakland for decades failed to inspect illegally converted warehouses like Ghost Ship Sierra Nevada snowpack below average Good morning. Happy Hump Day.

Read More

Bad news for U.S. is good news for CalPERS, CalSTRS

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has not had a good 2016. Its investment returns were microscopic, it faced sharp criticism from a prominent financial website for alleged unethical behavior and Gov. Jerry Brown had to intervene to prevent the nation’s largest

Read More