Add Pensions to Special Election

Feb 2, 2011 by Dick.Thomson

Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for a special election in June on whether to retain temporary tax hikes adopted in 2009 can only happen if two-thirds of both the Assembly and Senate agree. This means Brown will need support from at least five Republican lawmakers, who are facing heavy pressure from anti-tax activists to stand unified against even the possibility of higher taxes. Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Hills, has drawn fire for suggesting the GOP should consider allowing the special election if pension reform legislation is enacted, starting with switching new state employees to a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

We think Walters is on the right track – and we think her conservative critics are missing the big picture. They say the public is on their side when it comes to keeping taxes low, and California’s history certainly backs that up. So why would they pass on the chance to win major pension concessions in exchange for a special election whose outcome is quite likely to be what they hope for?

And if GOP leaders had even a bit of audacity to them, they would demand the tax measure be paired with a pension measure, using Brown’s argument that voters deserve to have a say on crucial state issues. That measure could end defined-benefit pensions for all newly hired public employees and require existing public employees to pay at least half of the cost of retirement benefits, with workers given the option of switching to less generous but less costly benefits if they wanted to reduce the hit on their paychecks. It could also begin the phaseout of retirement health benefits, with all new hires paying into Medicare, the same as private-sector workers.

See the rest of the article in the San Diego Union Tribune