San Diegans have waited too long for a complete and lasting solution to our pension crisis. Today, that long wait ends as our city receives a life-saving remedy with CPR — Comprehensive Pension Reform.
The CPR Initiative is tough, it is sweeping, and it is effective. It will actually solve our pension crisis and save our city services from further cuts.
We have loaded this ballot measure up with the strong pension reforms. If an idea saved taxpayers money and ended abusive pension payouts, we put it in.
The CPR Initiative ends pension spiking, caps pensionable pay, increases employee contributions for pension costs, requires full public disclosure on future pension payouts, and transitions new city employees to a defined contribution retirement plan.
Most importantly, the CPR Initiative delivers reforms to ensure a simple goal is achieved: City employees deserve retirement benefits that are no better, and no worse, than the average San Diego taxpayer footing the bill.
Qualifying and passing the ballot measure will not be easy because the government unions will put up a tough fight. I am pleased that we were able to get all reformers on the same team and committed to work cooperatively together to make sure this measure succeeds.
I am appreciative of everyone who joined us in the collaborative discussions to produce this measure – including Mayor Jerry Sanders, the Taxpayers Association, Councilmember Faulconer, and the Lincoln Club. Pension reform is now where it should be – in the hands of the people. So get your pens ready: we have a city to save from a financial crisis!
To view the fact sheet click here
Comments 3
Council Member DeMaio, thank you for working with the Mayor and Council Member Faulconer on this important effort. Already the forces of opposition are gathering to defeat meaningful reform. You can count on my support in this tough fight. See my post on The Liberator Today.
Excellent pension reforms, but I differ with Carl on one of his conclusions — that this achieves parity with the average private sector worker. It moves the ball a long way (except for cops, of course), but the city plan will still be better than the AVERAGE private sector retirement package.
While many private employees have a 401k plan, many more do not — they have NO pension plan. And the city 401k plan match will probably be more lucrative than 90% of the existing 401k plans.
Many private sector 401k plans match only 3 or 4 percent — doubtless the city will match 6 percent or more. And many private sector plans provide less than a full match above a certain amount — 50% of the employee contribution is common. I’m pretty sure the city plan will provide a full matching plan.
So while the unions wail about their resulting poverty, keep this in mind.
Just to be clear — I WILL be supporting this plan. Looks like the best we can get, and it’s a damn good plan at that, all things considered.
Or, as we limited govt advocates say, “it’s a good first step.”