Posted on my blog:
http://open.salon.com/blog/richard_rider/2011/01/17/democrat_poll_shows_ca_voters_want_pension_reform
When George Skelton, a big government, pro-labor union columnist for the LA TIMES, finally grasps the problem of government overcompensation of its employees, it’s pretty apparent that we’ve come a long way, baby. See below.
In this article, the polling by OUR OPPONENTS shows that the California voters get it. Jerry Brown simply HAS to deliver pension reform — or at least be PERCEIVED as delivering pension reform.
And therein lies the rub. For politicians, perception is often more important than reality. The next step will be for Governor Brown to propose “sweeping” pension reform that in reality will have little effect for a decade or more. The pitch will be for a new-hire, two tier pension program. Present compensation of public employees will be protected as much as possible.
The question is, will such pseudo reform gull the public into thinking the problem is fixed, and cause them to vote for what the Democrats REALLY want — higher taxes. Our job is to make sure people understand the impotent nature of such proposals, and the REAL solutions that should be considered.
Skelton reluctantly supports such a two tier pension plan, even though he knows it has no meaningful effect for many years. He claims (and perhaps believes) that the current pensions are untouchable — no reform is possible. Not so.
Some possible reforms to reduce the taxpayer cost of present employee pensions:
1. Require government employees to pay the REAL half of the pension cost — not just some arbitrary percentage that in reality covers only a fraction of the total contribution needed.
2. Stop including in pensions all the extra goodies that bulk up the payout — vacation pay, unused sick days, “special pay,” etc.
3. Freeze “pensionable pay” so that future wage increases don’t count in the pensions (what San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith are proposing).
4. Contract out many government functions — and government jobs. This reform should include prisons (common in many states), libraries (see Riverside County for an example of such a successful program) — and vouchers or tax credits (or public education “Pell grants,” if you like) for K-12 schooling. There are MANY functions in both state and local government that are ripe for such “managed competition” — with probably 40% or higher savings to taxpayers.
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Many thanks to Jack Dean and his Pension Tsunami email service for providing this article and judicious excerpting. It you want to know more about government pensions natiionwide (indeed, worldwide), his free daily email service is a great source. It does have a California emphasis. http://www.pensiontsunami.com/
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-20110117,0,4813733.column
The December poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted for a small
group of moderate-leaning Democratic lawmakers whose consultant is
longtime political strategist David Townsend.
— The governor must move swiftly on a pension overhaul, continuing
the strides made by Schwarzenegger. Brown promised it during the
election campaign. He didn’t deliver it with the budget but vowed to
later.
Rolling back pensions for future employees, which is about all that
can be done, would have virtually no impact on the current budget. But
Brown needs to show voters he’s sincere.
Of those surveyed, 62% said public pensions are a “very serious
issue.” And 56% said both public pay and retirement benefits for most
government workers are too high.