Guest Commentary by Brian Pepin, Executive Director, The Lincoln Club of San Diego County Nearly five years ago, San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition B with 66% of the vote. The intent of Prop B was to reform the city employee’s retirement plan by replacing defined benefit pension plans with 401(k)-style defined contribution plans for most new employees. Organized labor eventually challenged …
Court Ruling Clears Way for Permanent Implementation of San Diego Pension Reform Initiative
“Amazing news just in from the courthouse!” says Carl DeMaio. PRESS RELEASE The 4th Appellate District Court just released a unanimous ruling dismissing the lawsuit brought against the City of San Diego by the union-dominated State Public Employees Relations Board (PERB). The decision upholds Proposition B – the landmark Pension Reform Initiative passed by 2/3rds of San Diego voters in …
Public Pensions: What to Expect in 2013
Courtesy of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) is keeping a close eye on several significant changes to public employee pensions expected to impact state and local governments starting next year. Several stem from Assembly Bill 340, or “Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013.” The bill, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, impacts new …
DeMaio Unveils Plan to End DROP “Double Dipping” in Pension System
Councilmember Carl DeMaio, one of the primary authors of the Prop B Comprehensive Pension Reform (CPR) Initiative, today unveiled another sweeping pension reform proposal to end the notorious DROP Program in the city’s pension system. The DROP Program allows city employees to retire in place and retain their jobs for up to five years – resulting in a “double dipping” …
How 401-k plans can approach zero annual administrative cost
One common labor union objection to defined contribution pension plans (401-k plans) is that the administration costs are “1%-3%” annually. They assert that it’s much less expensive to let CalPERS or other “experts” manage a huge pooled account. And indeed that high 1-3% individual account annual cost would be a major impediment. IF it were true. It’s not. Not if …
Top 10 IMPLICIT fallacies justifying opulent government pensions
There are many, many fallacies in the sometimes explicit but often IMPLICIT reasons given for paying out great government pensions. Here’s my selection for the top ten excuses: 1. “Public employees deserve high pensions because they work for low wages.” FALSE. Perhaps true at one time, but not any more. In many instances, today’s government employee is earning 10%-30% more …
The bogus UNSTATED public worker pension assumptions
The public worker pension debate rages on. And “rage” is the operative term when the unions and their allies discuss switching to 401-k plans from their current guaranteed defined benefit plans. Carefully selected sob stories are popping up to justify continuing the public worker guaranteed pensions that are roughly three to four times what private sector workers can expect to …
Pensions help economy — just like the Bloods and the Crips
Recently there have been a spate of “studies,” press releases and articles about how we all prosper from government pension fund investing and pensioners’ spending. Here’s my pithy response: — Actually, if the Crips and Bloods had good PR departments, they could put out similar and equally accurate “analysis” and press releases. The titles could read something like this: …
Statewide Report Reinforces San Diego Pension Reform
The Little Hoover Commission just released a bipartisan report on public employee pensions. The data is sobering to say the least. · The 10 largest public pension plans in California faced a combined shortfall of more than $240 Billion in 2010. · Major cities in California including San Diego are or will be spending 1/3 of their operating …
City Hall and the Tea Party – 2011
Dave Maass asked me earlier about what I thought the Tea Party would be watching locally in 2011. As the unofficial chief ideologist, I thought the question deserves an answer. (By the way, no one selected me, in a decentralized organization, people just do the job that needs to get done. Shared vision is the glue that keeps the Tea Party together, not a party organization.) Here is what we will be watching:
“Roads, Response Times, and Recreation” — Carl DeMaio’s Reform Plan cheered by SD Republican Party last night at Town and Country Hotel
Councilman Carl DeMaio spelled out his ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ for City government last night in Mission Valley, and the GOP County Committee responded with applause and cheers at their monthly meeting. Introduced by Chairman Tony Krvaric as “the man who makes Reform seem exciting and achievable,” DeMaio delivered with a summary of his 90-page plan to stabilize City finances and resume real …
Ringing the Pension Bell
“10 former city employees will split $61 million dollars for the rest of their lives. Did they win the lottery? No…they will receive it in payouts from the City of San Diego pension system.” “I was shocked by what I discovered in the City of Bell and am shocked by what I discovered in the City of San Diego. San …
SD U-T Article Listing Top Pension Expenses By Name And Position
As most SD UT readers have probably seen, this morning had another great piece highlighting opulent retirement compensation by the city. Example: a retired librarian pulls down a pension of $143,577.
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