Jerry Brown says he'd be a frugal governor (Would Cut Public Employees' Pensions If Elected)

Jerry Brown says he'd be a frugal governor
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
September 3, 2010 07:33 PM

(09-03) 19:33 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Jerry Brown said Friday that if elected governor he would have to "do things that labor doesn't like," including cutting pension benefits for public employees and asking labor leaders to "put everything on the table" to get California's bloated budget under control.

"If you're looking for frugality, I'm your man," the California attorney general and former two-term governor said in a meeting with The Chronicle's editorial board. When he was governor from 1975 to 1983, he said, "I vetoed the pay raises for the state employees not once, but twice. I was overridden by 23 Republican votes.

"I called for the two-tier pension system in 1982," added Brown, 72. "Of course, the next four governors didn't do anything. I'm willing to get in the battle."

Jerry Brown says he Would Cut Public Employees' Pensions If Elected................

The mystery of Jerry Brown's pension (Jerry's a double-dipper)
Orange County Register via DrudgeReport | 8/13/2010 | Brian Joseph
FR Posted on Friday, August 13, 2010 by GVnana

As Cali gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown grabbed the spotlight with his criticism of Bell city officials and their outrageous salaries and pensions, The Orange County Register Watchdog got to wondering: How much will the Democrat for Governor make in retirement?

That, as it turns out, is a very difficult question to answer.

After more than a month of investigation, the Watchdog can only say for certain that Brown and a handful of other top officials are eligible for generous benefits under a special pension fund so obscure that few people in government know how it works and many thought it had been eliminated 20 years ago by outraged voters.

Under the law, Brown should have accrued, at most, 16 years of service credit in this special fund, known as the Legislators’ Retirement System, or LRS. Actuarial statements produced by LRS, however, indicate that an unnamed person of Brown’s age and earning Brown’s exact salary has been credited with 25 to 29 years of service. The difference would mean tens of thousands of dollars in additional pension payments for Brown each year.

Brown’s campaign staff acknowledge the unnamed person sure looks like the gubernatorial candidate but have been unable to explain the discrepancy over service. Officials at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which manages LRS, have similarly refused to cooperate ... -snip-

But perhaps most eyebrow-raising is the service of a current LRS member identified in actuarial reports only as 65 years or older with 25 to 29 years of service and a salary of $184,301. -snip-

The person listed in the actuarials appears then to be Brown. -snip-

The only problem is Brown should have only 16 years of LRS-eligible service: four years as Secretary of State (1971 to 1974), eight years as Governor (1975 to 1982) and four years as Attorney General (2007 to 2010). (Excerpt) Read more at taxdollars.ocregister.com ...

California's "political money machine" to buy votes was engineered in the 1970s when the legislature cleared the way for public-employee unions to organize and bargain. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed the crucial bill in 1978.

California debt may be half a trillion dollars: They knew in 11/29/09..........and earlier.
Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee, 11/29/09
FR Posted by SmithL

Just days before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators finalized a water package, including an $11.1 billion bond issue, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned them not to do it. California is already deeply in debt, Lockyer warned, has huge budget deficits and can't afford another big bond issue. "The days of blithely heaping more and more debt burden on the general fund are over – at least they should be," Lockyer said.

The earmark-laden bond issue, the package's single most controversial element, raises an interesting question: Just how deeply in debt are our state and local governments? The answer: No one knows for certain, since debt is scattered through myriad agencies in many forms, but well over a half-trillion dollars is a fair estimate.

Lockyer's warning pertained to the state's "general obligation debt," which currently stands at $59 billion, and there are an additional $50-plus billion in general obligation bonds that have not yet been sold.

The biggest chunks of debt, however, are the unfunded obligations for pensions and health care of retired public employees. (Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...

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