More Pension Panic in California
No one cares more about taking care of pension funds than the people who pay into the system and rely on the fund after they retire.
According to a recent opinion piece published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, last month, then-state Controller John Chiang launched a new website with details of the future costs of the pensions from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the pension provider for most of California’s state and municipal employees.
“The numbers from the Controller’s Office were not new,” wrote Dave Low, the author of the piece. “They are drawn from regularly required reports. Chiang, for the first time, simply consolidated the reports in one place, making them easily accessible.
“Contrary to many editorial and news reports, Chiang did not sound an alarm, but went out of his way to say that firefighters, teachers, police officers and other public servants deserve the retirement security they’ve earned.
“But those who seek to undermine retirement security for working families took the website launch as a new opportunity to hit the panic button yet again, and unnecessarily whip up a new round of public hysteria around retirement security for working families. As usual, their sky-is-falling criticism had little foundation in facts. But here’s one to remember: The funded status of retirement funds today (on a percentage basis) is better than it was in 1980.”
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