Double Dippity-Doo-Dah: California Legislators Collect Salary And Pension At The Same Time
Pension costs are breaking state budgets -- California's especially -- and 17 legislators are engaging in the (legal -- duh, it's government...taxpayer dollars, no big deal) game of picking up a salary and a pension at the same time, writes the AP.
And, of course, check out the hypocrisy:
The 17 include Republican state Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa, a vocal critic of the state's soaring pension debt, according to the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/1RMUT20).Moorlach receives an $83,827 government pension check while making $100,113 a year as a senator. His pension check is based on nearly 20 years of service that included time on the Orange County Board of Supervisors and as the county treasurer.
...The practice is legal under current rules, and advocates for pension system reform say elected officials are entitled to the benefits they earned in their previous careers. But, they add, the costly pension perk is an example of what is wrong with public retirement benefits: Government workers can retire too soon with benefits that the pension systems cannot sustain.
...Assemblyman Tom W. Lackey, R-Palmdale, agrees that additional action is required to make public pensions sustainable, but he defended his benefits. Lackey was 54 when he retired as a sergeant with the California Highway Patrol.
He receives an annual pension of $111,792 from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, in addition to his $97,188 legislative salary. He did not accept a pay raise last year.
The problem is, the amount cities and the state are paying in pensions is unsustainable. And I really don't understand how they'll get out of it. You can't offer somebody a deal with a job and then yank it away years later.
Government: Grease people now, and never mind how to pay for it, because you'll be out of office when the bill comes do.
via @reasonpolicy
> You can't offer somebody a deal with a job and
> then yank it away years later.
Sure you can. It's called bankruptcy. Has happened before, will happen again.
Snoopy at April 12, 2016 3:52 AM
Snoopy is right. Just ask all the bond holders for, was it Modesto? Bakersfield? who got shafted when the city decided to make a payment into CALPERS and not the bond payment.
I R A Darth Aggie at April 12, 2016 6:48 AM
Also, I don't see it as hypocrisy to advocate making a change to the current policy while taking full advantage of the current policy.
It would be a nice symbolic gesture to give up one or the other, but as long as the other 16 members of the legislature are taking the double dip, why should he give up that perk?
Now, if they all came out and said they're voluntarily taking just one check, and working to end double dipping, that would be different.
I R A Darth Aggie at April 12, 2016 6:54 AM
Local and state governments will let everything else go before they stop paying into the pension fund. That will be the thing the alligator eats last; the next-to-last thing eaten will be welfare payments. We're rapidly reaching a point for state and city governments well welfare and pension payments will by themselves exceed 100% of the collected revenue.
In some states, cities don't have the ability to levy new taxes without the approval of the voters. And voters feel like they've been double-crossed in recent years, as taxes that were supposed to go towards capital improvements have been diverted into city pension funds. Even in cities where the council has the power to levy taxes, doing so will just result in business and employment moving out to the suburbs.
Expect a lot more city bankruptcies. What happens if a state goes bankrupt? What happens when the state government ceases to function because nobody will buy the state's bonds anymore and the state can't pay employees or vendors? My radical idea: a state that goes bankrupt should revert to territorial status. The federal government comes in and cleans up the mess, but in exchange the state gets an appointed military governor, loses its right to vote in federal elections, and has to reapply for statehood.
You laugh, but there is a sort of precedent for this. Point your favorite search engine at the "Yazoo Land Fraud". When the original 13 states were incorporated into the Union, the state of Georgia claimed land west of its current border, all the way to the Mississippi River. The Georgia state legislature sold fraudulent titles to land in this area (the legislators were pocketing most of the proceeds). Eventually, people who held clouded titles to Georgia land forced the state into bankruptcy court. The federal government made a deal with the state: the feds would clean up the mess by buying out the bad titles, but Georgia had to cede all of the sold lands. These lands reverted to territorial status; they eventually became the states of Mississippi and Alabama.
Cousin Dave at April 12, 2016 7:09 AM
"My radical idea: a state that goes bankrupt should revert to territorial status."
That doesn't seem that radical to me. Mind there are different levels of bankruptcy. Cities can go into receivership and the state takes over management. Or the city's charter can be disbanded and people revert to the county level. Doing the same with states only makes sense.
And like other territories (Puerto Rico for example) the residents of that state would lose all federal voting rights. Can't manage your state, promise too many goodies, then lose the right to manage yourselves.
Ben at April 12, 2016 12:35 PM
"And I really don't understand how they'll get out of it."
You enacted PEPRA what, two maybe three years ago? You guys are taking baby steps back away from that ledge.
smurfy at April 12, 2016 3:34 PM
Yet we're always hearing about how we don't pay many of our public employees, especially police/fire/etc nearly enough. $111k/year pension?!? WTF, man?
I'll never forget some of the bits that were told when Carl DeMaio was talking his first budget proposed changes deal several years back and came to talk at our planning group meeting. The one that really stuck out was how they get around rules limiting salary by doing things like: Firemen get a bonus every year for being EMT certified. However, they HAVE to be EMT certified to even apply for the job. So it's essentially a bump to salary, but not counted as one. Those get added to the formulas for their pensions.
Miguelitosd at April 13, 2016 3:42 PM
Yeah, that's the difference between marketing and reality. Can they hire people to fill the positions currently available? If yes then they are overpaid if anything.
Ben at April 14, 2016 5:21 PM
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