California Dreaming: The Golden State's Ongoing Public Employee Pension Crisis

[...]if the Marin County Association case appellate decision is upheld by the California Supreme Court it would represent a precedent that could be used nationwide by legislatures and state courts that could use it in upholding legislation that altered these pension benefits despite years of relianc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Pension Planning and Compliance 2018-01, Vol.43 (4), p.1-25
Main Author: McNeil, Bruce J., Karns, Jack E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bankruptcy
Bills
Breach of contract
Case law
Collective bargaining
Constitutional law
Court decisions
Employees
Laws, regulations and rules
Legislation
Liability
Municipal bankruptcy
Municipalities
Pension funds
Pensions
Retirees
Retirement benefits
State court decisions
Tax rates
Underfunded pension plans
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Summary:[...]if the Marin County Association case appellate decision is upheld by the California Supreme Court it would represent a precedent that could be used nationwide by legislatures and state courts that could use it in upholding legislation that altered these pension benefits despite years of reliance on the contract clause and constitutional law.[...]once a court decision is made our common law case law precedent system does not mean that the case result can simply live without fear of change forever.The provisions requiring contributions imposed a considerable financial burden on those who, while in the armed forces, earned less than they would have earned as city employees, and it raised the cost to them of pension protection without securing any advantage in addition to that which they already enjoyed.[...]the court said that there appeared to be no reasonable justification for requiring contributions from employees returning from military service when no comparable provision was made affecting employees returning from leaves of absence granted for other purposes.According to the court in Miller: "In Wallace (v. City of Fresno (1954) 42 Cal. 2d 180, 183 (265 P.2d 884)), referring to Kern, we again emphasized 'that a public pension system is subject to the implied qualification that the governing body may make reasonable modifications and changes before the pension becomes payable and that until that time the employee does not have a right to any fixed or definite benefits but only to a substantial or reasonable pension.'" [Miller, supra, 18 Cal. 3d 808, 816; see Betts v. Board of Administration, supra, 21 Cal. 3d 859, 863.]
ISSN:0148-2181