Watch carefully. A legal fight over deputy sheriff pensions that has drawn in CalPERS and state Attorney General Jerry Brown could have implications for other public employee contracts.
The lawsuit by the Orange County Board of Supervisors against the Orange County Employees Retirement System seeks to invalidate a 2001 deal that retroactively gives deputies a "3 percent at age 50" formula for retirement. The county says the agreement violates provisions of the California Constitution. CalPERS doesn't think so. Attorney General Jerry Brown is planning to file a brief in Los Angeles Superior Court on the fund's behalf.
It's worth noting that the formula change is retroactive.
You can read the notice of pending legal action that OCERS sent to members by clicking here. It explains the case and its possible impact.
This matters because it's a piece of a larger puzzle summed up in this recent LA Times story:
Reigning in public pension costs has become a battle cry of fiscal conservatives in recent years, as handsome benefit enhancements have been bestowed on government workers and the costs have mounted. Earlier this year, a panel appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger found local and state government pension funds underfunded by $64.5 billion. Watchdogs say that cost will either eat heavily into other government services or require tax increases to pay for the benefits.
And this piece on LegalNewsline.com does a pretty good job of laying out arguments for and against the Orange County pension rollback.
Is this part of a political play to blame public employees for the leadership failings of elected officials? Or is this a legitimate move to roll back excessive pensions that the public can't afford? And what are the implications if the lawsuit succeeds or fails?
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