How to increase California Legislature’s socioeconomic diversity? Lawmaker proposes pensions
Retirement benefits for tenured lawmakers—an effort to attract younger and more lower-income Californians to the Legislature—is one of the first pieces of legislation filed ahead of next year’s session.
Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Moreno Valley, introduced a constitutional amendment earlier this week that would create a retirement system for legislators, who could receive a pension after a decade of service.
Titled the Legislative Diversification Act, the measure is aimed at changing the Capitol’s make-up to better reflect California’s wealth distribution. Jackson said the Legislature is too heavily populated by older, wealthy Californians.
“This expands your opportunity to make sure that you are truly sending up people who reflect your values, your experiences, or a voice that is currently not there today,” Jackson said to voters.
As a constitutional amendment, Jackson’s measure will require a two thirds majority in both houses before it appears on voters’ ballots for final approval.
Jackson noted that legislators have proposed similar measures before, but those failed. Last year’s effort to give lawmakers retirement efforts died without garnering vocal opponents.
As an example of just how unrepresentative the Legislature is of California’s population, Jackson pointed to how a handful of California’s 120 legislators are renters. Renters make up 44% of California households, according to the U.S. Census.
By providing lawmakers with the opportunity to receive a pension, Jackson argued, less wealthy individuals would have more of an incentive to pursue a seat in the Legislature. By increasing the diverse representation in the legislature, Jackson said, lawmakers would better address the needs of California’s struggling to afford to live in the state.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas noted the Legislature’s responsibility to address the affordability crisis in California during a speech on Monday, marking the beginning of a new session.
In 1990, California’s constitution was amended to explicitly forbid lawmakers from receiving pensions. Jackson hopes his constitutional amendment will reverse that decades-old decision much like voters approved a 2012 change to legislator’s term limits, allowing elected officials to serve for 12 years. Previously, senators could serve eight years and assemblymembers could serve six.
Unlike other public servants who begin accruing retirement benefits when they start working for the state, legislators can represent constituents without ever receiving a pension.
As of Dec. 2, legislators will receive a salary of $132,703, a 3.5% increase over last year.
Jackson argued the pensions would additionally act as a buffer between lawmakers and outside influences that attempt to influence legislation through promises of well-paying jobs and other benefits after elected officials leave office.
For younger lawmakers who don’t have significant retirement savings built up, they need to consider their next career moves, Jackson said. And if those lawmakers are considering a career in political consulting, Jackson said they might think: “I can’t buck these people, right?”
Jackson stipulated in the constitutional amendment that lawmakers could receive the retirement benefit only after 10 years of service. Though if lawmakers leave office before a decade, those years of service could be transferred to another public employees’ retirement system they participate in.
“This is really about continuing to find ways to diversify the state Legislature and ways to make sure that we break down barriers for younger people to be able to be public servants,” Jackson said.
