Capitol Alert: Anti-pension spiking bill wins final approval

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The latest on California politics and government

August 31, 2010

Anti-pension spiking bill wins final approval

A much-amended bill aimed at "pension spiking" by state and local government employees was sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today.

Assembly Bill 1987 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, cleared the Assembly on a 56-0 vote after Ma made late amendments that eliminated opposition from pension reform advocates.

Those advocates supported her bill initially, then backed away from it after amendments they said would make pension spiking easier. They supported the final version after Ma made some more changes.

The measure, if signed, would prohibit pension calculations from including payments that are clearly aimed at increasing -- or spiking -- the retirement pay. It's one of several pension reform bills moving through the Legislature this year in response to demands from Schwarzenegger for reform and to media disclosures about abnormally high pensions granted to some local government officials.

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