The State Worker

Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

September 6, 2012
Public pension reform: political posturing or profound pruning?

Tweet war: Political posturing or serious pension reform?

Here's an opening snippet of a debate that will run the next 60 days: Is the pension legislation California lawmakers sent to Gov. Jerry Brown truly serious pension reform or an inconsequential political ploy to pump up a November tax measure that Brown, Democrats and organized labor all support?

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Sep 06 2012 10:01:42

First, public-pension blogger Ed Mendel weighed in with his assessment: Assembly Bill 340 is significant.
Pension reform allows cities to bypass bargaining « Calpensions1 day ago ... Pension reform approved by the Legislature last week gives many cities new cost -cutting power that some have been unable ...
Steve Maviglio, organized labor's public-pension pitbull, then wrote about Mendel's item, arguing that editorials and columns dismissing the measure as a weak brew or calling for a "real" pension reform ballot initiative are wrong:
What the Pension "Reformers" Don't Tell You About11 hours ago ... Ed Mendel's widely-respected Calpensions.com takes a look at the new pension legislation today, noting that the ne...
And in this corner, Chris Reed, editorial writer for the San Diego U-T:
@stevenmaviglio What kabuki, Steve. First you pretend to loathe this reform. Now you're touting its hidden strengths. #MaviglioInAPretzelChris Reed
And awaaaay we go:
@chrisreed99 Re-read the piece. #Pension deal rips $40 billion+ more from public workers. I'm saying it goes too far, not that it's goodSteven Maviglio
@stevenmaviglio Steve Maviglio, I accuse you of Kabuki 101! It's not even grad level kabuki. Y'all think think it helps Prop 30. #FakeAngerChris Reed
Take $40b+ out of your hide and see how much #fakeanger there'd be. Black helicopters coming for you @chrisreed99Steven Maviglio

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About The State Worker

Jon Ortiz The Author

Jon Ortiz launched The State Worker blog and a companion column in 2008 to cover state government from the perspective of California government employees. Every day he filters the news through a single question: "What does this mean for state workers?" Join Ortiz for updates and debate on state pay, benefits, pensions, contracts and jobs. Contact him at (916) 321-1043 and at jortiz@sacbee.com.

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