Corruption in Governmental Pensions
Mckenzee McCammack
As a result of the Bell Scandal, there has been more intense scrutiny of the problems and corruption, involving the pension system allotted to governmental workers. For instance, the Bell administrator, Robert Rizzo, was given an annual pension of $1 million. There has been a twenty-year trend of raising pensions for government and union workers. However, Governor Schwarzenegger has asked the unions to limit higher pensions for newly hired workers since it is a strain on the taxpayer. The problems began to arise when such cities as Bell began abusing the pension system. However, it has been an ongoing issue. Both legislators and governors were approving pension-raises that have ultimately inflated long-term costs. At the end of Gray Davis's term as governor, he approved a 50% pension increase for the California Highway Patrol and other public safety workers. After this, there was a 33% increase in civilian government workers’ pensions. When the pensions began to increase, so did the demands from governmental workers for other unnecessary benefits. It wasn't until recently that the idea of rolling back pensions became tangible. However, this battle does not come without a fight. For instance, when Governor Schwarzenegger proposed putting a measure on the ballot to lower pensions, television ads from firefighters and police unions defeated it in the polls before the ballot went to a vote. With all of the new awareness regarding the pension issues, hopefully legislators will begin putting their foot down to stop abuses in the system.
- Bell scandal: where city council members were determining their own income
- Pensions: payment given to government workers in addition to their salaries
Recent actions against pension corruption:
- Mayor Villaraigosa proposed a potential pension reform program that would cut taxpayer cost by $1.5 billion in Los Angeles.
- It was discovered that 10 San Diego city employees were found splitting $61 million in pension payouts
- Measure B on the San Francisco ballot proposes a pensions reform measure. This would raise the amount that workers pay into their own pensions from their salaries from 7.5 to 10%.
Additional Reading:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=7672719
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pensions-20101101,0,7326104.story
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