This was in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin opinion section on Sunday, July 31, 2022.
The recent announcement that the public employees' pension fund had a 29% loss to $440 BILLION takes the funding (ability to pay long term commitments) of this investment (the largest in the country) down to 72%. This means that California taxpayers are obligated to pay the other 18% which equates to over $79 BILLION now and that is only if there are no future losses. Every year of recession will drive this gap wider and wider and require more of your state taxes to augment it. Keep in mind that this fund is administered by groups that have had losses in the past and have never shown a yield of more than the average yield for private investment groups.
Meanwhile, we keep hiring more teachers and more public "servants" who will join the program and add to this growing problem for present and future taxpayers. Once again, this points out that ALL public pension plans need to be renegotiated downward in their benefits or this problem will continue to grow. As the recession continues, money is worth less in buying power and the ability to lower benefits will become increasingly difficult. Envision a time in the not-too-distant future when the largest share of the yearly California budget will be to pay for the lack of funding from CalPers. The time to fix this problem is NOW. Be sure to vote in the November primaries!
