CalSTRS Contributions Inadequate; Unions Call Reformers “Right-Wing Ideologues”
During the most recent year for which there is publicly available data, the fiscal-year-ended 6-30-2012, the California State Teachers Retirement System contributed a $1.1 billion payment towards paying off an unfunded liability of $71.0 billion. This fact, and much more, came out in a California Public Policy Center study released last week “Are Annual Contributions Into […]
A Policy Agenda for Union Reformers Stuck Inside Unions
“I believe there is a different way – and that is to work with the Republican members of every labor union and help empower those Republican union members to put additional pressure on their union leadership to spend Republican dues money on Republican causes.” – Jim Brulte, Chairman, California State Republican Party Well that’s one […]
Opt-out Campaigns Log Incremental Gains, But Two Court Cases Could Change the Rules
Whenever anyone suggests that public sector unions are forcing their members to make political contributions, the unions retort that the contributions are strictly voluntary. Technically speaking, this is true, but the tedious process of opting out of making political contributions is a powerful deterrent. The California Teachers Association, for example, allow their members to become […]
BART Strike is a Teachable Moment
Reactions from the press and public to the BART strikes this year have been overwhelmingly negative. In one of the safest Democratic strongholds in the U.S., there is serious talk of outlawing future BART strikes. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 19th, “That discussion has already begun, in letters from California lawmakers to Gov. Jerry […]
Why the Democratic Party Cannot Embrace Public Sector Union Reform
“Public employees have a private interest in taking more and more of the taxpayer-generated revenue for themselves. In other words, public employees have a private interest in diverting public funds from public services to their wages and pensions. In this sense, the increasing numbers of public employees and their increasing wages and benefits threaten to […]
Austerity Policies Cannot Succeed Without Complementary Prosperity Policies
One of the overwhelming challenges facing fiscal conservatives is how to cut government spending without harming economic recovery. It may seem obvious that governments eventually have to stop relying on borrowing to finance their deficits, but eliminating government spending deficits can only partly rely on spending cuts. Economic growth is the other essential element. To […]
Why Did the California State GOP Accept Donations from Public Sector Unions?
As reported in the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 26 “Teachers union, SEIU open wallets to California Republican Party,” in recent weeks the California Teachers Association donated the California GOP $15,000, the SEIU Local 1000 donated $10,000, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association donated another $25,000. Representatives of all three of these powerful public sector […]
Orange County Pensions At Risk – Unions Just Call Critics “Extremists”
“Just as the overseer of Detroit lied to the public about Detroit’s unfunded pension liability, these extremists are likewise lying to the taxpayers of Orange County, and they’re following his playbook.” – Jennifer Muir, Communications Director, Orange County Employees Association We’re not lying, Jennifer. We’re not even stretching the truth. What government union spokesperson Muir […]
Saving Pensions Will Require Unions to Face Reality
“Not surprisingly, within moments of news of Detroit’s bankruptcy, pension scare mongers took to their pedestals to place all the blame on pensions. California, Los Angeles, and other governments would surely follow Detroit’s footsteps in short order, they cried. It’s simply not true, like most of the claims made by the anti-pension soldiers who have […]
Governor Brown Fighting Obama Administration to Defend Pension Reform
Remember AB 340, the pension reform successfully pushed by Democratic Governor Brown, that even Governor Brown acknowledges is only a first step towards making public employee pensions financially sustainable? Well even AB 340 goes too far according to Obama’s new Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez. As Dan Borenstein of the Contra Costa Times reports on August […]