California Supreme Court ruling may open up public retirement plans to cuts
which a dozen other states have followed, has stymied state and local lawmakers now wrestling with hundreds of billions of dollars in pension shortfalls.
Created by the Legislature in 2003, the “air time” benefit permitted employees to pay a fee to add an extra five years to their work history for pension purposes. An employee of 20 years could qualify for a pension based on 25 years of contributions, which was particularly attractive to workers who took a break from their government jobs to take care of family or work on political campaigns.Under current law, pensions are treated as contracts protected by the California Constitution. Monday’s decision said a 2003 law that created the air-time benefit did not amount to a contract.
By deciding the air-time benefit did not amount to a pension promise, the court allowed public employers to shave retirement costs without toppling a bedrock legal principle protective of workers.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
California Supreme Court to decide whether government can cut pensionsFor more than 60 years, California has adhered to the so-called 'California Rule,' which guarantees workers the pensions that were in place the day they were hired. This has stymied state and local lawmakers now wrestling with hundreds of billions of dollars in pension shortfall.
Read more »
California is suing Trump administration over rules restricting abortion accessThe lawsuit, which is being filed Monday filed in federal court in Northern California against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, challenges restrictions prohibiting clinics that receive federal family planning money from offering abortions or referring women to abortion services.
Read more »
California files suit to block Trump administration’s abortion ‘gag rule’ in family planning programThe suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, is the first of what is expected to be a flurry of challenges to the new rule that impacts more than 4 million low-income women who receive services through the Department of Health and Human Services program.
Read more »
Supreme Court: Judges can't rule from beyond the graveWASHINGTON (AP) — Federal judges can't rule from beyond the grave, the Supreme Court said Monday. The high court said in an unsigned opinion that a federal court can't count the vote of a...
Read more »
Court battles could test constitutionality of California voting rights law“Everyone thinks of Santa Monica as a liberal bastion of very open-minded people, and yet the court’s findings describe a history that’s much more sullied than people are aware,” said UC Irvine professor Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert.
Read more »
California’s biggest county could severely restrict solar energy projectsCalifornia is aiming for 100% renewable energy. But San Bernardino County may adopt new regulations strictly limiting big solar farms.
Read more »
Supreme Court seems open to allowing 40-foot cross on public landThe high court on Wednesday heard over an hour of arguments in the case about the World War I memorial sometimes referred to as the 'Peace Cross.'
Read more »
U.S. Supreme Court revives India power plant lawsuitThe U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a lawsuit by villagers in India seek...
Read more »
Supreme Court's Kavanaugh and Gorsuch seem split in blockbuster case over WW1 memorial crossThe justices sparred over the meaning of a 93-year-old Latin cross that looms large over a crowded Maryland intersection the suburbs of the nation's capital.
Read more »