
Let’s “Eliminate” the AG’s Power over Our Ballot Box
Sometimes you wish you were wrong. In these pages last month, I worried that Attorney General Kamala Harris would bias the title and summary for Mayor Chuck Reed’s proposed pension reform measure before it could go before voters, a concern that proved prophetic with her summary. Once again, a single person has exerted incredible power over California’s ballot box. Mayor Reed is now considering whether to even move forward with signature-gathering because of Harris’ framing.
In the wake of several municipal bankruptcies and increasing unfunded public sector pension and benefit obligations, Reed’s measure is meant, not to automatically dismantle agreements (as union advocates howl), but to offer California governments the constitutional breathing room to re-negotiate these relationships prospectively – leaving current retirees unaffected, and allowing accrued benefits for current employees to… Read More