Readers React: Reality check for the public employee pension naysayers

To the editor: Contrary to the doom-and-gloom scenario painted by this article, California’s two major pension funds — the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System — are, in fact, financially stable. (“In strategy shift, CalPERS looks to cut financial risk,” Aug. 30)

Both Wall Street rating firms, Moody’s and Fitch, give the systems high ratings. Meanwhile, teachers, firefighters, school bus drivers and other public servants are paying more toward their pensions than ever (more than 640 new contract agreements statewide in which employees are paying a greater share).

In addition, the bipartisan Public Employees Pension Reform Act signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2013 has capped pension benefits, increased the retirement age and ended spiking abuses. Total savings are expected to be between $55 billion and $100 billion.

Moreover, both systems have regained all of their losses from the Great Recession, and their three-, five- and 20-year rates of investment returns are all better than the 7.5% required to keep the funds sustainable.

Steven Maviglio, Sacramento

The writer, a Democratic political consultant, is the spokesman for Californians for Retirement Security.

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