CFFR vice president Jack Dean conducted a phone interview Monday with Jim Scott, news anchor at KGET-TV 17 in Bakersfield. The report covers the issue well. City councilmember  Zack Scrivner, who is interviewed on camera, makes an excellent case for our pension initiative:

You can read the text version of this report here.

On Thursday, representatives of CFFR met with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to seek support for the pension reform intitiatives the organization filed with the Attorney General on November 5.

“Our meeting with the governor went exceptionally well,” said CFFR president Marcia Fritz. ”The Governor will review the details of our initiative and explore whether he can help us. He understands that pension costs are crippling the state’s and local agencies’ budgets, that changes are needed now, and that our initiative may contain a sensible and fair solution.”

“Our thanks to everyone who contacted the Governor’s office and asked him to support us,” she added.

On Tuesday, November 10, Fox’s Stuart Varney interviewed Fortune Magazine’s Adam Lashinsky on the current financial condition of CalPERS:

Marcia Fritz was interviewed about “The CalPERS $100,000 Pension Club” yesterday by Mike Luery of  Channel 13 (CBS) in Sacramento. Click here to watch the video, and here to read the transcript.

Marcia Fritz will be on the air again Saturday night on CRN Digital Talk Radio on the Nicole Bella Remini Show with guest host Martha Montelongo.  The show airs from 8-11 pm Pacific, and Marcia will be on during the 10 pm hour. She’ll be talking about the two pension reform ballot initiatives just filed by CFFR with California’s Attorney General. You can listen live here.

CFFR president Marcia Fritz will be a guest this evening on KOGO Radio (600 AM) in San Diego at 7:05pm. The show’s host is Chris Reed, editorial writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune. You can listen to the show live online.

Yesterday the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility (CFFR)  filed with the Attorney General’s office two pension and retiree health care initiatives that would save state and local government agencies hundreds of billions of dollars in retiree benefit costs and would end the expensive abuses which have increased costs and run up huge deficits for public defined benefit pension plans. The initiatives are identical except for the voter requirement that allows agencies to increase benefits for new workers. CFFR plans to poll voters to determine which version they prefer.

“With more than $200 billion in retirement debts and skyrocketing costs crowding out the investments we need in education, health care, transportation, public safety and the environment, it is time for a statewide solution to our retirement benefits crisis. By requiring all new non-safety public employees at all levels of government to work until their Social Security retirement age for full benefits and ending the politicians’ raids and abuses of public pension funds, California public agencies can offer secure retirement benefits that are fair for taxpayers and their employees,” said CFFR president and initiative proponent Marcia Fritz.

The Public Employee Benefits Reform Initiative would apply its benefits cap to the defined benefit plans offered to all new state, local government, school district, university and special district employees beginning July 1, 2011.

“California’s huge legacy retirement costs have been aggravated by pension benefit enhancements granted to public employees over the last 10 years combined with average pay increases of 50% to 70% both at the state level and among local agencies,” said Fritz.

“Actuaries did not anticipate wage hikes of this magnitude, nor did they expect the market losses that have seriously reduced the value of pension assets set aside to pay for pension benefits,” she added. “Workers are retiring earlier because many can receive more in retirement than while working. Defined benefit plans are viable tools if they are not abused, but generous guaranteed retirement benefits plus high wages have overburdened our public pension systems and ultimately our taxpayers.”

“Sound fiscal policy, simple budget planning, and retirement benefits that ensure a dignified and secure retirement after a full career of public service are all possible, and this initiative will help lead the way for all levels of California government,” said Fritz.

Preliminary estimates show the initiative would save more than $1 billion the first year, and $500 billion over 30 years as new workers replace those who retire by raising their full retirement ages and limiting guaranteed benefit formulas to 75% replacement income in retirement for a full career’s work. Agencies may continue to offer supplemental defined contribution plans to their employees. Significant additional savings would come from requiring new employees to wait until they reach MediCare eligibility age before supplemental retiree health benefits begin.

The “10 Commandments” that form the basis of both versions of the initiative include:

- Honor all pension contracts
- Death and disability benefits shall not be changed
- Pension benefits must be fair and adequate
- Pension benefits must be guaranteed
- Pension spiking abuse must be discouraged
- Future generations should not pay retirement costs for today’s workers
- Retiree health funds must not be diverted to any other purpose
- Retirement benefit costs must be sustainable
- Local agency voters shall retain the right to change benefits
- Bankruptcies must be avoided

The two versions of the initiative can be found here and here.