No Way San Jose

There has been a concern at UC that some future ballot proposition might sweep UC into a statewide public pension change that would affect current employees, contrary to the Regents’ action on pensions last December. The state attorney general, Kamala Harris, recently raised possible objections concerning a San Jose city plan that would affect current employees there. Whether she would challenge a ballot proposition that had similar effects at the state level is unknown.

From the San Jose Mercury-News of 6/21/11:

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's proposal to declare a fiscal state of emergency and seek a ballot measure to trim employee pensions raises "serious" legal concerns, the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris says. The attorney general's assessment was in a preliminary response to a joint letter last month questioning Reed's proposal by state Assemblymen Paul Fong, D-Mountain View; Luis Alejo, D-Salinas; Richard Gordon, D-Los Altos; and Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont…

The mayor has acknowledged the legal risks in trying to reduce current employee pension benefits, but argues that the alternative is municipal bankruptcy or a greatly reduced workforce. And he believes the law allows room for what he's proposed…

Reed has argued that the city's pension problem is too large to fix simply by lowering benefits for future hires. He has called for phasing in changes such as raising retirement ages and reducing benefit accruals for existing employees… Harris' letter said that the Attorney General's Office has taken a dim view of such ideas in the past and that Reed's proposal would be "an extraordinary maneuver." An attorney general's review doesn't carry the weight of a court opinion, though it can provide guidance to government leaders. Harris' office would not speculate what action she might take if San Jose pursues Reed's proposal…

Full story at http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_18327096

Meanwhile, San Jose may have to find a different way: