UC's CALPERS problem

UC is not part of CALPERS, the huge state pension plan that covers most state employees EXCEPT UC and many local employees, but it has a CALPERS problem. UC departed from CALPERS decades ago and set up its own pension and retirement system. Indeed, one of UC's beef with the state when it comes to budgeting is that CSU is under CALPERS, and thus the state routinely contributes to its pension. UC at best gets ad hoc pension contributions when the governor and legislation feel like it.

Despite UC's official separation from CALPERS, because of CALPERS' size and impact on state and local budgets, the discussion of public pension problems is often driven by what happens there. And CALPERS has a pattern of producing a scandal du jour. Some have involved misconduct or bad conduct by CALPERS managers and board members. The latest involves the seeming discovery that the current chief financial officer of CALPERS has no college degree, isn't working towards a degree, may have nonetheless suggested that she was working towards a degree, and what all of this says about governance. You can read all about it here:
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article218407085.html

The issue for UC is that the periodic scandals of CALPERS end up having spillover effects on UC. UC tends to be swept into the policy "reforms" that CALPERS' fiscal and governance issues generate.