Savings Plus Program: An Optional Retirement Benefit for State Employees

Mar 14, 2017 - The state ’s retiree health benefit is the same for an employee earning $30,000 as it is for an employee earning $100,000. The agreements with the nine bargaining units represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1000 share the total cost to prefund retiree health benefits across the units so that all affected employees pay the same percentage of pay.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3616

The 2025-26 Budget: Concession Bargaining

May 19, 2025 - The first is payment towards the “normal cost, ” which is the amount of money that actuaries determine (based on actuarial assumptions like expected investment returns on assets) must be contributed to prefund the benefit earned by employees today.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5047

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Sep 7, 2023 - The normal cost is the amount of money that actuaries determine must be set aside for the benefit employees earn today so that the contribution and any future investment returns on that contribution are sufficient to pay for the benefit after the employee retires.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Units 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21

Jan 10, 2017 - Because the state ’s retiree health benefit is the same for an employee earning $30,000 as it is for an employee earning $100,000, the amount of money needed to prefund the benefit represents a larger share of a lower-income worker ’s salary.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3520

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6

Jun 14, 2019 - Part of the state ’s contribution goes towards the “normal cost ” —the amount of money that actuaries determine is necessary (combined with assumed future investment earnings) to pay the cost of pension benefits that employees earn in a given year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4078

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 12 (Craft and Maintenance)

Jun 27, 2025 - Declining Share of Employees at Top Step. Figure  2 shows that the share of Unit 12 members who are at the top step of their job classification ’s pay range has decreased significantly over the past couple of decades and appears to be continuing to decline.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5060

COVID-19: Unemployment Insurance for Workers Impacted by COVID-19

Mar 23, 2020 - Under H.R. 748, the federal government will pay the full cost of the Work Sharing Program through the end of 2020 . H.R. 748 also makes around $10  million available to EDD to pay for administration and promotion of the Work Sharing Program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4208

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 5 (Highway Patrol)

Aug 23, 2024 - A pension system matures as the share of people receiving benefits (retirees and their beneficiaries) grows relative to the share of active members who are working and contributing to the system. As a pension system matures, its cash flow changes from a positive cash flow (more money coming into the system than is being paid out to beneficiaries)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4920

Federal Paid Leave for Workers Impacted by COVID-19

Mar 27, 2020 - Under paid family leave, most workers receive 60  percent of their normal weekly earnings. Third, workers who are themselves sick or quarantined may be eligible for state short-term disability insurance.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4212

The 2017-18 Budget: Governor’s CalPERS Borrowing Proposal

May 16, 2017 - Introduction The state has large unfunded liabilities associated with retirement benefits earned by state employees. A recent decision by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) board will require the state to contribute more money each year to pay down pension liabilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3673