The 2025-26 Budget: Concession Bargaining

May 19, 2025 - The share of normal cost and unfunded liabilit y paid by the state and employees is determined in statute and collective bargaining agreements. It is set as a percentage of pay. While payments towards normal cost are shared by employees, the state generally is responsible for any payments towards the unfunded liability.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5047

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Sep 7, 2023 - This results in the study undervaluing the benefit earned by journey-level state correctional officers and overvaluing the benefit earned by entry-level employees. If the study had, instead, used the unblended employer share of normal cost to value the pension benefits earned by state correctional officers, the study would have
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800

A Review of the CalSTRS Funding Plan: CalSTRS Funding Plan Relies on Abstract Calculation

Feb 2, 2016 - Because teachers and districts contribute a fixed percentage of payroll, a different choice to assume that teachers would have earned higher salaries would have resulted in more teacher and district contributions to CalSTRS.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3333

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

A Review of the CalSTRS Funding Plan: Theoretical Investment Gains Have Shifted Unfunded Liabilities to Districts

Feb 2, 2016 - Specifically, the calculation estimates what CalSTRS’ unfunded liabilities would be now if (1) teachers earned less generous pension benefits and (2) the state and teachers had contributed more to CalSTRS’ main pension fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3334

A Review of the CalSTRS Funding Plan: Background

Feb 2, 2016 - That is, the assets held by the fund at any one time have been insufficient to cover benefits earned to that date. As of the most recent estimates, CalSTRS would need an additional $72.7 billion in its investment fund to pay for teacher pension benefits earned as of the end of 2013-1 4.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3332

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 5 (Highway Patrol)

Aug 23, 2024 - An unfunded liability exists when the projected value of pension benefits earned to date exceeds the projected assets of the pension system. While the state shares normal cost with employees, unfunded liabilities generally are the state ’s responsibility.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4920

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 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 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