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

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 12 (Craft and Maintenance)

Jun 27, 2025 - However, the benefit earned by the employee is based on their full (not reduced) salary. Accordingly, during furloughs, the state systematically underfunds its pensions —contributing to larger unfunded liabilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5060

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 5 (Highway Patrol)

Aug 23, 2024 - 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) to a negative cash flow (more money is being paid out to beneficiaries than is coming into the system).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4920

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 9 (Professional Engineers)

Jun 27, 2025 - Under state law, vacation or annual leave is considered a form of wages that is vested when earned. As such, employers cannot adopt a “use it or lose it ” policy for earned employee vacation and annual leave whereby unused vacation or annual leave above a certain level is forfeited at the end of the year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5061

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 16 (Physicians, Dentists, and Podiatrists)

Jul 14, 2025 - However, the benefit earned by the employee is based on their full (not reduced) salary. Accordingly, during furloughs, the state systematically underfunds its pensions —contributing to larger unfunded liabilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5064

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Jun 23, 2025 - Since 2006, inflation has eroded the average Unit 6 base pay such that the average real monthly base pay in 2024 was almost 11 percent lower than it was in 2006. However, average real base pay remains 6 percent higher than it was in 2003 when the state last experienced significant challenges recruiting correctional officers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5058

The 2024-25 Budget: Proposition 2 Debt Payment Proposals

Mar 20, 2024 - Supplemental Pensions Payments Employers May Contribute Any Amount of Money Above What Is Required. Pension boards determine —either according to actuarial standards or statutory requirements —how much money employers must contribute to the pension system each year to address any existing unfunded liabilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4887

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 8 (Firefighters)

Aug 19, 2025 - Employees in different bargaining units who have similar jobs (for example, public safety classifications like peace officers and firefighters) earn compensation packages with similar components. For example, while the specific structure of the benefit varies, public safety employees generally earn pension benefits that are designed to offer a higher annuity to retirees at an earlier age.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5066

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Units 10 (Professional Scientists) and 18 (Psychiatric Technician)

Sep 9, 2025 - The study found that the state’s total compensation earned by the two smaller occupations, chemists and epidemiologists, is above market levels by 15 percent and 23 percent, respectively. …But Largest Occupation Compensated Below Market.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5073