AP15:111
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2015
CONTACT: Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Public Employees. Pension and Retiree Healthcare Benefits. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures yesterday.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. PENSION AND RETIREE HEALTHCARE BENEFITS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Amends California Constitution to impose restrictions on pension and retiree healthcare benefits for new public employees, including those working in K-12 schools, higher education, hospitals, and police protection. Bars government employers from enrolling public employees hired after January 1, 2019 in defined benefit pension plans, from enhancing certain retirement benefits for such employees, and from paying more than one-half cost of such employees’ pension and retiree healthcare benefits, unless first approved by voters. Limits retirement boards’ ability to place financial conditions upon government employers that close defined benefit plans to new employees. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Significant effects—savings and costs—on state and local governments relating to compensation for governmental employees. The magnitude and timing of these effects would depend heavily on future decisions made by voters, governmental employers, the Legislature, Governor, and the courts. (15-0076.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1738 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0076.
The proponents of the measure, Chuck Reed, Stephanie Gomes, Carl DeMaio, Pat Morris, Bill Kampe, and Tom Tait, must collect the signatures of 585,407 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by June 6, 2016. The proponents can be reached at (415) 732-7700.
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