More Pension Reform

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Wednesday announced a second pension reform plan following City Council approval of reform of safety personnel pensions.

The second plan, which will cover rank-and-file non-safety employees, came a day after the adoption of pension reform for police and firefighters.

Villaraigosa’s newest proposal would save the city $255 million for every 1,000 new civilian hires, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

The overall goal of pension reform is to balance the costs savings without significantly sacrificing recruitment and retention efforts, the mayor said.

The plan would be open to newly hired members of the city’s employee retirement system.

It also increases employee contributions to their pension plan, limits an employee’s maximum pension to 70% of their salary and establishes an employee contribution towards retiree health care.

The mayor said he is seeking the same 2% contribution towards health care that he sought from police and firefighters.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded Villaraigosa, a Democrat, for his inroads into pension reform.

“Unfunded pensions are already taking billions of dollars from education, health, parks, and social service programs all around the state, and those costs are heading nowhere but up,” the Republican governor said in a statement Wednesday.

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