By Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee

Two ballot proposals aimed at cutting government pension costs could wind up increasing them, are fraught with legal and fiscal uncertainty and would put pressure on governments to increase public employee pay, according to new analyses of the measures.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office on Tuesday released its takes on two public pension reform plans filed by Dan Pellissier, president of California Pension Reform. The group hopes to put one of the proposals to a statewide vote next November.

Steve Maviglio, spokesman for labor coalition Californians for Retirement Security, issued a statement calling the pension plans “sloppily drafted and extreme” initiatives that “will be an economic disaster for our state.”

Pellissier, meanwhile, released a statement that focused on pension abuse and governance provisions common to both plans and the LAO’s conclusion the proposals will eventually cut pension costs: “Californians are ready to vote for this type of pension reform to help get our fiscal affairs back on track.”

The law requires that the nonpartisan legislative analyst review the fiscal impact of ballot proposals before they go before voters.

Read the whole story