Public Pensions and the Initiative Process: Winds of Change?

Abstract

Abstract:The most recent recession has put considerable stress on state and local government budgets and has pushed public pension reforms to the spotlight. Through the lens of the initiative process, this paper intends to examine the impact of the Great Recession on public pensions in California local governments. Based on a review of the literature and a study of local government budgets, Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports and other reports, this paper reviews 13 pension reform measures passed by voters in California cities and counties in an attempt to answer the question: What has caused the pension measures to be put on the ballot? The paper finds that the recent economic downturn, market crash, poor public decision-making, negative coverage, and inability of the State to solve pension problems all contributed to the rise of local ballot measures on public pensions, and through the initiative process, the voters decided to take public pension reforms in their hands. Essentially, ballotbox pension reforms reveal the public's distrust of government. The victories of local pension mea sures in California have attracted national attention, and may inspire other cities and counties in California and other states to attempt similar actions.

Divergent Effects of Cutback Strategies on Organizational Capacities: Evidence from U.S. Counties

“…These results show that most respondents experienced budget cutbacks between 2011 and 2016. Figure 2 shows the rank order of the cutback strategies health and human service directors implemented between 2011 and 2016 (Dougherty & Klase, 2009;Hajnal, 2013;Jimenez, 2014;Packard et al, 2007;Sun, 2010Sun, , 2013Troupin et al, 2013). Among eight predominant options identified in the previous literature, leaving vacant positions unfilled, an employee salary freeze, and consolidating departments ranked higher on the list, while using volunteers instead of paid employees, reducing work schedules, and retirement incentives ranked relatively lower.…”

“…10 We employed an online survey instrument in this study. Adapted from previous survey instruments (Hajnal, 2013;Jimenez, 2014;Packard et al, 2007;Sun, 2010Sun, , 2013Troupin et al, 2013), the survey consists of 36 close-ended and one open-ended questions pertaining to cutback strategies' effects on organizational capacities. 11 To devise appropriate and effective survey items that address the research question of this study, a pilot study was first conducted with one hundred health and human services directors.…”

“…The items for cutback strategies are adapted from the previous literature (Hajnal, 2013;Jimenez, 2014;Packard et al, 2007;Sun, 2010Sun, , 2013Troupin et al, 2013). To test the contingency hypothesis, respondents are asked, "In the last five years, how often has your agency taken the following cost reduction strategies in response to budget cutbacks?"…”