‘A wake-up call’ on pension reform

Last week, voters in San Jose and San Diego weighed in on the issue of pension reform, overwhelmingly approving ballot measures that roll back benefits for current and future city workers. Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento should take heed.

Nobody begrudges government employees reasonable pensions, and the average government worker’s retirement benefit is only about $25,000 annually. For those workers, it amounts to deferred salary, not some kind of freebie courtesy of taxpayer generosity.

That said, it’s also clear that many local governments have indeed provided overly generous pensions, like former Chico Police Chief Mike Maloney’s. Retired at age 50, he will receive 90 percent of his already generous annual salary for the rest of his life, while the city struggles to balance its budget. And Maloney’s just one of many.

Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a modest pension-reform package, but has been unable to get it past union-friendly Democrats in the Legislature. The votes in San Jose and San Diego, he said, are “a wake-up call” to move forward on moderate pension reform, before someone launches a ballot measure that could be much worse. It’s good advice.