California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility works to keep pension plans transparent
October 5, 2009
As Governing reports, the group, California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, has an online database listing all California public employees receiving annual pensions of $100,000 or greater. The aim is to keep where taxpayer dollars are spent in public information. As the article states, "After all, they say, it’s taxpayer money, and taxpayers ought to know how it’s being spent." Publicizing such information could be an effective way to significantly amend the public pension system, which, considering California had pension costs of $160 million in 2001 and this year is expecting to spend upwards of $3.4 billion, is desperately needed
“We think it’s important for people to become more aware of the issue,” says Keith Richman, a former state legislator who founded CFFR in 2007. “Publishing some of the large costs is a means of bringing attention to the problem.”