Last week I wrote you about the $195 billion California governments spend every year on compensation and benefits for public sector employees. Part of that cost is annual service on $270 billion of debt issued to public employees by lawmakers, none of which was approved by voters. That’s four times the General Obligation Bond debt issued by the state, all of which was approved by voters. To add insult to injury, debts to public sector employees carry a higher interest rate.
For nearly two decades now I have raised the alarm about these debts and since 2011 GFC has pressed the issue but without much to show for it. A small reform was enacted in 2012 but nothing of the magnitude required. I do not expect that to change unless a large enough ecosystem of political philanthropies is assembled to defend a sufficient number of lawmakers willing to make big changes. GFC alone can’t do it. Such an ecosystem is developing, especially on the local level and most effectively in San Francisco, and we are doing everything we can to help it flourish everywhere in California. You can help by helping those and other political philanthropies to succeed and eventually to envelop Sacramento.
Our other focus is on the next governor. While governors don’t have sufficient power on their own to address debts to public sector employees, they set the agenda.
