The California state and local pensions system are unsustainable and Rep. DeMaio has been trying to reform the corrupt system through legislation. Unfortunately, the leftist California Supreme Court left the California Rule in place.
“We’re disappointed that the liberal California Supreme Court once again is serving as a barrier to common-sense reform of unsustainable and indefensible gold-plated government pension payouts,” said Carl DeMaio, Chairman of Reform California.
In the narrow ruling that upheld the elimination of the right to purchase service credits to spike pensions, the justices opted to leave the problematic “California Rule” intact that has been a legal barrier to meaningful reform to unsustainable pension benefits. Specifically the Supreme Court ruling said “We have no occasion in this decision to address, let alone to alter, the continued application of the California Rule,” the court said in the decision. The California Rule has been used repeatedly by politicians and government union bosses to block pension reform.
The California Rule is a legal doctrine that mandates government workers in California to receive the pension benefits that were in place on the day they were hired. These benefits cannot be reduced, meaning that mandatory employee contributions cannot be increased, nor can cost-of-living allowances be decreased, even for not-yet-earned benefits. This rule treats government employee pensions as contracts protected by the state’s Constitution.
Unfortunately, California politicians over promised and are now facing the piper.
If you want to know what we mean by unsustainable, watch this brief clip:
WOW California Democrats gave themselves 6 figure pensions FOR LIFE paid for by taxpayers
“Do you know that California state and local government employees are earning six figure pensions every year for life higher than the highest salary they actually earned while working” pic.twitter.com/77nkLJeVpB
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) August 15, 2025
I’ve known for a long time that CALPERS is a ticking time bomb and it’s something common to blue states. Cook country where Chicago is has $108 billion in unfunded pension liabilities last I knew while their teachers unions are striking for higher pensions. Where do they think that money will come from?
Bankrupting capitalist America is what the cultural Marxists who have taken over the Democrat Party do. Outrageously high government pensions? That’s a feature not a bug for their agenda.
Government pensioners I know spend much. They go on lots of trips, put in top quality wooden doors, lobby associations to spend lavishly, new cars every 3 years, and so on. It’s a 2 tiered system, in which those with the least contribution end up with the most.