Michael Linder

Illustration by Goeol Edhel

Thirty years after Pac-Man began gobbling up quarters, government employees have put a new spin on the arcade game, moving like a hungry Pac-Man or Lady Pac-Man through a maze of state and municipal jobs, gobbling up pricey pensions like so many pac-dots.

Joy-sticking from state assembly chambers to mayor’s office, city council to state senator, district attorney to attorney general, career politicians have learned that millions can be made playing Pension Pac-Man. Racking up multiple pensions is the goal. Score an especially high-paying job at career’s end and the value of your previous pensions multiplies — like Pac-Man chowing down magic fruit.

They’ve been at this game since long before Pac-Man invaded arcades. Back in 1978, opponents of gubernatorial candidate Evelle Younger were outraged that the former FBI agent, Air Force Reserve major general, Los Angeles County District Attorney and judge would collect more than $52,000 per year when all his pensions kicked in — chump change compared to today’s pension system gaming.

Robert Rizzo, city manager of corruption-ridden Bell, holds the high score in California with a pension worth more than $600,000 a year — for life. Vernon’s Bruce Malkenhorst receives $509,664 every year. UCLA neuroscientist Joaquin Fuster cashes in with $302,491 per annum.

Today, 12,000 retired government workers receive annual retirement payouts of $100,000 or more from CalPERS and CalSTRS, pension systems facing an estimated $500 billion in shortfalls in a state — the only one in America — that calculates benefits based on final year earnings rather than a career average.

California taxpayers will pony up more than $3 billion in taxes this year to reward pensioners, many of them white-collar pols rather than the life-risking cops and firefighters for whom pensions were originally designed.

Cities, too, are taking the hit. The Los Angeles Times points out that on top of state taxes, 140 small, cash-strapped cities from La Cañada Flintridge to Ventura will bear much of the cost of Rizzo’s retirement and that of Bell Police Chief Randy Adams who’ll bank more than $400,000 a year for however long he lives.

Governing, the trade magazine of pro politicos has been asking its readers about the wisdom of collecting full pensions if they keep working. “Many seem to be unaware of how much earlier they are able to receive substantial benefits than their counterparts in the private sector,” says Governing to tone-deaf subscribers, adding that 10 states don’t bother to tax public employee pensions.

There are plenty of solutions out there. Adam Summers of the Reason Foundation offers a batch along with a litany of blood-boiling statistics. Among them, California taxpayers pay 85% of the health care premiums for most active state workers, 100% of health care costs for most state retirees and 90% of health care costs for their families.

Among the possible fixes…
Impose an excise tax or an income surtax on double-dip income, which would be one way to restore funds to the pension system.

Match public pensions to the private sector and adjust all future state employee compensation so that it is in line. Repeat such an evaluation every five years.

Require retired employees to forfeit their checks while they are on state payroll to avoid double-dipping, as over 5,000 former state employees are doing today.

Adopt an amendment to the state constitution requiring all future government employee benefit increases to be ratified by voters, and another prohibiting retroactive benefit increases.

Raise the retirement age to 66 — or higher.

Illinois passed sweeping pension reform in March, but fell short of what most reformers had in mind. While the state saved perhaps $1 billion by by creating a two-tiered system that preserved existing pensions while tightening benefits for new hires, Illinois fell far short of fixing the problem. Can California do better?

Will Californians, like Pac-Man’s mortal enemies Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, destroy the double-dipping phenom and rein in pension abuse? Or, will powerful public employee unions continue to have it their way — as they did in 1999 when SB 400 lavished retroactive benefit increases to government workers?

Pass it on...