Pacific Legal Foundation announced today that it has filed a legal brief arguing that a massive retroactive pension windfall for Orange County public-safety workers was invalid, because the people's constitutional right to vote on the giveaway was ignored.
PLF is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and free enterprise. PLF's friend-of-the-court brief was filed in state appellate court, in support of the Orange County Board of Supervisors' challenge to the retroactive pension giveaway, which was enacted in 2001 and took effect in 2002.
PLF submitted the brief in conjunction with the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers (FACT), an organization of taxpayers and business people dedicated to taxpayer protections and integrity in government.
The PLF-FACT amicus brief is available at PLF's website. The brief focuses on the voter-rights guarantee in Article XVI, Section 18 of the California Constitution.
"The California Constitution says local governments can't encumber taxpayers with long-term public debts or liabilities without asking voters' approval," said PLF attorney Harold Johnson. "Orange County politicians ignored this voter-rights guarantee when they pushed through the retroactive pension windfall. The moment it came on line it threw a $100 million burden on taxpayers' backs – and, by some estimates, that amount has more than doubled by now. Taxpayers are forced to pay off this liability over a number of years, as the lucky employees retire and start pulling down their enhanced pensions."
"Orange County officials were flagrantly irresponsible when they raised pension benefits for service that had already been completed under previously agreed-on contract provisions," said FACT President Jack Dean. "The requirement for voter approval was meant to thwart this kind of political recklessness with taxpayers' money."
PLF and FACT have worked together previously to defend taxpayers' constitutional rights. In the landmark state appellate-court case of Pension Obligation Bond Committee v. All Persons Interested (2007), PLF represented FACT and defeated a half-billion-dollar bond plan to pay for state pensions, because the bonds had not been submitted to voters.
Contacts:
Pacific Legal Foundation
Harold E. Johnson, 916-419-7111
Attorney
hej@pacificlegal.org
www.pacificlegal.org
or
Fullerton
Association of Concerned Taxpayers (FACT)
Jack Dean, 714-738-1191
President
jackdean@fullertontaxpayers.org